Last Day of Grade 2

June 28th today, and we picked up our daughter from school - her final day of Grade 2. It was hard for me to express in an adequate way, what a wonderful role model her teacher, Mrs. Wise, was... a powerful female presence who made a tremendous impact on my daughter. Mrs. Wise was also a mentor of the best kind, one who nudged Angeni out of a place of shyness, to being an important member of her class - even demonstrating leadership. Our little family gift felt inadequate, somehow...

I was glad to hear that this gifted teacher is remaining at the same school to share her light with junior kindergarten children. When a teacher is as good as this one is/was for a child, it is amazing how that little blossom grows.

And now we look forward to something like 67 days of summer to fill... eeek!!!

Miracle of Life

This past week we witnessed the birth of a baby chick - the first of its kind born here at Moonstar... We've had a lot of births from much larger animals, but this was awesome. The hen sat on 2 eggs, without moving from them, for 4 weeks - Brian took her food daily to keep up her strength. Not knowing the gestation period of poultry eggs, I called the vat to ask, and that same morning the miracle happened... This was the hen's first chick... of the 2 eggs, one was not viable; she knew that somehow, and walked away. Brian checked the forlorn egg, and it was definitely a bad one.

Nature in all her majesty and beauty, for sure. We had llama crias born who were up and running within an hour, usually feeding, with the mother knowing to cut their cord. Very sacred stuff...

As for baby chick he is about 5 days old today, and seems to be feeding by himself, with mom ever-vigilant. She's probably a better mom than I am.

Summer Solstice

8:26 AM Wednesday, June 21st (DST) we blow into summer... I welcome this beautiful time, hoping the humidity stays at bay. We had a small group attend our annual inipi (or sweatlodge) yesterday, and the feast was awesome. While this may well be our last sweat for quite awhile, we are pleased to see the old traditions carry on.

It is hard to believe that in a week our daughter graduates grade 2. She loves school so much, and misses her friends when the long weeks of summer seem to drag for her... at least it is broken up by daycamp.

As we welcome Shawnodese, coyote trickster, into the medicine wheel on Wednesday, I wish for you growth, joy, illumination and connection with family, in whatever form that takes. Work AND play, take time for rest especially when it is humid, and enjoy Turtle Mother Earth. I look forward to meeting lots of people at the weddings I do, and the gatherings we attend.

Peace be with you all!! Kateri