The weather held out for us the night before. Waking up, there were some scattered clouds but it didn't look too much like rain, so that was a win. Having a new mattress that didn't leak or deflate was another win. Having a place to sleep for more than one night made it perfect.
I have a running joke with my friend Melody who you may remember from the start of her trip. From the back of the barn, one can see the "biscuit", a biscuit shaped mountain. Here on the rez, we have for our view Sugarloaf Mountain. I never really saw the sugarloaf, but then again, I never saw a sugarloaf. Anyhoo, I thought of Mel this morning as I looked across the river.
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| Sugarloaf Mountain |
It was pretty early, so there was no coffee or muffins at the large tent to our left. Tom made some joe at camp and I walked the pow wow grounds. Little by little, more and more people started to arrive. They continued to set up the tent for the Wellness Fair which was planned for 10 AM. Wether that meant 10 AM or 9 AM or 11 AM, I just gave up trying to figure it out.
The Wellness Fair, sponsored by Haven House, is an opportunity for different groups to share their services to the community. It begins with a parade of mostly women marching from Haven House to the Pow Wow tent to start the fair.
Many of the people marching were going to be manning the different tables placed along the walls of the striped tent. They changed things up this year as they were not going to open the tables up until after some speeches and some other entertainment.
There was a large welcome from the host of the day and then some levity by asking for some community members to come up and do a dance. The host didn't say what the dance was going to be until she got her contestants. After some prodding she got the three she was looking for. The song and dance? Gangman Style!
The contestants did a great job, especially our chief, seen below.
Once the laughter subsided from the dancing, a comedian was introduced. I never really saw a comedian at Pow Wow before. His humor was a cross between leacherous and stale. He was a native from, I believe, Ottawa. There was no swearing, but he kept on commenting about how this woman in the crowd wanted him or that woman meeting hi later. It was odd. He did speak about his alcoholism and his sobriety, so there was a reason he was here for the fair.
My family arrived in the midst of the entertainment. They found a table to sit at and laughed along with the rest of the crowd. My Aunt Deuce came by and then my other aunt and her family. We all chatted for awhile. I took some breaks from the comedian and form the crowd at the table a few times to check out what else was going on and to check on the dogs.
We had put the dogs in the car as dogs are not allowed on Pow Wow grounds. We found a great place to park it and them in the shade behind the church. Upon returning from the car, I saw the flagpole, painted in traditional native colors. Tomorrow, it will hold the many flags of the community.
The skies were still holding up, but they did not seem to be as clear as when I woke up.
Outside of the tent, there was a young man instructing young kids on the art of bows and arrows. I must admit that I made a faux pas when I laughed when one of the kids came no where close to the target. I even got an unapproving glance from the teacher. Oops.
I went back to the tent and found many people in line, signing in for the raffle drawing they would call later on in the day.
Back at the table with my family, we continued the family talk. Emma was still in pain with her arm in a sling from her incident the day before, but still smiling. Naresh, my nephew, is always fun to be around. We saw our cousin Betty, who generously offered (for the third visit in a row) the use of her cabin up in the woods. Within an hour or two, we had the keys to the cabin.
Lunch was served, with the Elders being invited up to the tables first. We sent the kids to get some food for my Mom & Dad as well as my aunts. Once they got there food, I was headed up there. I was hungry and who turns down a free lunch?
Post lunch, they opened up the tables to visit. Most of them had a sign up or tickets for more raffles. They also had many giveaways at the tables. Much of it not great, but some of it was useful. Tom was very happy to receive a coin purse for his quarters that he steals from me to do large laundry loads back at home. He lost his old one, where? At the laundromat at home, of course.
All of the raffles were called that afternoon. There was one beautiful blanket that I had wanted to win, but alas, it was not meant to be. As a matter of fact, none of us won anything.
We all separated as the afternoon closed. We had to take care of the dogs and Deuce had to be brought home by Naresh. My other aunt was taken home by her son. We made plans to meet a short bit later at the bingo hall. At least Tom and Naresh and I. We would meet at the bingo hall, find Deuce and try our luck at B-I-N-G-O!
Again, lady luck was not on our side. No winners, except for Deuce who won a nap in the middle of the game. At one point, she asked me to take over her cards and closed her eyes. She definitely is getting older.
We left the hall and headed back to our tent. The weather had finally changed and there was some rain coming down. It had been a long day and all that I wanted to do was to go to bed. Then, lady luck left the building for us completely. When we drove up to the tent, along with seeing a few other tenters had arrived, we found our tent collapsed.
The wind was too much for an unsecured tent (bad us) and pushed it onto itself. The insides were wet as the water had pooled on the collapsed roof. We tried to correct the problem, but the bedding was wet. We had enough of broken mattresses and other issues pertaining to this tent.
Fortunately, we still had the keys to the cabin. We straightened out what we could in the tent and attempted to secure it with the heavy winds in mind. Off to the woods we went.
Again, the dogs were very excited with that long dirt road. Me, not so much as we were racing against the darkening night. We passed the lake and then crossed over the bridge, both places that the dogs thought we were going to stop at. Nope! We took the left after the bridge, fortunate that the growth along the narrow rutted road had been trimmed and wouldn't scratch the car. Within minutes, we were at the cabin.
The key ring had a number of keys to go along the number of locks. Trying to find the right key in the right combination took a bit of time. I eventually found the right combination and entered into the cabin. Having been here before, I knew what had to be done. Two kerosene lamps lit and we let the dogs in. Ah. Maybe lady luck had come around after all.
Then again, maybe not. The cabin is fairly small. A few years back there were two twin beds. Today, only one. Uhhh. Now what?
Tom came up with an idea, and fast. The hammock!
We hadn't used the hammock since we left. We never stayed in one place enough to enjoy it. I wrestled the Eno Hammock out from under the back seat. Not that it was large, but it was in the midst of extra coffee, thermoses, shoes, etc. There was no place in the house, so I took a look on the enclosed porch. Why they had two quick-links and bolts connected by a strong rope on either side of the porch I have no idea. They were all I needed to hang up the hammock. A pillow and a sleeping bag was all I needed.
Tom made a fire and kept the front door open. We all settled in for the night. The dogs on the rugs, Tom on the twin and me hanging above the wooden porch. Sleep came easily to us all.
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