Reznjun

cant believe how cold it was not that long ago. the snow was in drifts several feet high. it will be in the 40s all week. much of the snow has melted already. the drifts have shrunk in size. the weather will lull us into thinking it is spring then hit us with some more winter. i have walked twice this month and will get some more miles in this week.

i just finished reading  a friends manuscript. it was a good read. its rare to find books written from the native perspective. this guy lived the life. a real indian. the guy even mentioned me in it. that is a bit humbling, to see your name mentioned in someone else’s book. reading his has inspired me to get back into writing more on my book. it is hard to write. i guess if it was easy there would be lotsa books written by natives.

i finally seen the show avatar. a writer friend of mine asked me what i thought of the movie.  she said it was stealing the story of indians. i didnt know because i hadnt seen it yet. at first i felt a little silly wearing the 3D glasses. after awhile i was liking the technology. the effects were something. it kinda reminded of some stuff i took back in the early 70s. then i felt like a perv cuz i wondered how someone like selma hayek woulda looked in 3 D.  i got into the story line in no time. it was like indians. they had something someone else wanted. and the bad guys or the good guys i dont know which, went after what the blue people had. and they went after it with all means available. in the end the blue people (indians) won. it dont happen like that in real life. some parts of where they were showing how the natives acted was a bit hokey. but overall it was good entertainment. even for the bucks they charged. it was cheaper than say a trip to one of the local gaming parlors. i enjoyed the movie.

i was given a picture someone took at haskell. some guy was taking pictures of his room and sent it to his people back home. they asked who the little girl in the picture was. he looked again and seen a ghost image in the back ground of a little girl in 1880s dress. the guy couldnt explain it. many stories have been told of how haskell is haunted. might have something to do with them just burying indians anywhere when the families had no money to get their loved ones home back in the day.

i watched the kstate-texas game last night even though i dont follow them.  i was hoping texas would prevail so they would keep their number one ranking. then the hawks could smack them down. but k state ruined that scenerio. the hawks will slap them silly too. rock chalk. my support for k u never wavers.

i must be a gambler. the other day i was tipping someone. i checked my bills over. i kept the crisp ones cuz they have no problem being fed  into  slots. i tipped with the torn and crumpled bills. damn…

i finally got to go walking again. i took my faithful dog konugish along as i always do. we should enjoy temperatures that are warmer compared to the past few weeks. the snow is slowly starting to melt. the crick is still froze over though. winter is not over yet.

we finished up the last funeral today. small crowd but that is kinda expected. the family really appreciated what our members did for them during their time of need. they wanted to give a monetary gift to someone to show their gratitude. i told them we dont get paid for what we do. they insisted so i told them to make a donation to our building fund. our religion is responsible for all our bills. we pay electricity, insurance, water and propane. so their gift will be greatly appreciated. its rare to get a thank you, even  rarer for someone to make such a donation to our religion. we have to hold raffles to raise money for the up keep of our building.

each year someone has a word of the year. last year it was to “unfriend” someone, as in dropping someone off your friend list on the internet. thats crazy how use of the internet creates new words. sort of like what texting does with its own lingo. one of my nieces got a new phone. i told her all she need to know was lol, omg. k, lmao…etc.  my other niece added a few other equally inane abbreviations they use. i have heard of kids sending over 10,000 texts in a month. i have only went over my 300 a month limit twice. once cuz i was running some world series pools. i couldnt imagine 10 thousand.

yesterday i read that the company that owns the local newspaper is going bankrupt. this is even after they upped the price of a daily paper to 75 cents and the sunday paper up to 2 dollah and 50 cents. we are paying more but getting less. the average daily now comes in two sections. and thats it. i suppose i could just read online but i like having a hard copy in my hands.

if it werent for the local paper i wouldnt read about things like the new fake drug k2. it is sold legally as an incense but has the effects of marijuwanna. the po-leece say it is more potent that thc.  the cops are getting concerned about the widespread use of it. i dont know if its use causes one to consume a full box of cereal though. or to laugh hysterically at something that aint even funny.

