Long Walks On Leafy Streets

12/25/2016 Rock Creek Park, Washington, DC
Today is Christmas day. Nicole’s mother and brother are here. We just finished giving gifts to each other and watching a service at the Enon Baptist Church in Philadelphia that was webcast live. Prashant was a little overjoyed with all the presents and played with each and every one of them. He couldn’t stop playing so Nicole had to let him hold on to a couple of toy cars while putting him to bed for his afternoon nap. He fell asleep holding on to them tightly!

He was mildly sick for a few days last week. It was very minor and he was not bothered much by it but still as a precautionary measure the daycare people required us to keep him at home. Nicole was busy with work so I took him to the Doctor and looked after him at home for three days. On one of those days we visited the Lamond recreation center around the corner from our house. Because it was too cold for him outside I let him run around in the basketball court while shooting the ball myself.
He was deliriously happy and kept running around until he could not run anymore. I let him throw and kick the ball around as well. He really likes being outside, so much so that these days it has become difficult to get him inside the car after getting out the door. He wants to keep walking on the sidewalk. After we got home from the recreation center he would not climb up the steps to our home. I had to drag him all the way to the door.

Sometimes I do feel the weight of looking after a child, especially because I myself am trying to finish a research project that I have been working for a few years now. But once I stop worrying about other things and just focus on enjoying my time with him it becomes a very pleasant and calming experience. It brings out the little boy in me as well and I enjoy playing with him. Most of all it makes me happy to see him play and enjoy himself.

Every morning I drive him to the daycare and then bike to my office. Starting next week I will be walking to my office because it has been eight weeks now since I ran the marathon and my legs are definitely healed of whatever fractures and strained muscles they might have developed. I look forward to walking. I must say I do enjoy the driving as well. I have always enjoyed driving and the only thing that kept me from driving as much as I wanted was the thought of all the pollution it created. Now that we have an electric car I don’t have to worry about that as much. We still use electricity some of which comes from polluting sources but it is far less. I have found a route that minimizes the driving time at the same time as maximizing the enjoyment. It takes me by the Fort Slocum Park, the Rock Creek Cemetery and then the beautiful grounds of the Soldiers’ home. There is less traffic on this route even during rush hour and the streets are relatively quiet and peaceful. I have Carnatic music playing on a CD and Prashant and I both find it calming.

On a few days I had to walk to work from the daycare. Either it was too cold or too rainy to bike. I noticed flocks of geese at the reservoir. At first, without thinking about it, I asked myself why they were still here. They usually leave at the end of spring. But then I realized that they did leave and they were supposed to be back in late fall. Because it has been so warm this year they started their journey from Canada much later than usual. This is one of the effects of climate change. Apparently this is happening all over the northern part of the US. The sad thing about it is that by the time they arrived in the US it had suddenly gotten very cold and many of the lakes had frozen over. Nevertheless I was happy to see them back. As always it is such a thrill to watch a big flock of them gliding in formation and landing gracefully on the water.

Every time I pass the cemetery on our drive to work my mind pauses for a moment and I reflect on the ultimate reality of our existence, that this body and this mind is nothing but machinery that will stop working one day. Staying in touch with that truth is essential to a meaningful life. I ask myself sometimes what have I really contributed to the world. Perhaps one thing that I could pass on is the understanding of myself. I think the nature of spiritual knowledge is not so much a logical and systematic understanding of the nature of self as much as it is the unraveling of layers of ego, either through life experiences or through meditation and contemplation. Often these days I catch myself saying, that is my ego talking, or, that is my testosterone acting up, or, that is just my weakness or fatigue talking. Of course that is at the superficial level. In one of his talks to his disciples the Buddha gives a very detailed list of the different stages of illusions that a seeker goes through. It is up to each one of us, through our own experience, to go through those stages and gain that knowledge for ourselves. Whether you follow the teachings of the Buddha or Christ or some other seer you will find that this is what it is all about. And today, the birthday of Jesus, is probably as good a day as any to take a break from life and reflect on our spiritual journey.

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