Archive for Grandmothers Summit
An Interesting Adventure!
Posted by: | CommentsSunday July 15th, I went down to New Mexico for the Sisters of Honua Grandmother’s Summit. I had cleaned all of the accumulated rubbish out of the car, had the oil changed, the fluids checked, bought new tires, got a wash and wax, and filled it up with gas. It was a wonderful (if a little too hot) day, with the clouds rolling across the blue bowl of sky and very light traffic. I love to take long drives with myself and I hadn’t had one in a long time. The road was smooth, the car road like a dream; though my gas got low quicker than usual since I was using the AC.
At Wagon Mound I stopped for gas and filled her up. Putting the trip gauge back to zero to see what kind of mpg I was getting, I wrote the mileage on the slip, and took off. Humming along the highway, going 80 on the 75 mpg road, the miles melted away as I got closer to Rowe, NM. I was going to spend the night at my friend Winnie’s home. She and I had met when I came to build a labyrinth on her land. She and her husband are truely self sufficient, no power lines go to their home. So I was looking forward to being out on their isolated piece of dessert paradise!
Suddenly there was a loud crack, bang noise! I had never heard anything like it before! Instantly I said to myself “You’ve just blown your engine!”. Then my ‘Carbaby’ began to shake and wobble on the road, and it took a lot of strength to keep her going in a straight line while I slowed down as quickly as safety permitted.
“Maybe I blew a tire?!” I said hopefully.
I was shaking, especially inside…a full adrenalin rush going through me. I turned the car off when I was as far off the road as I could get, rolled to a stop and I just sat there limp, gathering my wits. After breathing for a minute or so, and watching the steam lazily spiral out around the edges of the hood, I relaxed a little when that disappeared completely. Having lived in a dessert, the sunshades went up on the windshield immediately. Black topped convertible in 100 degree weather is a bit uncomfortable after awhile.
OK. Call AAA. Any bars on the cell phone?? Yes. Where am I? Oh yes…I’ve gone 14.3 miles south from the Wagon Mound exit. (So grateful I hit the trip button!)
“We’ll have the truck there in two hours or less.” Holy Heat!
I called Winnie so that she could meet me in Las Vegas, NM at the repair place. Then I sat there. Intermittently cars and trucks whizzed by at 80 or so miles per hour, rocking the car. I opened the windows despite the traffic noise to let a breeze in, and prayed for some more clouds to cover me. Sitting there dripping sweat, I realized that because of cell phones, no one stopped anymore for a car with blinkers on beside the road!
Now here’s the surprising thing – I felt no drama. I didn’t go into the future, and every time I started to, up came the “I don’t have enough information yet” statement. Wow! Have I come a long way! Instead of the old thoughts, I found myself saying “Isn’t this interesting! I wonder what will happen next?” I also hoped it would be soon as I was out of water!
An hour and a half later, I was delighted to find out the tow truck was a comfortable roomy double cab with air conditioning! The driver’s wife was with him, and we chatted while he loaded my car up. I snapped pictures of it through the rear window, wondering if she would be leaving my life altogether. I was so glad I’d cleaned her out! Only my camping gear, clothes, and give-aways for the Summit were in the car. We talked about where to take the car, and I voiced my doubt that a transmission place would be where I needed to go. That was the only suggestion AAA had. I went with the suggestion of the tow truck driver and found myself in the suburbs at a talented home mechanic.
He opened the hood and looked in. “I’ve only seen this a few times in my career!” He said. Then he started pulling walnut sized hunks of cast iron block out of the engine and showing me. The rod had punched a hole in the block. I knew that meant a rebuilt engine. Since I liked him immediately, I asked him to do a quote of rebuilt engine vs bluebook value of my car.
Then Winnie took me to her home! Ahhhhh!!! Nothing like relaxing in the wood fired hot tub, gazing up into a clear dark sky filled with a million stars, unclouded by light, haze or smog! I slept well that night.
After we walked the labyrinth in the morning and packed ourselves into Winnie’s jeep for our week at Taa-naash-kaa-da Sanctuary, we returned to the garage in the ‘burbs. James had my figures: bluebook value $2700.00; rebuilt engine and clutch (no sense doing the engine and not doing the clutch) $2700.00. I rounded it up to $3000.00 immediately. Something always comes up. I was pretty sure I wanted to rebuild the engine, and I also decided to think on it for the week I would be at Taa-naash-kaa-da.