maybe i shouldnt make fun of these kids trying to get high. in my younger day i was around the abuse of illegal substances myself. i left those days behind. but maybe thats why i still have a christmas tree up. i like to look at the lights. probably should take the tree down. someone might think i am a cheech and chonger.

i seen previews of a movie bout someone throwing coins in a fountain. i remember when i was a turisto in rome. i stopped at the fountain of trevi like any other tourist. i read you were suppose to throw a coin into it for good luck. so i threw what coins i had into it. i had some that were the funny euros and some good old usa coins. i dont know if our coins were granted more wishes or not with the exchange rate. after i tossed mine in  i sat down and watched the turistos. i seen some turn with their backs to the fountain and tossed their coins in backward. i thought wtf. no one told me you were suppose to do that. it was too late. i was out of coins. maybe thats why my wish didnt come true. then i thought maybe that was kinda sacrilegious to have such thoughts in rome. who knows.

this week is almost over…wonder what next week will bring. we will see.

this morning the trees were  frosted over and there was a fog out.  sun dogs were visible for several days in a row. some say they predict a change of weather. no surprise there. the weather changes constantly in the land of oz. the temperature will be in the 40s this week. a heat wave compared to what we have had recentyl. i imagine that most of the snow we got will melt.

yesterday was the first day in about two weeks that the temperature wasnt below freezing. i may get to walk this week. i havent in about a month now. i seen the road and bridge guys clearing the shoulders on our road yesterday afternoon. we have drifts on some roads that are a few feet high. other roads arent as bad. a few road were reduced to one lane traffic. the roads that ran north and south were the ones that drifted because we had westerly winds. we still have more winter left this season.

i have been helping at another funeral. we had several in a row now. we barely get by sometimes. some just dont like to help others. i say the least we can do is give our people a proper send off. the snow and cold didnt stop us.

i had time to watch the kansas jayhawks get beat for the first time this year. its rare when someone goes undefeated. the hawks are still one of the best teams in the country. i never give up on them. they will be there in the final four come march. and win it all.

i had my quarterly lab tests done yesterday at our clinic. i always like it that most of the nurses are home girls. i greet all of them when i see them. the doc will tell me how the tests turned out in a few days. he asked me how i was. i told him it is nice to live without pain. i dont have to take pain pills, muscle relaxants or the one for a pinched sciatic nerve. i just take my arthritis pill. it will never go away. my back hurt for years. i was in constant pain, so long that i didnt think of it as pain-just something that was there. the doc said he cant take credit for that. i know walking helps, though the cold has stopped me from walking the past month. i did go rabbit hunting a few times.  redoing my basement had me making countless trips up and down the stairs. keeping the fire going does the same thing.

i told people that the clinic asked me if i wanted a swine flu shot. i jokingly told others i replied ’why do i look like a f%$#*&g pig? not really, i was just teasing people. i like to make people smile. i did tell the nurse i would pass on the shot.  i said our country likes to keep us in fear–of terrorists, of a depression, of the swine flu. predictions were that over 50% of our country would contact the swine flu by this past october and many would die. it didnt happened. many did contact it, and others have died but it wasnt the epidemic they forecasted.

i seen where a local library had a book sale. they sold 5000 books in 90 minutes or so. they sold a bag full for 5 bucks. i may have to donate some for next years sale. i want to get rid of my books. i  have over 1000 of them. i bought them so my kids would have them in case they needed them for school. they are about done with college now, so no need for them. i read the ones i wanted to read. i need the room for storage. my daughter said she would take all my classics. i will keep the ones on tribal history and a few others that are my favorites. i have some rare ones that are out of print. i will keep my brother larrys book too.

well now to see what unfolds this week……never a dull moment on the rez

yesterday we got another 3 to 4 inches of snow. we still have snow from the last two times it snowed. half of my cornfield has only the tops visible. luckily the grader came down our road and cleared a path. just dont know how long it will stay open with the wind blowing. add some cold to that and its winter. last night it was 20 below. almost as cold as a general council meeting. or almost as cold as the reception you get when you ask the tribe for something.

