Ghost Dance

"Today is the anniversary of the massacre at Wounded Knee, which took place in South Dakota in 1891. Twenty-two years earlier, the local tribes had signed a treaty with the United States government that guaranteed them the rights to the land around the Black Hills, which was sacred land.

But in the 1870s, gold was discovered in the Black Hills, and the treaty was broken. People from the Sioux tribe were forced onto a reservation, with a promise of more food and supplies, which never came. Then in 1889, a prophet named Wovoka, from the Paiute tribe in Nevada, had a vision of a ceremony that would renew the earth, return the buffalo, and cause the white men to disappear. This ceremony was called the Ghost Dance. The Ghost Dance scared the white Indian Agents, and they moved in to arrest Chief Sitting Bull, who was killed in the attempt.

The next leader they focused on was Sitting Bull's half-brother, Chief Big Foot. He was leading his people to the Pine Ridge reservation, seeking safety there. But it was winter, 40 degrees below zero, and he contracted pneumonia.

Big Foot was sick, he was flying a white flag, and he was one of the leaders who had actually renounced the Ghost Dance. But the Army didn't make distinctions. They intercepted Big Foot's band and ordered them into the camp on the banks of the Wounded Knee Creek.

The next morning, federal soldiers began confiscating their weapons, and a scuffle broke out between a soldier and an Indian. The federal soldiers opened fire, killing almost 300 men, women, and children, including Big Foot.

One of the survivors was the famous medicine man Black Elk, who told his story to John Neihardt in Black Elk Speaks (1932)." From The Writer's Almanac, December 29, 2008

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

This is the way of life. If you see something that appeals to you, you'd better memorize it because it is quite likely not to be there a moment later.

Fun with Ice

In Finland and perhaps in some places in the U.S. people place candles beside the graves of their loved ones. It must be a beautiful sight on a quiet dark night under the fir trees. Ice Candles are lots of fun when it gets so cold one cannot stand it.

Ice Candles

Merry Christmas To Each of You!
It is Christmas Eve. We have six large glistening ice candles. Five by the front door, one on the table. Candles are much better than solar lights. The frugal, creative Finns on both sides of the Atlantic have a very good thing going with these wonderful candle holders. On Christmas Eve in Finland they put them in their churchyard cemeteries. It must be a beautiful sight for people going to candle light services.

We too, will go to the seven o'clock services at Holy Cross Lutheran Church. The Living Nativity was canceled due to the -17 degrees. The person who has the animals, refused to have them out for several hours in that cold night. I suspect the Bethlehem crowd was relieved, especially the bare legged Centurion and the beautiful choir of angels.

May each of you have a Holy, Blessed Christmas!

If You Want to Feel at Home, Stay at Home

We are about as traditional as we can get. We are baking Finnish Cardamom Braids and freezing Ice Candles. It is supposed to get below zero tonight and I am counting on two more buckets of ice. A son told me that instead of candles in them, he used those little solar lights and they work well. I suppose sometime in the morning hours as the batteries are about dead they even flicker.

We are expecting a son, daughter-in-law, and their daughter who is a young woman already; they will be here for an early lunch, which is actually a main meal. He Who.... went out and came home with a standing rib roast. That is a first time and it is a pricey piece of beef to practice on.

This year Omaha will have snow for Christmas. Maybe even a blizzard tomorrow, who knows? That is an exciting prospect now that we are retired and still have the sense not to lock ourselves out of the house without our coats, or wander off and not find our way home. I think that someone can make a fortune when they put GPS with voice directions into those nifty little hearing aids that they sell these days.

Yes, after nearly a year, I still love my little hearing instrument. I found out that when I lock down the battery and if I get it in my ear fast enough it plays a little tune for me. Nano technology is really wonderful. I think I can get a little MP3 device to play music through it. I am serious, the nice lady told me it is available.

Christmas Eve in Omaha 2007

Don't you love winter scenes! Snow and ice capture one's imagination. Unless of course you have to work outside. I found last year's Christmas Eve photo. I am going to be happy with it. But we could be a little more cheerful than we are.

Our childish dependent 28 year old disregarded all of my darling's advice and expectant requests of the past many warm weeks, so last night and today in zero weather he drove halfway downtown to check the antifreeze in her car. With cold fingers he dropped the cap from the reservoir, couldn't find it and is there again today in a -20' windchill to get the car towed to a garage to have that fixed among other things.

A wise pastor that I read daily wrote in his meditations that only when a child gets their own car and place to live and pays for both can she be considered an adult. So HWMBO pays for it in many ways. I was written out of the picture when she was 15 as was my philosophy of raising children to be responsible and respectable adults. It is easy for me to sidestep the parenting guilt; but being spat at, cursed, with hateful words, are harder to duck than a size 10 Iraqi shoe.

Caught in the Act!

He Who Must Be Obeyed loves vegetables; and he likes them the way he likes them, blackened with herbs and seasonings. A few summers ago the chunks were larger and skewered for the grill. This Finn likes hers bare with butter, haven't seen that for a long while.

Is it Christmas yet? Where is the snow? Time to get out the Carols on CD's. Our street is alive with lights once it gets dark.

Chihuly to Russell and Remmington

Dale Chihuly exhibited in Omaha a few years ago. It was during the years that I volunteered in the Joslyn Art Museum Library. The opening was mind blowing.

We just returned from Oklahoma City and enjoyed the art in their Museums. Downtown we saw American Impressionism and they purchased the entire Chihuly traveling exhibit.
The glass and lights are spectacular



Then we amost ran through the Cowboy section of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum as it was getting late and nearly closing time. The paintings and sculptures were amazing. I recall my dad buying Charles Russell calendars and books when I was a child.

Guess who was very happy to see Ed Lemmon's name on the Cowboy Hall of Fame!Yes, Oklahoma is cowboy country.

WhiteHouse Ornament from Nebraska

NEBRASKA
"The sun rises over land
that has long rewarded
a hard day's work."

I looked over a few States
ornaments. Marty Amsler
has created beauty from the
inspiration of our citizens.

Every State has submitted an
ornament to the White House
tree.

A Hiring Guide

Our own Oracle of Omaha has written a book and his 47th bit of advice for business is this:

In looking for someone to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. But the most important is integrity, because if they don’t have that, the other two qualities, intelligence and energy, are going to kill you.

There are a lot of folks out there looking for jobs. It goes back to what parents are teaching their children apparently. Intelligence and energy come with the bundle of joy without too much coaching from the adults in a child's life. Integrity. We all want it. We all want it in the people around us.

I want it because it enables me to trust, to love, to experience the joy of being human. When the integrity of a people is nonexistent, it destroys the structure that holds up a society. If the integrity of even one member of a family is lost, cohesiveness of the family is jeopardized because of the breakdown of trust.

Camryn and Me

Much to be thankful for.
Sweet baby, great granddaughter.
Her grandmother, best cook ever.
Beautiful Christmassy home.
Her mom, a pediatric ICU nurse.
Her dad, a charmer.
Her grandpa, my darling son.
Her aunt loves her.
Her uncle does too.

Her family is amazing.

We are a part of it
Though far away.