Reznjun

I didn’t post a picture of the l roach I  just finished. this one is a woodland style roach. it is 7 inches long with a double row of 7 inch front hair. the inside and outside deer tail trim is red with a yellow and blue rainbow road. I haven’t wrapped it yet to shape it. the roach always looks better after it is shaped.

I am building inventory for the pow wow stand I will have. I talked to my sister who does beadwork. we agreed to share costs on a pow wow stand. we plan to do a few pow wows. we have to go to our market.  I have to make some smalls like miniature hand drums etc. gotta have smalls to help pay for the stand. 

I have been sorting porcupine hair again. I have pounds of it. I am separating the best hair so that I can just do a fine sort before I start tying it. that is taking time because I have pounds of hair to go thru. 

winter starts in 9 days. that is the calendar date. I go by having our winter dance. either way winter season is about to start.  we already had snow a number of times. that is good for putting moisture in the ground. maybe next growing season will be better than the past two years we had. I need to replenish my dried indian corn supply.

it hasn’t been cold but I haven’t been outside much lately. I do feed my dogs and chickens everyday. I need to change my tire. it has gone flat. I tried to change it but the tire musta got rusted onto the wheel. I couldn’t take it off. I sprayed wd40 on it but that hasn’t worked. I will try it again. I need my car running. 

I got an email asking if I wanted any tickets to the KU game against Villanova this Saturday. I didn’t click on the link to the ticket office. I have to pass because I know it will cost a few bucks. I would like to see the game but I am saving my money. I will record the game because I will be at our winter dance. 

I cleaned the stove pipes. don’t particularly care to do that chore but it has to be done. when the pipes are clogged it smells like smoke. too much creosote build up is what causes chimney fires. I clean mine so that don’t happen. the fire burns better when the pipes are clean. 

I like what I am hearing about KU’s football program. they hired a new coach. he has won a national championship. he  is hiring other noted coaches to fill out his staff. it sounds like we will have good coaching. now can we recruit the athletes to come to Kansas.

I want to go to a game next football season. I have gone to games over the years. they used to take our high school football team to KU games. I have gone to many others over the years. I had season tickets when I was a student at KU. I didn’t last long as a student there but I did go to games. 

the actor that played billy jack died on this date. the character he played was part indian. anytime someone messed with him, he would put his foot upside their head. indians used to cheer for him even thought he didn’t look indian. it musta been cuz he had that don’t f#$@ with me attitude. there weren’t any indians in movies back in the day. well there were the ones that fell off their horses when they got shot by the ‘good guys’. and there was tonto. too many emulated him.

my old folks check and my per cap hit the bank today. but this indian is staying home. gotta save my money.

we stopped at walmarks the other day. there was a salvation army bell ringer out front. I gave some change to Samuel. I told him to put the change in the red bucket. he did and the bell ringer guy said ‘God bless you’. 

I want the grand kids to know what giving to others is about. Andrew is already into that. he gives away some of his toys to other kids. i tell him not to give everything away though. 

my kids used to give to street musicians when we traveled around the country. I told them it was good mojo when they seen me do that in San Francisco. I think when we were in the haight, the spare change hippies used to hold their cups up when I walked by. they musta pegged me as someone who would give. I usually did. I remember my days on the street. 

my grand sons asked why they don’t have presents under the tree. i told them the things i am buying them are their presents. i said they are playing with their toys. they said yeah but Christmas is coming. little brats probably will get more. that is what i don’t like about this season. the wanting to get something. giving should be something we do all year long not just this one holiday. 

i need to clean the stove pipes. we are letting the fire go out today. it don’t take long to clean the pipes. the fire burns better when we do. and the house don’t have that smoke smell to it. when we smell smoke backing up, we know it is time to clean the pipes. winter is just starting. we will need to keep a fire going a few months more to  keep the house warm. 

