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<\/a>The great kiva complex at Pueblo Bonito<\/p><\/div>\n
Once we\u2019ve escaped the clutter of billboards, oil rigs, auto salvage yards and cookie cutter fast food eateries in the Farmington-Bloomfield area, we see in the hazy western horizon a huge looming silhouette, dark, starkly solitary and almost brooding.\u00a0 It is known as Shiprock and indeed looks like a gigantic ship, impossibly frozen in a sea of desert.\u00a0 To the Dine, it is the legendary great bird that brought them from the north to their present lands.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Shiprock New Mexico<\/p><\/div>\n
Still we press on, the land rising to forested mountains, dropping again to bare sandstone cliffs.\u00a0 We are nearing our destination and suddenly without warning, the canyon opens before us.<\/p>\n
On our first full day, we are immersed in the canyon walls when my watch stops.\u00a0 Me, who is leader of the pack and so focused on dates, itinerary, agenda, checklists and movement of participants at specific intervals of time.\u00a0 But we are in some ways in \u201ctime without time\u201d and a watch seems like a superfluous anachronism.\u00a0 Next, the spirit of the land takes away my prescription glasses, which I don\u2019t even miss until hours later.<\/p>\n
In sacred sweat lodge, I hear the weary yet deeply devoted voices of our Dine leaders who strive to maintain the ancient ways.\u00a0 I voice my support and acknowledge how being a spiritual leader can bring more tests and challenges, but also brings its own great rewards.\u00a0 In the darkened lodge, I can somehow see their heads nod in affirmation.<\/p>\n
Next day, we are back in the canyon gathered around \u201cspider woman\u201d herself who kneels before the web of her hand crafted loom, weaving threads of wool from her sheep into a multicolored tapestry of wind, sunlight, stars and ancient stories of hope, tragedy, sadness and laughter.\u00a0 She is Kathryn Pemala, who\u2019s lived on this family farm all her life, raised sheep and goats, grown fruit trees, corn and a family as have generations before.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Kathryn Pemala, Dine Weaver<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cI hear the songs and stories.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I weave,\u201d Kathryn tells us.\u00a0 \u201cPlus it\u2019s good physical work.\u201d\u00a0 We\u2019ve come to hear some of the stories, but also to help out on the farm.\u00a0 So we get our own dose of physical work.\u00a0 Dust flies, people sneeze, goats greedily much the weeds we chop and everyone chats and chuckles.\u00a0 Soon it\u2019s time to go and we cram into crowded jeeps amidst smiles, thank yous and promises to return next year.<\/p>\n
This is an eternal return, however, this coming and going and coming again of countless seasons that have shaped both the canyon and the people who live within her protective embrace.\u00a0 It is hard not to feel a part of this immensity, to shed our limited physical skins and become a part of the land and sky\u2014to Walk in Beauty, as the Dine say.\u00a0 Especially as the full moon rises above us on the canyon rim as we overlook the great spire of Spider Rock on our last night here.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Spider Rock Canyon de Chelly<\/p><\/div>\n
Oh, and that watch of mine that stopped?\u00a0 I took it to the jeweler who check the battery, found nothing wrong and returned it to me ticking right along.\u00a0 And the glasses?\u00a0 Our group kindly stopped in the side canyon where I thought I might have dropped them, and we fanned out in a search party.\u00a0 Suddenly overhead, a red tailed hawk circled and sent out its screeching call, resonating against the canyon walls.\u00a0 Soon after, the glasses were found where they had spent a night under the nearly full moon.\u00a0 \u201cNew vision,\u201d someone said.<\/p>\n
Everyone wants to return next fall, 2016. \u00a0If you are interested in joining the group, please be in touch! \u00a0Happy autumn. \u00a0Doug Conwell<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Late September 2015 and the planet is engaged in its eternal autumnal dance of change as it axis tips toward the North Star Polaris.\u00a0 Eleven souls and I are on an Earth Walks journey from Santa Fe westward to the … Continue reading