Well, I just put 4 new tires on my car, a new battery, a new top…now a new engine and a clutch? Versus what kind of car I could get for the $3000.00? Hummmm…sounds like a no-brainer to me! 150,000 miles? For a Toyota Celica, that’s only half of its expected life! I said “James, fix it!”
My sisters at the Grandmothers Summit offered me four different rides home to Denver! My oldest daughter was also very generous and kind and immediately told me to go ahead and use her car while she was on vacation. However she came home Monday so I really need mine back. Time to ask James how long it will be.
OOPS! I don’t have his number because I had to get a new phone (the screen was not working right), and somehow it wasn’t on the SIM card?? I had called him on my old phone, but that one was gone. After a few attempts to get a message to James, or find the number on line, I finally used the yellow pages to find the tow truck driver. We talked a minute, then he asked if I was Kate Armstrong! When I confirmed this, he gave me his friend James number.
So I am tentatively planning to return to Las Vegas, NM mid month to get my car. The only ‘flies in the ointment’ are no short block available for my car until next week; and there is the Denver County Fair that I’m part of August 9th – 12th, so I can’t get back ‘on the road again’ until after the 13th. In the mean time let’s add winning the Publisher’s Clearing House money to my manifestation list! YAY!!
Four Days of Ceremony
Posted by: | CommentsPicture this: a New Moon gathering, the Turtle Moon, falling in the middle of a week of ceremony (October 24th through 28th) and 40 women having a ‘slumber party’ in the woods! The Second Annual Grandmothers Summit assembled at Camp Whittier, north of Santa Barbara, CA this year. In the midst of a beautiful oak woods with little cabins nestled in groups, we gathered to celebrate womanhood, Mother Earth, opening to the future, and the wisdom of our Ancestors. Flocks of wild turkeys gobbled for acorns, herds of Mule deer grazed on the only grass around – the playing field – and a huge hawks nest graced the oak tree in front of the lodge. For four days and four nights we gathered in gratitude and joy – in the main lodge, at the fire circle, and in the dining hall – renewing our sisterhood with sacred intent.
The Sacred circle was opened Monday night with a talking circle. We passed the talking feathers and everyone was deeply heard – a gift beyond measure is to be truly listened to by 39 others. It was only the beginning of the depth that was experienced during this “time out of time” of sacred sisterhood with the Sisters of Honua. www.yraceburu.org/Grandmothers_Summit.html
Each day, for the next three days, we had presenters of wisdom and sacred knowledge from a diverse background of experiences and learning to ground us in what is our truth here on Mother Earth. We learned how to ground deeply in the Earth, create flexible boundaries, and become invisible in various ways. We walked the path to our own Peace with a deep meditation following the story of the “Peacemaker” Deganawida, who joined the warring tribes of the Iroquois into the peaceful Iroquois Nation long before the Europeans arrived.
A beautiful Tarahumara Curandera reminded us about the knowledge we can gain from sacred plants, the Moon Dance, and the use of prayer and blessing before, during, and after every act in life. Healing from the Gypsy (Rom) tradition was taught through Vas Pesh, Hand Walking, showing us that all the systems of the body can be addressed and healed using specific pressure points on the hands! Next came a fascinating session of Tibetan Astrology, coupled with a system of Numerology that gave us positive attributes from our first name and the shadow side of our nature from our last name. What a marvelous personal clearing this created for each of us by speaking these out loud.
We continued filling ourselves with sacredness and wisdom through stories of healing and spiritual gifts from those who have gone before, and connecting ourselves to All That Is through another deep meditation. A master drum maker and powerful Native singer gave us drumming and song that expanded our senses and filled our hearts; then a creative sacred art project that showed us all unfolding in a strong, playful, unified community also brought us into alignment with our beautiful child within. Blended into these teachings were Fire ceremony, New Moon Women’s Initiation ceremony, an exciting market place with products from our facilitators, and many other blessings from our sisters of Spirit.
For every woman who attended this gathering, there were hundreds of her Ancestors that joined us in ceremony. We made a ripple in the fabric of the Universe, and it is filled with love, joy, peace, and our Dream Seeds! There is now an open connection to us from all the strong, powerful, wise women who have gone before. Stop a moment, plant your feet, connect to Mother Earth, and draw on the wisdom of the Fourth World as we pass through the gate into the Fifth World. Let us remember to leave behind everything that no longer serves us, and be open to the newness of all creation. Ah ho!
[Pictures to come!]
