Wednesday, December 17th, 2014

Saranagati Village, BC
 
You Canʼt Miss the Mist
 
 
Some of the mist was tucked between mountains. Some had escaped and softly drifted into higher heights. For the most part the sun was the king today as it gazed over a silent world of green snow. I had just completed giving a class at the elementary school on my recollections of Yamuna devi, a saintly woman who had resided in this valley.
 
She passed away three years ago today.
 
Phoebe the dog accompanied me on my trek through the valley as I visited households.  When it came to the team of goats that Francis herds, Phoebe, in her efforts to get to know them, would slowly nose her way towards them. Once she would get real close, she wasnʼt sure, and sheʼd jolt backwards. Goats have these marble-like eyes, almost transparent. Youʼre not quite feeling they actually are looking at you. Phoebe would just freak each time the dozen or so spooky-eyed creatures came in close proximity.

Eventually Phoebe abandoned me once I visited Sarvaʼs house. As Sarva and I chatted about this medic work he does up north, we could see Phoebe outside taking the last of Sarvaʼs brick of ice cream, which was in the perfect fridge lain on the snow. A good at that and Phoebe decided itʼs time to go, while Sarva thought nothing of losing his dessert.
 
My day wound up at Yamunaʼs house. Now uninhabited, this straw-bale built home, was the cozy gathering for the release of her biography by thirty-eight year partner, Dinatarini. Yamuna had a full life, so the book reveals, according to Kartamasa the presenter. A slide show highlighting the pictorial contents of this smart-looking publication became the charmed promotion of the text.
 
I remember Yamuna as the major anchor, the pure stabilizing factor for the devotees in the valley. Her experience and seniority, along with Dina, gave the place a family feel.  Her presence, which still exists, along with the students of the Govardhana Academy as well as the group in between make Saranagati a very “whole” community.
 
May the source be with you!

5 KM