i had to get thru a snow drift in my back yard to feed my chickens. i cleared a path previously but the wind drifted it closed. so i have to climb over the drift  until it warms up enough to clear it again. cold or not my chickens still have to eat. the same with my dog konugish. at least he is staying in the house i built for him. it is on the south side of my house in a corner. it is blocked from the north and west winds. i put a thick layer of straw in it. he is out of the worst part of the cold and wind. its the wind chill i am worried about.

got a call earlier bout a possible funeral. no details yet but they may call on us to take care of it. cold, snow or whatever we will have to do it if they ask. its a good thing they come to us instead of the bureaucrats. we dont get to close for snow or cold. gotta do it.

i watched the k u basketball game last night. i watch every game i can. it was close but i didnt have any doubts. i believe our team will come thru one way or other. we have so many talented players, one will step up. even when we dont play up to our expectations we pull off a win. that is the mark of a good team. i think an undefeated season is possible. after we dispense of texas there will be no doubt. the media loves the coast teams, particularly back east. they dont think the hicks in kansas can play some ball. our team just has to win on the court, not in the press.

the other D-1 team in the state made it to the top ten in basketball. thats the first time in a long time. so it will be real disappointing for them when the jayhawks smack them down.

one good thing about being kept indoors during the bad weather we have had is my basement is finished. got it all demo’d, sheetrocked, taped and painted. it looks nice. just have to clean up down there now. having a fire going in the stove made it easier for everything to dry out faster. i just hope my wood holds out. i am about out. they just bring me a small load so i have to call for more often. they didnt get me any before this snow and cold hit. i probably have to wait til next week now.

a friend of mine sent me his manuscript for a book. he asked me to read it and give some feedback on it. so i now i have some reading to do. i read alot anyway. we never stop learning. so i gotta get to reading..

i went to eat and play bingo yesterday at our old bingo hall. imagine that using the hall for actually playing bingo. every year for the past several years family and friends get together just for the sake of getting together. it has now become a tradition. usually it is done around christmas. we had our winter dance and heavy snow this year so it was put off until yesterday.

we start off with a pot luck dinner. everyone brings something. so there was lots of good food. we have some great cooks.  so much for my new years resolution. i probably gained a pound or two. then we play bingo. everyone brings prizes.  when you have a bingo you get to go pick a prize from the table where they are all piled high on.  play continues until everyone wins something. since everyone wins its not about the prizes though there are good ones. lotsa K U stuff. everyone visits and has fun.  good natured teasing goes on back and forth. i took  many good pictures. i like this one of my great niece madwekwe. she always has a hug for me.  i posted some pictures on my facebook. even got a few compliments on them.

it has been almost a year now since i started this new website. it was intended to showcase my roaches and other crafts i do. the internet allows me enough exposure that i can be picky. i make them when i feel like it. and i can avoid virtually giving them away as some want. some assume since i am indian i should sell my art cheap.  i am a trusting soul so i get ripped off alot, like this past year. i never learn, i believe people. i do know that not all people are like that. good people make it all worth it.

this site lets me blog. i like to write.  i am working on a book. i started it years ago. it is something i want to leave my unborn grandchildren. you dont read much written from the native point of view. some authors study our culture a few years then are considered authorities on it. i want to tell a story of what i have experienced. i dont have to study up on what i have seen.

writing is a hard thing to do. blogging gives me practice. i just write about anything. i sorta stay away from politics. that would be too easy. i dont believe in an ‘us vs them’ mentality. i dont think blogging is the cause of the problem nor the solution to it. i have gotten anonymous hate mail because i dare to put my name to something i write. i dont pay any attention to it, since they arent willing to put their name to it. hating on me doesnt change anything. i have gotten some nice comments from people. others tell me they read what i write. that makes me feel good. they are who i write for. not the haters. if someone dont like what i say, its really pretty simple. they just dont have to read it.  dont take a genius to figure that out. i will keep on writing because i like to. some people have read my writing for years. i hope they continue to read what i have to say.

i dont know what this next year will bring. we never do. that is what makes life fun. i am sure i will enjoy this next year.