today is commodity buffalo day. mary will go get ours. it is usually a pound of burger. if we are lucky maybe a roast. i don’t understand why our buffalo don’t have steaks. if i say i am having a ceremony i could get more but i would never try to use religion to get over. 

i have my quarterly lab test and dr. appt this Friday. i am confident my lab test will turn out good. i have been walking and doing some weight lifting. and just as important i am trying to watch what i eat. that is a hard thing to do.

i got an email from the ku ticket office. more single game tickets are going on sale. i will pass on buying some. i have gone to 3 games this year. besides league games cost more than non conference games. 

we have our winter dance this weekend. i will be there even though i get my per cap and old folks check this week. i gots to save my money for my up coming trip.

I showed my roaches at the senior citizen craft fair yesterday. it was held at the old bingo hall. there were four other stands. besides my roaches there were ribbon shirts, art prints, beadwork, moccasins, indian Christmas ornaments, fresh bread, cookies and kettle corn.

I knew all the potawatomi senior citizens that set up. we had fun visiting back and forth. couldn’t count the times we were laughing. I also visited with people that came in to see what our local craftsman made. quite a few asked me questions about my art. 

I needed to finish the woodland style roach I was working on while I was at my table. it was mostly done. I only needed to tie the outside deer tail trim and sew it on. I am tying it in this picture. the roach on my left is the one I was working on. 

the reason I wasn’t done with it was because the tribe brought me a  load of wood. that took time out of two days. one day for me to toss it into the basement, and one day to stack it. this ol’ man paces himself.  I am glad we have  wood to last us awhile. I feel more secure when we have wood to heat the house. 

I sold one roach. that made my day. I will save what I made for my Hawaii trip. that and my per cap we are getting next week. this indian gonna have some walk around coin in his pocket. 

I passed some of my business cards out. most rez people know where I live. not all have my email or cell number though. I don’t really have most other peoples cell number either. 

the craft fair was from 8 til 3. I left a little early because we had to go pick up the grandsons in Lawrence. they both ran up to me and gave me a big hug when I walked into their class rooms. made misho feel good. 

that article in the county rag about larry mentioned that he and gary both had written books. it made me want to finish my book. I don’t think there are 3 other brothers from the rez that have books out.

I have a few chapters done on mine already. every time I read them I change a word here or add a word there. I am disappointed that I finished writing a chapter on my drinking, drugging and fighting days. it was my lost years, to borrow a concept from john lennon. (he was killed on this day) I printed that chapter out and thought I backed it up onto a external drive. I cant find that chapter.

I guess the obvious solution is to write it over. it took some doing to write it the first time. I don’t like reliving those days. I had to in order to write the chapter. like my brother larry said you gotta let it go sometime. I will have to let it go twice. 

KU plays today. I am lucky I get to watch the game. it is on a channel I have in my cable package. it will be the first game without doke. to be honest we usually only have him for half a game anyway. 

we have to go to town. I don’t like shopping during this time of year. its too damn hectic. I don’t mind being packed in allen field house with 16 thousand fans. I don’t like a crowded store though. fans are nice, some shoppers are rude. gotta go so we can get back before game time. 

this is the picture I took of little soldier creek running again. it was after the snow melt we had several days ago. I miss seeing our creeks run. they have for most of my life. but not the past few years.

we used to swim in the crick near the house I grew up in. it used to have crawdads in it. haven’t seen any of them in cricks for many years.

mary and I went to the KU game last night. it wasn’t on tv so I am glad I got to see it. it was too close for comfort. in the second half KU got on a 27-0 run. that gave us some breathing room. we also covered the point spread.

before the game we went to the texas road house for supper. my new tradition. it is near the parking lot where we board the bus to the field house. I ordered a 6 ounce filet mignon with loaded baked potato and house salad. I am a creature of habit. I like that meal and don’t see any reason to try something different when I am in a steak house.

at the game they were giving away free team posters. naturally we scammed onto a few of them. I texted one of my former co-workers and asked her if she wanted one. she said yeah.  KU fans know who else is also a jayhawker. we also know who the k-state fans are.

