IN AND OUT OF CROWDS

Sunday, May 17th, 2026

Huntsville, Ontario

I don’t mind crowds but there is a limit before feeling claustrophobic. The day prior in Stratford we had the pleasure of cramming in 200 of us Hare Krishnas in front of the City Hall. There is always pleasure in leading a kirtan chanting session which is what I did (with the gang) in front of the hall, and a special plus was being accompanied by trumpet, guitar, and djembe. However, you can only go for so long before you feel the crowd is too much.

To gain some space and downtime I decided it was going to occur this very morning. I set out on foot at 4:30 a.m. on a quiet two lane highway #8, heading east for Huntsville. My driver Jagannatha, was timing himself for meeting up with me at 6 a.m.

The challenge for this walk was dodging the snails crossing the road. I would say they were close to cramming. It was a great migration and I didn’t want to crush any of them. You see, overnight there was a fresh rainfall and that encouraged the slow guys to slither along.

Any crushing by my guilty self terminated when Jagannatha came to pick me up for a long four hour drive through the back woods before reaching our destination at ISKCON Muskoka in Huntsville for the second anniversary of its opening. There at the temple on Main St. the crowds came - humans. The highlight was kirtan and it was sweet indeed. A last walk, away from the herds, concluded my day when passions of a long weekend night were subsiding. Today is Victoria Day. Her majesty is honoured on this day. There are fireworks about to blast off. 

MAY THE SOURCE BE WITH YOU

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