many of us will reach a point where turning the page on a calendar becomes an insignificant event. i probably have more years behind me than i have ahead of me. i am thankful that i can look back. and forward. the calendar year is over. a new year awaits us.

i had dinner with some friends of mine at our casino recently. one lady asked me what i thought the new year will bring. without missing a beat i answered ‘’some celebrity will have an affair, a few other celebrities will have problems with alcohol or drugs, a world leader will die, we will have flooding and fires, wars will continue in the world.”  i dont have a crystal ball. i said those are the same headlines we had last year and the year before. so the same things will probably continue to happen. another friend said i must have been waiting a long time with that answer. i said not really, you just see the same things over and over. we dont always learn from history.

i dont know what the coming year will bring. sometimes i  have a cynical attitude, other times i am an incurable optimist. certainly we will have good times as well as bad times. that is part of life. one can hope for the best though. i wish men could lay down arms and live in peace. that we could live without hate and jealousy. and no one would go hungry while others have too much. i dont know how likely that is though. we will live through whatever the new year brings.

i have seen a few television shows that show the best of and worst of for the past year. i dont know how they arrive at some of these things as being the most important events that happened in the past year. some of them are so trivial when thinking of larger events in life.

there are a few things i would like to see this year. i hope that the kansas university jayhawks win the national championship in basketball this year. that is an achievable goal. anything less will be a disappointment. life will go on though if they dont. i know the next jayhawk  team will have the same expectations.

i hope i have a good garden again this coming year. i never know. gardening is so simple. you put seed in the ground and walk away. then you come back later and pick fresh vegetables. there are so many variables in between. is the ground right. do we have enough rain. is there enough sunshine. will the rabbits leave my cantaloupes alone. one never knows. it is always worth the gamble though. we will can more this coming year. the ice storm the other year taught us that.

i will replace the female red heeler i lost. i want a mate for my dog ko nu gish. he is such a good friend. when i lost that little pup for some reason i thought of an absurd joke. an indian lost his dog so he said ”dog gone”. i dont know why that thought came to me. i guess to remind me to take things as they come.

at any rate this year brings with it promise. happy new year to all.

it may not be but our tribal buffalo have to be out there anyway. i had to stop and get a picture of them. i was on my way to nation station to get a newspaper. road and bridge workers are out clearing the roads. they had just come thru so i thought i could venture out to get my paper. i have to read it everyday and do my crossword puzzle. its a lifelong habit of mine.

i just got home and got a text from my niece. she said they seen me go by their house and wondered what i was doing out in this blizzard. i said i had to read my paper. she asked if it was worth risking my life over. i dont know bout that. the road was just cleared off. i know it is 14 degrees out and the wind chill makes it minus 4 degrees. it is warm inside my car. my sons had to be out last night because they work at the casino. one got stuck on the way in and had to be pulled out by road and bridge. he stayed at the casino because he had to be at work at 6 this morning. we didnt know if our drive would be drifted over or not. my other son got off at 11:30 last nite. he made it home.

the girl at nation said she stayed at the casino last night also. her drive was drifting close. i said the roads that run east and west arent drifting because the wind is blowing that way. the ones that run north and south are drifting though. we have winter dance tonight. i dont know if the road will be open or not. they cleared it but the wind is causing drifts. we will see.

even though we still in a recession or something, the daily paper went up to 75 cents and the sunday paper is now 2.50. i get the daily delivered to my mailbox except on holidays. i know i can read it online but i like  a regular newspaper in my hands when i read. creature of habit i guess. newspapers are losing readers and they still jacked up the price on less news. they probably gonna cut their own throat. even if die-hard readers like me will brave a blizzard to get a paper.

merry christmas to all and i wish you a happy new year. well i wish everyone a good day each and every day that we walk this earth. wish people were more giving all year and not just this one holiday. so many people in this world dont have it like many of us do. we are to be thankful. happy holidays.

