Long Walks On Leafy Streets

3/22/2016 Honolulu, HI
As I wrote last time I was feeling a bit low energy couple of weeks ago. Wednesday of last week I was doing my usual prayer/meditation (sandhyavandanam). If I don’t have time I meditate for just ten minutes. Actually I just chant the Gayatri mantra (internally) as my ancestors taught me to, but it becomes a meditation. Last week was also spring break. I realized that I could afford to chant for ten or fifteen minutes longer than usual and that is what I ended up doing.

They say it takes a full one-hour of meditation before the mind really settles down and concentrates. Especially for people who are not meditating long hours every day. For me it takes at least half an hour. After meditating for over twenty minutes I felt really calm inside. This was a turning point. That feeling of quiet and contented equanimity continues to this day. Let us see how long it lasts! After that I didn’t feel low energy or feeble minded as before.
I guess a lot of it had to do with a combination of fatigue, lack of regular sleeping and eating patterns, the stress of the semester in full swing and also lack of time to meditate or enjoy solitude. With Prashant sleeping better at night, namely four or five hours at a stretch instead of two or three, things are settling down somewhat. Apparently part of his not sleeping properly and general discomfort was due to teething. He just developed two small teeth that I could feel with my fingers, in the gums on his lower jaw.

On Saturday the 12th I went on a walk in the Rock Creek Park led by Mike Tidwell of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN). I had also announced this on the nature lovers’ meetup that I organize. Mike is one of the DC metropolitan area’s pioneers when it comes to fighting climate change. I remember from years ago when I went on a tour of his home in Takoma Park. It was a small home, like many you see in Takoma Park and Silver Spring, probably built in the middle of the last century. They had a fireplace with a corn burning stove that provided heat to the home in a carbon neutral way. He had installed solar panels and solar water heaters on the roof himself. The home was well insulated. There were probably many other environmentally friendly features there that I forget. I was quite impressed and over the years I have attended many rallies and events that were either organized by him or featured him as one of the main speakers. He has made CCAN into a force that moves energy and environmental policy in the mid-Atlantic area. He also organizes the annual polar bear plunge that I wrote about earlier.

We were to gather at the front entrance of the zoo. I got there by running from my home all the way down Kansas Ave to Rock Creek Park and then up Porter St to Connecticut Ave. Some of the streets were closed to accommodate the Rock and Roll marathon. I ran slowly because I had my backpack on me with change of clothes. But it was a pleasant run on a cool but not cold Saturday morning with few people out on the streets. After quickly changing inside the Starbucks restroom I sat down with the Post and a sandwich and a drink. I must say I really miss that traditional sit down breakfast with all the good stuff and a newspaper to read. These days I eat breakfast while cooking lunch and getting Prashant ready for daycare at the same time.

I was very happy to meet my good friend Manuel who had also come for the walk. Mike started off by talking about the threat posed by climate change to many species. The walk itself was very familiar to me, going down the Melvin-Hazen trail and then coming back on the Rock Creek hiker biker trail. But I learned some new things, especially about vernal pools, from the naturalist and native plant specialist John Parrish. He was one of the speakers and he talked about how due to the heavier rains and warmer weather these pools no longer are able to support certain tadpole species. John is actually the partner of my good friend R.G. Steinman (RG as we call her) whom I know from the Rhythm Workers Union. (More on that in a later post). During the hike I asked him to lead a wildflower walk for the meetup and he graciously agreed. There were also talks by Anya Schoolman, one of the main engines of the solar energy movement in the area, as well as by a CCAN staffer about agriculture and climate change. Mike spoke movingly about how he gave up meat so that there will be fewer carbon emissions and how people in places like Africa face food scarcity due to the effects of climate change on crops. “Please eat a little less so others will have some food on their table,” he implored.

Last week the weather got really nice and warm. I went to my office every day except Tuesday. Much as I would have loved to stay home with Prashant I had to leave him at daycare because otherwise I could not get much done. The campus was almost empty. One afternoon I took a break from work and walked around the yard in the bright sun. I sat down on a bench near a tree festooned with various Caribbean nations’ flags. Most of the trees in the yard are dedicated to different student organizations. I looked up through the bare branches and the fluttering flags at the clear sky. For the first time in a while I felt really light and peaceful.

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