A Long Respite

The Medicine Wheel and Memorial Wall have been morphing into their own creations and rather than being projects they are now amusements that have woven themselves into my daily rounds.

I continue to find the white, black and gold rocks needed for the north, west, and south parts of the medicine wheel on the property. However, the red rocks are not to be found in Sky Valley. I’ve had to be more creative in finding red things to use. I’ve painted some rocks but most recently I’ve stolen gorgeous red rocks from the Nephi Utah Red Bluffs Elementary School landscape features each time we stop there on the way to and from Montana. The symbolism of lightning and rattlesnakes has also manifested itself along with the power of horses all according to Black Elk’s vision.

The memorial wall was disappointing me in that it wasn’t beautiful until I discovered covering the installation of the water bottles with the palm fronds that are periodically cut from the trees on the property. The palm has always been a symbol of peace and they are remarkably malleable and enduring. Not sending all these fronds to the dump is an added benefit. The full moon ritual of filling the water bottles has been changed only in adding drops of chlorine to the water before sealing with beeswax. Threats of nuclear attacks or earthquakes spawn thoughts that maybe this water will be our survival for a while!

The names of victims are no longer important. It seems to be a general reminder of man’s inhumanity to man. The recent airing of Ken Burn’s The Vietnam War put it all over the top. We are fortunate to have been able to count our dead at 58,229, and have their names forever inscribed in black marble. For the Vietnamese, their fatal casualties can only be estimated at 2 million. Most of their families don’t know how, where, or when their loved ones died. The whole countryside is a memorial to their deaths in fighting for their reunification and in the end we left them to fight against each other.

The morning quiet time I used to spend at the pool has moved up to the golden temple. I’ve taken to trekking up there with incense and a trinket from my prodigious stockpile of gizmos that Ric left. As I walk up the mountain, I find a place to set the trinket with some natural element like a special rock, or dried leaves, or a bone so the trail is lined with little markings of my passage. It’s just a thing I started doing with no real plan but is ridiculously satisfying; akin to a jigsaw puzzle. After a bit of reading and writing I come back down into the Medicine Wheel and Memorial Wall to sit and see what they have to tell me about next steps in their evolution. Then I seem ready to start my day or work.