for the first time in a long time we had young folks over last night for x box. kinda missed that. it was my sons, nephews and their friends. they took over the living room while mary and i watched the k u basketball game in the other room. dont know which room cussed more. k u finally won. they are better than the national media gives them credit for. after the game we did our bit to support local native business. in other words we went to the casino. it was kinda deserted. maybe not. after all it was the first part of the week and was after 10:30. we didnt win, but recycled some per cap into our casino.

got up early this a.m. and went to mayetta to have breakfast. after last nights loss we didnt dare to eat at our casino. it costs  too much to walk thru there. the diner in town serves good food. small town diners are like that. you also get great service. gotta support local business. it beats driving to the city just to eat.

headed to town to stock up before the expected snow storm hits. they say maybe up to 8 inches of snow coming. didnt see any indians at wal mart. we also went to a meat locker in a small town nearby. i used to take the pigs i raised over the years there to have them butchered. i also bought some pigs already raised from them over the years. the meat is always better than what you buy from grocery stores. we bought a big 27 pound ham for a big christmas dinner. it wont be on christmas though. we going to a family bingo/dinner that day.  we eat then play bingo until everyone wins. we all bring prizes. it is fun.

we have been getting christmas cards from friends and relatives. we tack them up on the kitchen wall until christmas is over. i kinda hate it though when i get a card from someone i didnt send one to. then i have to go out and  get another card and send it off so i wont appear to be a scrooge. i put a tree up for the same reason. maybe later we will cruise the clusters and check out the christmas lights.

the u.s. issued an apology to native americans. it was part of the billions of dollars defense appropriation bill that was signed into law by the president monday. its the first official apology and says “the united states, acting through congress….recognizes that there have years of official depredations, ill conceived policies, and the breaking of covenants by the federal government regarding indian tribes. ” it goes on to apologize for the “many instances of violence, maltreatment and neglect inflicted on native peoples”. well…now i feel better. too bad my ancestors who were most affected by all that arent here to hear that. the apology goes on to say it isnt intended to support any lawsuit claims. well heavens no.

i heard the sound of thunder earlier this afternoon. kinda neat to hear that in the winter. i used to miss the sound of thunder when i was out bumming around the country. i put tobacco out when i heard it. i had to do that all the time when i was a kid. still do. i guess the snow is coming tomorrow. may get to hunt rabbits again.

shanokwe...my niece named after my mother

i finally got to go per capping last nite.  i have been busy helping at a coupla funerals. seen so many indians at walmart i thought there was a pow wow in town.

my wants in life are simple. i got a massage at the mall. its a place that does acupressure. i get one there every per cap. they are great. i had a pain in my back that disappeared. and i have been having pain in my elbows, hope that aint arthritis. they made it go away. then they talked me into a foot massage treatment. i hesitated but they said i would like it. i had been dancing several days at the last few ceremonies. so i took them up on it. i about fell asleep on the chair. my feet felt great. have to go back there again.

the quarterly tribal paper came out yesterday. i noticed they put a picture of me and my brothers in one section about remembering loved ones. we had the picture taken at one of the potawatomi gatherings. our tribe gave a stuffed buffalo head to the host tribe. so we had it stood up on the table and posed with it. it looked like me, gary and larry were standing with a buffalo. they put that same picture in the gathering program. i remember about 40 people taking a picture when we were posing. it was crazy. us 3 brothers ran together for over 50 years. the stories we can tell….   i do miss my brother larry. he has gone on to that great blog site in the sky.

our state legislators passed a new law. they meant well i suppose. the law is directed at teen drivers. they cant text while driving after jan. 1.  good idea but why stop at teens. it should apply to all drivers. legislators are known to favor one group over others.

someone needs to make a youtube thing about tiger. you know where some dingy chick is crying and asking ‘whywont they leave poor tiger alone’. i am guilty as well. i dont know how many tiger jokes i have told. when people are in the public eye, they probably have to expect that. it is a bit much though to think celebrities are our role models. they just human , and got all of our faults too. to expect them to be above all that is asking too much. tiger is still the best golfer in the universe. he aint even stratched the surface on the records he will set. he needs to get his ass back on the fairway.

k u basketball on tomorrow. so i know how i will spend my saturday.