I was having breakfast over at The Sidewalk Café in Venice yesterday. The food’s not that good there and the service is way below par but, if you get a table next to the Boardwalk, it can be a fun experience.

It’s just one of those things… I’ve been going there since they opened when I was a teenager, so it kind of holds a spot in my heart.
 
As we were eating, two firetrucks come rolling down the Boardwalk. As I always try to capture unique events whenever they happen, I pulled out my iPhone and began recording. You know, you never know when you can use that footage in some Zen Film. And, that’s the great thing about this digital age, all of that kind of creative stuff is just so doable.
 
Anyway, out of the corner of my eye, I notice that these two elderly gentlemen stopped in their tracks. Obviously, they didn’t want to cross my frame thinking that it would damage my shot. It wouldn’t have. Other people did. But, I thought the gesture was very nice. When the trucks went by, they went by, and I thanked them.
 
A bit later, my lady and I were strolling down the Boardwalk. It was kind of an interesting day in Venice as, The Chariot Festival was taking place. Basically, that’s an event set up by The International Society for Krishna Consciousness, followers of Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. You know, The Hare Krishnas.
 
It used to be a really big event. They would bring elephants to the Boardwalk and stuff like that. Now, it’s much smaller.
 
My lady and I were discussing how you used to see Hare Krishnas all over the place, dancing and singing and trying to get you to give them a donation for one of their books. Men with their head shaved, leaving only the little ponytail in the back so Krishna could pull them up to heaven when they died. Now, they are all but gone.
 
Waking the Boardwalk, however, you could see the remnants of them. Men and women still possessing the garb but appearing much more, (for lack of a better term), normal than in times gone past.
 
Funny note: I purchased my first motorcycle from a Hare Krishna. A guy living down in Laguna Beach. It was orange, of course.
 
So, it was an interesting day in Venice. A reminder of a time gone past, surrounded by people of a specific mindset, that may have moved into the mainstream but still hold that place of spirituality in their heart. I personally know that feeling very well.
 
As we were walking, I see the two elderly gentlemen coming towards us. Now, I guess I should say, that I am using the word, “Elderly,” more as a definition of a look than anything else. They may very well have been my age or younger. It’s just that they were both totally grey haired. Anyway… As they walk past me, they both put their hands together and gave me a pranam. You know, the two hands together in prayer fashion. I smiled.
 
It all kind of stuck me as strange. They weren’t doing that to anyone else. Sure, I had an Om symbol on my ball cap, but that couldn’t be the cause. And, it’s not like we were in Thailand, or a place like that, where that salutation happens all the time. So???
 
I joked to my lady, “They must know who I am.”
 
But, I think all this is interesting. It all sets one to thinking. Just think if everyone was respectful enough to notice the divine light in each human being and you actually acknowledged it, how much better the world would be.