Not The Most Orthodox Hare Krishna Activity

Painting a Drain on the Range

Yesterday, I drove to Toowoomba to meet up with my cousin. On the way, I picked up bhakta Dave, who knows some drains there and has an increasing interest in Krishna consciousness. When we got to the meeting place, there were a few devotees waiting for us with lunch ready. We had kirtan and read some Gita before honoring prasadam. Andrew blessed Dave by doing an EFT-style session with him outside on the veranda. Then we went to a drain called Lagoon, which has a swimming hole at the entrance/outflow.
It smells fresh, unlike some other drains, and feels cool, like walking up a water slide because of the speed of the water going through it. There are no flat spaces to paint, and it's getting smaller to the point where we're starting to bend over, so we turn back and go to the next spot. Narayan has picked up his friend, and he says, "Why is Krishna blue?" Narayan, who is playing karatallas and chanting Hare Krishna, replies, "Blue is the rarest color for living beings. Even animals that appear blue aren't. He's also called blackish, like a black hole that sucks you in. He's all-attractive!"
We get to the other drain, and it's embedded into the range. We enter on one side of the road, and it's a single concrete pipe made from plastic that goes at an angle, like a water slide. This thing could plummet us into oblivion! Needless to say, we go to the other side of the road and discover an interesting section with a ladder going down that leads to two concrete pipes, which lead to what feels like a guerrilla lookout. We jump up onto the top of this spillway and marvel at the view from the top of the range. I do a painting of Krishna with a cow and the words "Haribol spirit soul" in silver with a red outline. Narayan asks, "How much did it cost to do this piece?" I say, "$60," and he replies, "I'd like to sponsor it."
So many moods in one! The thrill of doing art out here, the secrecy of the spot, the epicness of the natural surroundings, the bliss of having new people with us asking about Krishna consciousness, the brotherly love I have for Narayan, who is my cousin and a fellow devotee, and now the experience of having my graffiti "sponsored." If I was just painting some random letters or drawing cool pictures, that would likely never happen, but in the culture and context of devotional service, it seems appropriate. Climbing out of the bush, I say, "Not the most orthodox Hare Krishna activity, right?"