From Roxborough Street going east, I made it to Moore Park Ravine, and then came upon a new switchback at Chorley Park. For years that has been one of my walking routes, but what's different in the newly renovated Chorley Park is that zigzag of a trail called a switchback. Systematically, the city Parks Commission has been making improvements and completing a makeover during the last two years. I'm noticing it and loving it.
However on my ascent, half-way up the switchback, I asked the oncoming pedestrian, a woman with her pet dog, what she thought about the new look/facility, and she replied, "I don't care for it. I mean to say, I like the concept but they have taken down trees to do it."
She made me think, and I agree trees should not be chain-sawed down. It could, should, be avoided. But as she spoke, I realized no deforestation had taken place here. There's no tree stumps to prove it. As far as I can recall, the side of the hill, we were standing on, has been barren for decades, with only a few shrubs here and there. In fact, young trees have been planted recently. They will add beauty and offer protection from erosion.
I was not in the mood to disagree. I was just happy to interact with someone, and that's why I took the initiative. I was glad to meet someone and I believe the woman was too, even though, from her end, speaking to a monk was just a consequence.
Earlier on in the day, I met Jivan Mukta, an old acquaintance with whom I shared some years of ‘monkhood’ in the early eighties. He has come to the conclusion that life is negative enough. His motto is: "I don't want to hear negative."
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