Wednesday

This morning I walked with Gina to the train station to see her off, and was half way home when my stomach sank and my eyes almost welled up as I realized that I had forgotten my purse in the apartment. I was locked out with no money, no passport, no key. I'm sure you all know the feeling.

So, the other thing that I really like about Gina's apartment is that the landlady speaks English, and I knew where she lived and she was very helpful to me. She took me in and gave me tea and tried to find a copy of the key. She didn't have one, so she lent me a thousand yen and I went to Gina's school and managed to convince the staff to let me talk to her. So I got home and all is well. Phew! It just took a few hours longer than expected. A late breakfast for me.

This afternoon I met Gina at the station. She was chatting with a Japanese woman who likes to practice her English on people like us. She got us to sign her book, which probably had hundreds of notes from people all over the world. Then she made us an origami crane. It was nice.

Tuesday

I am feeling much better today. I am still coughing some, but much less. Today I went to four stores without so much as a hack.

The thing I like most about this apartment is the bathtub. I can sit in water up to my nose and lean back and relax for as long as I want. It's in its own little shower / tub room. Then I can conserve water by running a load of laundry using the bath water for the first cycle. The washing machine is equipped with a pump and a hose just for that.

Gina's black cat, Nimai, sure does enjoy the company of little Josie, the mostly white female kitten that Gina might adopt. She is here as a foster cat right now. They have a good time racing around the apartment playing chase. Josie gets into trouble in kittenish ways, like yesterday. I made muffins in the silicone pan, and there were 2 left in it sitting on the stove. Later on, while Gina was gone, I was in the bath and heard a clamor. I went out to find that Josie had gotten that pan and I think she ate half a little muffin. Nimai seems to have outgrown such pranks. He is 3.

thoughts

Gour Nitai told me not to worry so much when I was dressing them yesterday. They said I would make myself sick if I worry too much.
So,
Don't worry about material things because it is all temporary. The thing to do is to switch you consciousness from material to spiritual.
but then, how do you deal with material things, problems, relationships.
Don't worry about them too much. It's all temporary and not of much consequence.
hmmm
So introspective.

Iskcon Gainesville History, as i recall it

Late 1960s - Gargamuni preached at the University of Florida and gained some followers including David Lieberman (Amarendra) and his wife Gayatri, Gaudi, Aja, and others.

Amarendra and Gayatri established a temple in Gainesville on 2nd Ave (maybe). Srila Prabhupada visited in the early 1970s and gave a lecture at the Plaza of the Americas.
The temple acquired property on Depot Avenue, next to PK Young, in the early 70s. It was a 2 1/2 acre complex with a big old house and a dormitory building about 2 blocks from campus.

Big brass Gour Nitai Deities were installed at the temple on Janmastami in 1974.

I joined the temple in Gainesville just before Lord Nrsmhadeva's appearance day in May 1975. Other devotees who joined around then were Sranti, Bhranti, Gopa Patni, GangaGati, Bhaja Govinda, Munustreshas and Dhusula, Akincina Krishna, etc.

There were about 50 to 75 devotees living at the temple for the next few years. The atmosphere was very family like. Amarendra was the head and Gayatri was the loving friend. It was Prabhupada's program, 16 rounds, morning and evening program, sankirtana, prasadam distribution on campus (which has evolved into Krishna lunch).
Devotees began doing airport and rest area sankirtana, and lots of laksmi came in. Amarendra decided to look into buying a farm, as Srila Prabhupada had been enthusiastic about such programs. He found the 120 acre farm outside of Alachua and the sale went through exactly on the disappearance day of Srila Prabhupada in 1977.

For the next couple of years things began falling apart, Amarendra and Gayatri moved away, a succession of temple presidents began. Devotees moved away. Laksmi disappeared.

Just after Janmastami in 1980 the temple property was sold, supposedly for a quarter million dollars, a lot at the time. We had two days to vacate the premises. (The deal fell threw and we were broke.) It was chaos. Gour Nitai and the Prabhupada murti went to stay at Alan Weinkle's mobile home on 239, about 5 miles from Alachua. The Deities stayed in the added on room and I took care of Them with some help from Jalungi. Most of the devotees moved away.
After a month the Deities were moved to a single wide trailer in the middle of the cow field with no running water or electricity. It took at least a month to get those luxuries.
We continued 7 offerings and arotics a day and making all of the milk sweets daily. Full scale Deity worship went on.
At this time there were about 12 devotees in the area.
Srila Acharyadeva came to live on the farm for about a year.
There was a continued succession of temple presidents.
When Vaninatha Vasu dasa was president he convinced the boy's school and Laxmi Moni's ashram to move here. That started the growth of the temple.
After numerous plans and ideas, the temple was built in the later 1990s. Jnanagamya and Parambrahma were largely responsible, and I think Prahnada was instrumental for the fund raising.
Radha Shyamasundara were installed on Radhastami 2000.
Krishna Balarama arrived here in 2004.

SIGH.....responding to other peoples comments on facebook makes me nervous, but sometimes I just have to do it.

moon

I do not believe that the earth is closer to the sun than it is to the moon.

Wha?

The older I get, the more experiences I have, the more I travel, the more I read, the more I wonder how much of the American history that I learned in school has any basis in reality.
So many lies, so much manipulation. It is disconcerting.
Of course, perhaps the miracle of America is that I can learn beyond the indoctrination.