Long Walks On Leafy Streets

12/19/2013 Rock Creek Park, Washington, DC
This morning I write with some sadness. Another colleague of ours, Prof. Rackham Goodlett, has just passed away. He was a beloved teacher and I am fortunate to have had the chance to talk to him now and then. He was from the Caribbean and of part Indian descent. He was especially devoted to his students, spending a tremendous amount of his time and energy to help them. He had been battling cancer for a long time. He recently returned to work but it looks like the disease came back to take him away. It is a big loss to our department and another reminder of how precious this fleeting life of ours is. May his soul rest in peace and his spirit guide us in continuing with our very best efforts the work he had been carrying on.
The past few days have been somewhat uneventful for me personally. As mentioned in the previous post I had been recovering from a cold. This also impressed on me the need for rest.
But sometimes I forget that and exert myself too much, without adequate rest or nutrition. So on Sunday and Monday I was forced to rest again. I could not focus my brain on mathematics research or other work. Luckily I had finished submitting the grades for my classes this semester on Friday evening. The end of the semester is the time when all that stress and fatigue comes out in the open. So I have been relaxing a bit, watching or listening to some cricket match or doing other small chores.
In the afternoons on Sunday and Monday I got tired of sitting inside and went for a short walk around the neighborhood. Near the intersection of Underwood Pl. and First St NW one reaches the top of a hill with great views of the surrounding area. As I walked up there around 4pm I could see the western horizon reddening with the setting sun. This really lifted my spirits. The transcendent beauty of nature always brings one out of one’s own little puddle of worries and boredom.
On Saturday I went for a walk on the towpath. Another member of the nature lovers’ meetup group that I organize joined me. I did this as a benefit for the nonprofit organization Interfaith Power and Light. This is a great group of people trying to fight climate change and heal our planet by reaching out to congregations of various faiths and spreading the message of sustainable living and clean energy. I was hoping more people would join and donate but perhaps the cold weather and forecast of rain kept many people away. Actually even Nicole couldn’t go because she was also recovering from a cold. She was also busy trying to finish a report for her office. Maybe I should have postponed it but I decided to go ahead and do it. I plan to do many more of such benefit walks. I had been doing a lot of these events for free but I feel that by collecting donations for groups working for the environment I can do even more to protect our planet. I feel a new sense of urgency in terms of my own life, of wanting to do something for India and our earth before my brief sojourn on this planet ends.
It rained a tiny bit but nothing like the wintry slushy mess that was forecast for that day. I walked a total of six miles that day, about half of it on the towpath in Georgetown. It was nice to enjoy the views of the river and the canal. My fellow walker and I had a lively conversation about the environment, American society and politics, health and nature. Although at the end of the day I was extremely tired and barely managed to walk home slowly in the freezing wintry weather I felt great satisfaction in contributing my part for our planet, however infinitesimal that might be.

Directory Previous