Word: pathe
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...Culturally sensitized, our group sets off on our trek from Mitake in the Kiso River Valley, two hours' drive east of Kyoto. The advent of railways made backwaters of many towns along the old Nakasendo path and, in a happy turn for visitors, isolated the ancient wooden settlements from modern encroachment. Mitake's suburbanites may have forgotten the road, but the signs are still there. Lurid azaleas and miniature topiary pines trace its zigzag route past new housefronts and tiny gardens. (The kinks and bends were originally designed to slow down cavalry attacks.) By the roadside are vegetable plots...
...Late in the day we hike up a steep ascent into the quiet shadows of a stand of pines. The name of the path?Leading the Ox Up By Its Nose?exactly describes the gradient. A statue of Kannon with a horse's head commemorates the pack animals whom no amount of nasal persuasion could keep from collapse. That night we stay in Hosokute at a wooden inn, last rebuilt in 1880. Swallows nest inside the doorway, as they have for generations. The floor flexes under our feet as we step gingerly across knotholes and gaps in the boards...
Despite this disability, bike riding remains my favorite pastime at home. Frightened by the brick streets and motorists of Cambridge, I indulge in the bike path near my house that peacefully slices through suburbia. My accessories, however, are not restricted to my Walkman. I also sport sunglasses, a large Red Sox cap and a layer of Coppertone (SPF 300) whose thickness Exxon would envy. (Only recently did I ponder the irony inherent in a name like Coppertone.) Other bikers notice the baseball cap and shake their heads with pity at this displaced northerner...
...never met Graham, was never, to my knowledge, anyway, in the same room with her. But like those who read her autobiography and followed the path of her career, I felt as if I knew her. Today, I feel profoundly sorry that I never will...
...what a yogi means in India. It is someone who has moved from body to the mind, to the soul, to awareness, to the subtle surrender to the superconsciousness. Next time you head for a yoga class, ask yourself whether you are ready to be a seeker of the path...