9:49 p.m. - 2008-06-17
hari krishna
Did you know there is such a thing as Macaroni and Cheese crackers? Arghghghghghghghghghghggh!!!!!!! That sounds awful and ridiculous. What makes a macaroni and cheese cracker different from your run of the mill Cheeze-It? Macaroni flavor??
I just ate a delicious dinner that I made us - grilled chicken, cous cous, baked potatoes (regular for Kevin, Sweet Potato for me) and salad. That is my favorite kind of summer dinner. The grill is a wonderful tool.
Summer camp started yesterday - and I am pleased to report that because I have a rockstar staff, it is going very well.
We now have a pet at the program - Yoshi, the gecko. She came to us courtesy of my mother. She eats live crickets and is very social. Sometimes, I carry her around with me and let her ride on my shoulder. Some of the older people who live in or work for our supportive housing program for folks with mental illness, on the same block get freaked out and they whisper to each other, probably that I am crazy or something - haha - I love that. She absolutely delights the kids. One little boy who is barely five screams at me every time I go near him "I saw your gecko!!! I love your gecko Ms. Jessiiiiii!!!!"
So there is this older guy who lives in supportive housing. He mutters a lot and for the first 6 months I tried to say hi and stuff he muttered back what sounded like nonsense. I still said hi, but figured he wasn't saying anything that he actually wanted me to respond to so I didn't spend a lot of time trying to decipher it. As time went on, I started to be able to understand him better, and found out he is a devoted Hari Krishna and also a raging vegetarian. (Maybe all people who are Hari Krishnas are vegetarians - I admit I know very little about this aside from those scenes in Airplane where they give flowers out in the airport.) In any case, I have been able to make out certain words and phrases like "I hope that's not a defenseless creature you're going to eat there." (As I'm walking by with my lunch.) And "You should really look up the Hari Krishna web site - very good information there - you might learn something." Usually he says "Hari Krishna Hari Krishna" as I go by. I have taken to returning the greeting - why not. He also plays harmonia. Until recently, he looked like Santa claus, but he suddenly appeared a week or two ago with a clean-shaven face and head. My favorite interaction came today. I was walking to my car and he was, as he usually is, sitting on his porch, he said something I couldn't understand. I almost kept walking, not in the mood to hear about Hari Krishna. But I said "what was that?" And he said, pretty clearly "you want me to get you a veggie burger to take home with you? I can wrap it up for you."
It was so sweet! I declined, but I really was touched by it. It kind of made my day.
