Yesterday I had to spend the entire day at the office, answering the nonringing phones, until 5pm, but I was glad in a way, I learned a lot about the Portuguese Air Force and tried to explain to some idiot that just because he did not see a propane tank out side of an empty house it was quite possible it did have some sort of gas heating unit inside as the listing said.
When I left the office I had a call that there was a Pow Wow going on in Stuart. It was being put on by the Wolf Creek Clan of Cherokee, a local group of native descended people dedicated to maintaining the Cherokee identity among their group. Not necessarily "Indian Looking" people, but their hearts are in the right place. Hadn't been to one in a long while so I headed off, driving a circuitous route threw the country, and arriving at the fair ground about 6:30 pm. It was a beautiful evening, the temperature was absolutely perfect, the humidity was absolutely perfect, the ground was dry. I payed the $8 admission and walked in the direction of the circle, where I learned the drum would now do its final song. The brochure said there would be dancing until 9 pm, but you know thats the way things go.
The dancers were gathered around the drum, mixed in with spectators. The parents with their children, wanting them to have the best vantage point to see and everyones head I noticed, bobbing slightly. I smiled, looked around the gathered and saw every shade, every complexion, every advantage and disadvantage. The way it should be I think, gathered together to hear the heart beat of the earth mother, of humanity, to be of one mind.
After checking out the vendors selling arrowheads, books on how to speak Cherokee, dream catchers, herbs, staffs, medicine bags and miniature boxes to store feathers in that resembled caskets, I found myself not feeling the need to posses any of it. Some of it I already had, and it could bring me no more joy that the late afternoon sun on the fence did.
Leaving the Pow Wow I stopped at the nearby Wendy's a recent addition to Stuart and one of the most difficult places to enter I have ever seen. The girl at the drive up window saw my orange wrist band and asked if that "PeeWee" was still going on. (Gawd, please don't ask me 'bout no propane tanks!) I told her it would be back tommorrow and she should check it out.
"Well I might but I'm worried about that tornado they're callin' for" I smiled. Tropical Storm Hanna was long gone and Ike was far off, she would have the opportunity, if she would take it.
And today is a beautiful day. From my window I can hear a Wood Pecker thumping on a tree in the woods, but I can't turn my head to look for it, I woke up with a crick in my neck like nobody's bidness.