I went to the weigh in challenge thing they have at the clinic. I need extra motivation to continue my work outs. I figure if I do the weekly weigh ins I will be more conscious of my weight.  and there is a chance I could win a prize too at the weigh ins. aint necessary but I wouldn’t turn one down.

I have been walking and lifting weights. I am hoping I lose a few pounds before I hit the beach. or at the very least to firm up my pow wow gut. I don’t wanna look like a fat tourist. even if I will be one. but the main reason is for my health. one of my bucket list items is to live to be a crabby old man. some of my nieces think I already reached that.

I went to eat at the senior citizen site yesterday. I have known most of those old people that eat there for years. I never thought I would live to be a senior citizen. the life style i led made that seem unlikely. I am glad I reached that stage. it is nice to hear the word ‘misho’.

before I ate I had my blood sugar taken by the emts. it was 114. (anything under 120 is good for those that don’t know what that means, I never used to)  I liked that. gotta be a result of my walking and trying to eat right.

my work on a wood land roach is coming along fine. no doubt I should have it done by Friday’s craft fair. that is if nothing comes up. I never know when I have to help do something. just gotta fine sort the porcupine hair then tie it. after that I finish with the outside trim. I have this whole process down.

gotta get busy.

didn’t want to be the scrooge this coming season so the boys and I put up our Christmas tree. they were all into it. I was only going thru the motions. well maybe I am kinda scrooge.

the old hippie in me likes to see the lights on the Christmas tree. a few times we have left the tree up well past the holidays. I think one year it was February before we took it down. that was after people kept asking us why we still had our tree up.

my grand sons know how to work their misho. they are telling me what they want for Christmas.  they know the names and brands of the toys they want. there aint no santa claus. there is misho.

it snowed a little last night. not as much as the last snow we had. I found my snow shovel after the last snow melted. it was underneath the snow. it didn’t do me much good. I had to use a scoop shovel to clear our car port. I put the snow shovel away for the next time it is needed.

I took a picture of little soldier creek. it was nice to see the crick running again. this was after the snow melt and rain we had a few days ago. now the crick has gone down again. at least the animals have fresh water.

after the snow melt the water was running down the ditch by our house. I seen my live traps were under water. I will have to reset them. I know there are rabbits around. I seen their tracks in the snow. I will eat rabbit yet.

I am gonna see if I can get a woodland style roach done before Friday. I will have a table at the senior citizen arts and craft fair. it will be at the old bingo hall. I will take some of my business cards.

I know I can finish a roach by then. I will stop sorting hair for now. I have dyed deer tails already. I can tie the inside trim then sort enough porcupine hair for this roach.

some of my relatives are having a table at this craft fair. that is how I heard about it. if nothing else I will visit with them during the day.

mary and I have tickets to the KU mens basketball game against Wofford tomorrow night. against who? I bought these tickets because they cost 15 bucks. cant beat that price. our team should be able to focus on working on their game. they haven’t played their best yet. when they do, they will be unbeatable.

gotta get to work on that roach if I want it done by Friday.

time seems to pass by quickly after you reach a certain age. don’t know if I hit that age or not. but it is December already. well the seasons pass at any age. glad I am still alive to see another year.

December means per cap. mine is spent on my trip. it also means Christmas. my little brats get toys all year long. December also means we will have our winter dance sometime. I have my quarterly check up this month too. been walking and working out so I am confident my lab tests will be alright.

