Long Walks On Leafy Streets

8/29/2013 Gallatin Street NW, Washington, D.C
It is a rainy morning here in Washington, D.C. I woke up feeling a little sluggish and then went for a little walk around the neighborhood. The cool breeze on this late August morning refreshed me. It is only in the upper 70’s now. We continue to be blessed with relatively mild weather in the waning days of summer.
It had rained last night. From my window I could see the small puddles on the roof of the little addition to my neighbor’s house. I think I don’t need to water the plants today. It is good to see the water droplets on the leaves. It is almost as if the plants are sporting little smiles. I wonder if the plants naturally arrange their leaves in such a way that the rainwater is conveyed to the roots. I know they are arranged to get the maximum sunlight.
It has been raining enough lately that I haven’t had to water all except the most water-needy plants. One such is the hibiscus. The other is the zucchini plant.
I think it needs more water because it is fruiting now. We have had two medium sized zucchinis out of it. I plan to cook sambar with it tonight. The last time I cooked the zucchini it was good. The blueberry plants seem to be finished for the season, though. The leaves have reddened and are about to fall off.
Last Sunday I led the hike in D.C touring the civil war defenses. In the previous post I have written about preparing for it. It turned out to be a great day for hiking and we had over 30 people in the hike. We walked through the parks where the forts were built in the 1860’s. Between the parks we walked mostly through quiet, tree-lined city streets like the one you see on this page. It was great to meet people from different walks of life. You can see pictures from the hike on the nature lovers’ meetup page. To go there click on the little photo above and then click on the link for the meetup. Look for “Civil War Defenses” under “Past Meetups.”
I started this meetup group more than 6 years ago. I enjoy leading hikes and nature related events and meeting people through this online group. It gives me the satisfaction of promoting a love of nature as well as bringing people together. To me they are closely related because I believe we are all part of one organism, including animals and plants. All religions speak of this oneness. Just this week I was pleased to be reminded of some hymns from the Vedas (Hindu scriptures) that pray for the peace and well being of all bipeds, all quadrupeds, plants, trees, earth, sky and the oceans.
It is this idea that has guided me in all my life. It helps me to be a better teacher as well. This week classes started and because I have been meditating and was in this loving state of mind I was able to teach in that spirit. I feel that it has helped me make the students feel comfortable with the class. I hope to continue meditating everyday of this semester and maintain this state of mind. Every semester I begin with high hopes but as the weeks pass by and work gets more intense it becomes harder to keep up the same level of equanimity and enthusiasm. The difficult part is in practicing this every moment, throughout one’s life.

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