Practice Makes Perfection

Today I had a super busy day today, woke up early to practice and headed to the DMV; as it turns out I'll have to wait in line again tomorrow. I didn't eat a proper lunch and was so disappointed that we stopped in at a friends house to visit. After a short nap, I felt refreshed and my husband and I went shopping for groceries, went home, cooked and took prasad. He's finally sleeping now. I couldn't finish my apron as I had planned for today, hopefully tomorrow everything will be wrapped up and I can move on to the next phase: transferring Tulasi devi indoors, planning Krishna Chandra's birthday party and our annual trip to New Orleans Ratha Yatra. I can't wait for the trip, the party, festivals and Karttik end, though I have to say, my vows are something that I pleasantly look forward to each day. During pranayam and yoga in the early morning hours, I re-commit myself to each one and meditate on ways to release myself from material conditioning and attachment. Krishna is very merciful, when I am satisfied, I remember Him easily and continue my daily services pleasantly and when my mind is terribly disturbed by material nature and I find it increasingly unbearable to withstand another moment, I remember Him even more in that wretched weakness.

Giriraj is very charming and gorgeously dressed in His opulent silk outfits with lovely flower garlands hanging around His neck.

I uploaded photos of Giriraj for you all to take darshan.  I still have those garlands, I'm drying them out in my temple room now. I laughed really hard when Nitai Chand told me, "You see, even if you're not here you have to serve Giriraj somehow or other. If He wants seva from you, you can't escape it." as I arranged the flower vases, indicating as he so often does that Giriraj is very particular about his sevaks. I guess he's under the impression that I moved out in order to escape my service to Giriraj but he must know, deep inside, that I just hated living in that dilapidated old hole-in-the-wall. This place is much more structurally sound, though there is less privacy and interior space, I prefer it this way.

Sri Giri-Govardhan is always surrounded by lovely cows. 

Zero Tolerance Law

This is something funny that I thought I'd share with everyone; don't get me wrong, I'm not for minors drinking alcohol and/or drunk driving. I just think this law seemingly oversteps some bounds. I mean, come on, suspension for refusing to take a blood alcohol test? That's just a little bit too much. Anyway, I just like the redundant speech... read it, again and again and... again?

• Chapter 524 of the Transportation Code and Section 106.041 of the Alcoholic Beverage Code provides for suspending the driver license or driving privilege of individuals under 21 years of age for any detectable amount of alcohol. Senate Bill 35 as passed by the Texas Legislature became law on September 1, 1997. This law provides that a minor (a person who is under the age of 21) may not drive a motor vehicle with any detectable amount of alcohol (.00) in their system. This law is commonly referred to as the ZERO TOLERANCE LAW. This law provides for the suspension of a minor’s driver license for any detectable amount of alcohol in the minor’s system or refusal to provide a specimen of the minor’s breath or blood for analysis. See Chapter 10 for more detailed information about the ZERO TOLERANCE LAW for minors.

Did we get the point? I think whoever wrote this law should have his license revoked. Hah! Anyway, I thought you guys might get a good laugh. On a more serious note,

• In 2006, 13,470 people died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting for nearly one-third (32%) of all traffic-related deaths in the United States.¹
• In 2007, over 1.4 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics.⁴ That's less than one percent of the 159 million self-reported episodes of alcohol-impaired driving among U.S. adults each year.⁵
• Drugs other than alcohol (e.g., marijuana and cocaine) are involved in about 18% of motor vehicle driver deaths. These other drugs are generally used in combination with alcohol.⁶
• Half of the 306 child passengers ages 14 and younger who died in alcohol-related crashes in 2006 were riding with drivers who had a BAC level of .08 or higher.¹
• In 2006, 45 children age 14 years and younger who were killed as pedestrians or bicyclists were hit by alcohol-impaired drivers.¹

From the Centers for Disease Control website for Impaired Driving.