Christmas Soon?
Oh no – it’s not been two months since I’ve spoken! Well. Wait until I have a piece of dark chocolate and I’ll be back……………….
There. And all I have is Hershey’s Special Dark. Ack. Sure wish it was Poulain.
First it looked like summer wouldn’t come – and then it came and disappeared until October, for a day or two. Then autumn showed up for a few days, and then came back in late November. A little rain with it, too. Today? Whoa. It’s winter, for sure. A few inches of snow on the ground but below zero temps, and WAY below zero wind chills, thanks to Mr. Northwest Wind from North Dakota.
Made some potato soup this afternoon and added a handful of chopped ham and two cans of big mushroom pieces. It’s simmering…..can you smell it? Homemade bread, too…….by DH.
Yesterday at school I met a charming young Oriental man who is a student in the engineering college. We were all eating our free holiday dinner. He mentioned that he normally didn’t eat at the cafeteria, but cooked in his room with his other two roommates. They cook rice and stir fries and lots of healthy food. His favorite restaurant is Quang’s, several hundred miles from where we were sitting. We shared some lovely memories, and suddenly my plate of carb-loaded holiday food lost all its appeal. I longed for a simple bowl of Vietnamese seafood soup! His two roommates were at the table, too, and were equally charming and we had a fun-fulled joking session. One told me I reminded him of his grandmother, who had knitted his (really nice) “acorn” hat and scarf. It was green. He said he pretended it was brown. He guessed my age as late seventies. I wanted to tweak his nose! He was joking……..ah, they are so young! Younger than my grandson!
School? Carried a strong A into this last week before finals, and as a result I’m excused from taking the final exam. Nice – I guess. I can do without the last-minute stress that is consuming DS, as he finishes up finals at his college. Actually, it is a pleasure to get the A. I’m considered a bit of a Madame Know-It-All, or Teacher’s Pet, but I learned quite a bit, and really enjoyed it. Met some very nice young people.
The semester was full of special experiences. An all-day outdoor rice ceremony…..stir the harvested rice in a big tub over the side of a roaring fire for hours to roast it…..everyone takes turns with the huge wooden paddle. The rice is then dumped into a freshly dug hole lined with a big cloth……some take turns dancing on it in handmade, well-cared for old moccasins (I did, but never received copies of the photos that were taken! And they were pretty startling! Would have put one here, too). This dancing removes the husks from the rice. Then it’s put into a wide, flat basket and slowly “fanned” to let the lightweight husks be carried away by the wind, and the wonderful wild rice remains. And a bag full goes home with everyone.
Drove to a powwow in a nearby town one afternoon, to hear the drums and watch the dancing and competitions. Pretty costumes, small and large dancers, several drum circles, one with new friends made in the school Indian community. DGS and DGGD, both with Native American blood, were quite happy to be there. And presents were given to all attendees, wild rice and fleece blankets and flashlights and toys for the little ones. A large buffet dinner provided for all attendees, chicken and much more.
A panel of Indians from the school club one morning, to answer any and all questions from the class, even the embarrassing ones. A presentation by a local man one day who has collected Indian artifacts for more than 60 years. I met him at my antique mall one day when I was working, and he graciously agreed to bring some of them to show the class, and it was quite a treat.
We had to do a term paper, of course, and I did mine on diabetes, with an Indian slant. One of my sources for information was an interview with the coordinator and director of the diabetic center on a nearby reservation. The more I learn about Native Americans, in the United States, Canada and South America, the more astonished – or appalled – or just rendered speechless – I am at how much of this whole side of humanity has existed under the radar. And the reasons are not for me to enumerate here. They fill – and will continue to generate – hundreds of books.
Mr. Professor quietly assumed I would be taking further courses, including “Federal Law and Tribal Government” and “Native American History” and “Intro to American Indian Philosophy”, for starters. So I committed to the History course in Spring. An interesting glitch in registration rules that affects me – because I’m a senior citizen enjoying a much-reduced tuition cost, I can’t even register for any classes for spring until all other students have registered and dropped and everything important, AND if the class is still open. By the day I CAN register, I will have missed 3 classes, if I can even get in. Mr. Professor said, sotto voce, “Come to class…….I’ll hold it open for you with Admin”. Sure pays to know someone on the inside.
Surprisingly, Mr. Professor is quite well-known around the country. He’s written books, of course, but more than that he travels to speak at many universities and organizations. He speaks to teachers and various professional societies and law enforcement members and visits schools everywhere, to share his philosophy of honesty and education and personal growth. He is a pipe carrier within the tribe, a high honor, and a respected medicine man and healer. He was president for 10 years of the area Indian college, of which there are more than 35 in the US, on the largest reservation in this county.
Finished re-reading “End of Order: Versailles 1919″ by Charles Mee. We certainly don’t learn from history. Was that really Clauswitz? So many history books……so little time.
And yes, the holidays loom large……..my knitting needles are having busy days.
Bigger pictures might show up after Christmas, of course!
However, there’s many a row to be finished before that can happen. And devilishly, more and more enticing patterns float past my eyes every day, at knitting group or in magazines or online. I have but two hands – what a major problem! And of course, I’ve committed to a me-to-me present, a Mystery Sockaholic sock KAL (knit-a-long, for the uncognoscenti) that begins mid-January, right along with school! The Mystery part is that the instructions are provided in 6 separate sections, one each delivered via email every two weeks. And no picture is provided to help! Fun to come. And did I hear tax time lumbering up the driveway?
If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun……Katherine Hepburn