3rd mother letter of 2007 - finding holes in the fence

Dear Mother,

Do you remember -- I think it was a couple of years ago -- when I was driving a loop around Tulsa, lost as usual, trying to find Matt's house for the family Thanksgiving gathering and the two pieces of metal flew off of a car passing me at a high rate of speed and they hit my old Camry in the middle of the driver's door. It all happened so fast. I thought I'd been shot at by a speeding motorist. Since then, I've been asked many times what caused those two large dents in the door, followed by the next question: "Why don't you have them fixed? My response has always been the same. "No way. Those two dents in the car door keep me reminded of the time I was almost killed in Tulsa, Oklahoma." It's a pretty good living story.

When I was running the neighborhood Christmas morning, tripped, and fell face forward on the street, skinning the palms of my hands, left knee and ripping a hole in my favorite running pants, the Tulsa time of two years ago reappeared. People now want to know, "Why are you wearing running pants with a hole in the knee? Why don't you go buy a new pair?" Well, "No way." The new hole in the pants reminds me of the fall, the pain of it all, and feeling alive, Another pretty good living story.

Over the years, with every inch of separation I've made from No. 10 highway in Tahlequah and then, 133 N. E. in Bartlesville, it seems that as the distance increases it matches the inability of people to understand the way I think.

It's like being out exploring on a Saturday morning and finding yourself standing at the forefront of a large meadow with a fence stretching across the whole expanse, blocked from going forward, straight ahead, to find out what is in the far distance. Sometimes you are lucky enough to find a small hole in the fence to get through and sometimes, you've just got to buck up and walk around the whole dang thing to get where you are going. It may take a little longer, but you can get there.

The farther away I've gotten from Indian Country, the fewer holes I've found in the thinking of folks to maneuver through. The time it takes to walk around the whole dang outside of the Indian-Country-mind can get pretty tiring at times.

Friday, January 5th

Here's a good early morning story for you -- driving down Mesa this morning, by the light of a full moon, on my way to hook up with Judy and Laura for the early morning run, I slowed, as I could see in the distance flashing lights from police cars.

Getting to the scene of the "accident,' I crept by three police cars trying to get a good look at what was causing all the commotion. What I saw didn't make any sense at the time. There seemed to be a golf cart surrounded by three "blue and whites." all of a sudden one of the police cars, lights flashing, sped off.

Almost a mile down the street, I could see flashing lights again. Passing by, there was a repeat of my earlier vision -- a golf cart, sitting half in the street, half on the curb.

When I got to the Hitt's house, I asked Judy and Laura if they minded running back to the first police car to find out what was going on and I could check out my eye-sight. Off we went. Everything was still in place. The police car and the second spotted golf cart. It really was a golf cart!! The policeman told us that a group of teenagers had stolen several carts from a tennis club, located about four miles away. So far, they had caught two of the teenagers. The others ran. Well, actually, according to the policeman, they all ran, but there were two slow ones.

I mentioned to the policman that they would probably use "the full moon" defense. But, he told me he thought that was a myth and didn't believe people acted out a little more strangely under the light of a full moon.

Saturday Morning -- January 6, 2007

Rare opportunity missed this day. No alarm clock needed last night. I could have slept as long as I wanted. Instead, "up with the chickens." My last dream remembered was chauffeuring around the Queen of England. No joke! Thoughtfully, she gave me pretty earrings to wear so that I would be dressed in a proper manner. HA!

Being mindful of the full moon again -- times of stormy weather and earthquakes. I love my 2007 Cherokee Heritage calendar. January is the "Month of the Cold Moon," and it features the herb, Mullein, suggesting its leaves be used to make a tea for congestion.

Well, daylight has finally appeared. I think I'm going to go get out of my jammies and locate the place on the street that caused me to fall Christmas morning and give it a good talking to. Then I'm going to walk the neighborhood looking for holes in the fences. There was no workout this morning as Emil went to San Antonio for a training seminar.

Love,

Jody