My Earth Store

My Earth Store is right on the Yol Cantt. Road, and if you look out our front door, you see the Gyuto Temple and the Karmapa Monastery right there across the street. It’s a pretty busy spot because of all the monks and the people visiting the temple. We usually spend the morning sweeping the dust off the porch because the road gets a lot of traffic heading towards Dharamshala. Inside, the shelves are filled with things we’ve gathered, and it smells like various natural soaps and herbs. We don't have a big staff, usually just a couple of us sitting here near the counter. When the tourists come in from the monastery, they often have lots of questions about the area. We try to help them find their way or tell them where to get a good meal in Sidhbari. It gets quite cold here in the winter months, so we usually have a small heater tucked under the desk to keep our feet warm. The pace of the day depends on the temple schedule mostly. When there’s a big event over there, we’re running around quite a bit, but other times it’s quiet enough to read a book or just watch the clouds move over the Dhauladhar mountains. We like it here because of the view and the people who pass through our door. It’s just a simple shop trying to stay grounded. Sometimes we get a stray dog sleeping on the welcome mat, and we just let him stay there until he’s ready to move.