June 4

With help from Ajahn Sudanto at the Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery, we posted a few more photos. Several are from the first day of the walk and a few more are from West Virginia. I’m trying to photograph the horses that I walk past every afternoon. Today the horses all came right up to the fence, even one of the colts, but the camera battery was dead.

It is striking to see the photos from Louisiana and see how early in spring it was when we started. No leaves can be detected on the trees. I bet the trees in New Orleans don’t look that bare right now. Spring over took us in Memphis, Tennessee. Today felt like the first summer day. It has been raining and right after noon the sun came out, causing a lot of humidity. Washington DC is known for it hot and uncomfortable summers. I’m glad we are planning to go to Thunder Bay. My Finnish blood feels more comfortable in the cold.

On the coldest night of our camping it reached a degree or two above freezing. I loved it and God manifested a coat for me that night. Walking on those cold mornings was comfortable for me, as we didn’t need to worry about overheating.

Bad news for robin chick lovers. The monastery cat, a male named Molly, appears to have gotten one of the young. Last night I needed to get some supplies for cleaning the bathroom. Molly’s bed is in the hallway where they keep most of those supplies. I saw him there in his bed just purring away, so I went over to pet him. All around him were tiny two-inch long feathers. Compassion and mudita (happiness for another’s good fortune) all at the same time again.

I saw the robin parents flying into and out of the bushes by the meditation hall all afternoon, so I suspect at least one of the chicks is still there and hungry. Those bushes are in the photo showing the Bhavana Society Meditation Hall. (See photo gallery in Abhayagiri News).