Writing from memory, now

couldn't write while we were on the road, but i get to catch up now that i'm home and all the photos have been uploaded to shutterfly. here's link below to pics from our arrival in phoenix until we took off for globe: http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/album.sfly?fid=e141a399683e2375&startIndex=0&sid=0QbtmTRu2bMmMq

we did the swapmart/flea-market trips, of course! and i ended up buying fried bread (which was ono), incense, and a couple of other small things. then we were off to globe, which was a long way off for me, but not too far for others who grew up in an area where 'far' meant really far. we passed lovely mountains, and all the tall stones looked like people to me, like they were sentinels guarding their sacred land from invaders (a bit too late, unfortunately).

also, i happened to look out the window of the hotel we stayed at in phoenix (aloft) and noticed their mass transit system. it was fabulous looking and very quiet. wish hawaii were as progressive and artsy as phoenix. even their highway walls have south-west type designs built into them; not ugly and cement-looking.

there's something about sitting in the back seat of a comfortable car while traveling 150 miles on smooth road that makes people sleepy. i include myself in that 'people' group. i kept dozing on and off, and finally woke up when we got to the first stop on the road with the turkey jerky sign. while maria and evern bought stuff, i went into the little trading post shop behind the jerky seller. tons of interesting stuff in there, but i didn't buy anything. i did look at signs, however. and took zillions of pics.

eventually we got to globe, stowed our gear at the quality inn, and ate dinner next door to the hotel. in the morning we drove over to the san carlos apache reservation to meet vern and her husband and to visit one of the families whose young daughter (12) was preparing for a 'dance', a kind of coming of age ceremony in which traditions are passed on from the older to the younger generation. they were way out on a piece of land that looked both beautiful and isolated, far from everything. the young lady dug post holes for setting up her wickiup and in the process uncovered a beautiful arrowhead (good luck!) and some other artifacts. her family had already constructed a kitchen and posts with a kind of wire fence for a wall around the compound. some of the male relatives were bringing in willow branches to weave in and out of the wires on the posts and when we left they had completed just a small portion. while we were there, a member of the tribal council came by to visit the family and to wish them good luck.

what does this have to do with anything? at 12 years old, this young girl has the benefit of being inside a system that promotes traditional practices. she'll be in a position to mentor some other young girl when she gets older. we don't have anything like it. that's very sad.