Sometimes it is necessary to contemplate. We all should try to sit on the mountain from time to time and process. If one never sits still, one never learns. Especially in the rain in the mountains.
I have been doing a bit of this "mountain mystic" act, but one must always come down from the mountain sooner or later, enlightenment doesn't come from sitting all the time . A time and place. .
Questioner: What does one do before enlightenment?
Buddha: Chop wood and haul water.
Questioner: What does one do after enlightenment?
Buddha: Chop wood and haul water.
Of course, not that I'm looking for any kind of philosophical or spiritual "enlightenment," but it sure is nice to be in a homey place where I can sit on the porch and read, and entertain friends, or just write and reflect. A little rest before going on the move again.
I have friends in town now, and wouldn't you know it, the weather has been rainy for some days now, so my much-touted journey to Ladakh will have to wait for nature to cooperate.
Dipu tells me that the local people have been praying and making pooja in hopes of rain, and it seems to have worked, perhaps a little too well. People are sleeping a lot, the shops are open at wacky hours, and other little things denoting a slight case of cabin fever in Old Manali.
But though it has been gray and perhaps even slightly boring, I would much rather be slightly bored here than in Delhi, or for that matter Boston . At least at this time. I am getting a little itchy to sit on the beach again, though, so once the fickle weather cooperates, I'll do a little whistlestop tour of Ladakh and Spitti by cycle. Pray for sun, or at least no rain. .
Last night I sat on the porch with some friends, a couple, the woman Kristina I had met in Dharamsala. Her boyfriend had picked her up in Amritsar after driving from Georgia (and no, not US georgia, the former soviet state. . ). He had to leave his car at the Indian border, and from there bought a small Yamaha motorcycle. They had been braving the mountains on that, and had become a little altitude sick, so had cut their journey to Leh and Ladakh out of the agenda. They are here now, and it is always good to see a familiar face or two. .
So we sat up nipping on Old Monk, and making lovely conversation. The moon rose over the mountain, poking it's face out in a beautiful and luminous display, just right for a slightly bored traveler with a newly shaved white scalp, and his two companions. A show just for three
Apologies that I don't have anything exciting to report, but mostly I put this entry up to add a few pictures that would not really have had a place in another entry. .
Andres and Joanna have headed out to a town in Spitti, and some new people have moved in to the Jungle Bungalow. The river runs high, and the rush of it is gentle background music, shanti sound to sleep by on a cool, if humid night. .

Dipu is making his famous chicken Masala tonight, and a number of us shall eat out on the porch, putting the tables together, with candles, and no small amount of beer, two Israeli men who have moved in last night, and the other french pair from upstairs. All in all quite nice, with a backdrop of mountainous terrain, and perhaps there will be a full moon sighting yet, tonight. .