I added a p.s. to my last blog. I added that the Holton recorder had an article about my brother Larry.  it sounded like the writer read his book. it was  a series about wounded veterans from Jackson county. I made a donation to the wounded veterans memorial wall in Holton. Larrys name is on that wall. my name is on a brick in the sidewalk because I donated to help build the wall. there were a lot of Indians’ names on the wall.

got some good news from my grand daughter who lives in the northwest. I will be a great grand father again this coming july. now that does make me feel a little bit older.  I congratulated her and thanked her for letting me know.

the other day I seen some thing move in our hayfield. it was partially hidden by the tall grass. it was gray and moving around. I went inside to grab my .22.   I  was thinking break out the bbq sauce because I thought it was a coon. I sighted in and seen its face. it was a possum. I had to laugh as I headed back inside.

then yesterday I seen some wild turkeys in the cornfield south of me. I thought if they weren’t on the top of the hill I would drop one. just then I seen one in the ditch near my house. again I grabbed my .22.  I went outside to see where that turkey was hiding. I took a few steps down the drive and it flew off. they spook easily.

no coon. no turkey. my rabbit traps are empty too. I wondered if these animals are just messing with this indian. I have patience. one of them will still end up in my pot.

we are suppose to get more snow. this is after the rain we got. for gardeners like me that is good news. this will put moisture into the ground. the past growing season wasn’t real productive for me. I got a few gallons of dried corn and no dried pumpkin. we didn’t have enough rain. we were in near drought conditions. winter hasn’t started yet so we might get more snow. maybe this coming growing season will be better.

today I am watching KU mens basketball. I have tickets for the next game on tuesday. it will be the third game I will have gone to this year. I passed on the black Friday deals. tickets were very reasonable. I probably will pass on this group of tickets that go on sale this month too. gotta save every thing I can for my trip.

they having a senior citizen craft fair this coming Friday. it will be at the old bingo hall. this old guy might take some of his roaches over there. I can hand out a few of my business cards at the very least.

I started sorting porcupine hair again. first thing I am doing is putting it in some kind of order. i  get it in big bundles. I break them down into smaller bundles and put a rubber band on them.  I put it in three grades.  I have some that would require too much sorting for what usable hair I get from it. I put it aside. I have some requires less sorting. and I have some that is almost ready to be tied into a roach. it is the best grade of hair I have.

I am making my job easier by grading it. I have so much hair I need to do this. this picture is only about 3 and a half pounds of hair. that is a drop in the bucket compared to how much hair I have.  when you have this much hair you get much that isn’t usable. at internet prices this pile of hair would cost close to two thousand dollars at the very least. some places sell it even double or triple that. that is at todays prices. it aint what I paid for it.

when I start making roaches again all I have to do is get the best grade of hair. it wont take long to fine sort enough to make a roach.  getting to this stage is taking a lot of time but will save me a lot of time.  on the other hand I have time. I will make roaches the rest of my life.

I like my roaches to be solid black color with yellow or orange tips. I think they look better. that is only a personal preference. I see many roaches that aren’t like that. and that’s fine. I don’t suggest that my way is the only way. I even see many today that are made with artificial fibers. whatever people want. I just make them the way I learned.

work is easier for me now that I know I am going to Hawaii this winter. it keeps me motivated. possibly it even makes me want to whistle while I work. or is that too Disney?

mary and I decided to drop the helicopter ride. the cheapest one is still a bit pricey. we could spend that money on something else instead. gotta get the most bang for our money. my next per cap and what I can save from my old folks check is already spent on this trip.

we decided to go to the Polynesian cultural center. we take a canoe ride to this island. there we have admission to 7 villages that are Tahiti, samoan, tonga, new Zealand, fiji, margquesas and hawaiian. they all showcase traditional dress, arts and crafts used in every day life.

while on this island we experience our first luau. we get to watch the unearthing of the pig that is cooked under ground. after the luau we get to watch dance performances.  there are two hundred dancers. that sounds like fun.

we had already booked a luau. now we will go to two of them. that’s okay. we plan on doing a lot of hiking. there are waterfalls all over the islands. we plan on hiking to a few. we will also hike around the volcano national park. and I imagine there will be many walks along the beach. our hotels are located near the beach.

no doubt I will take my Nikon camera. I will take hundreds of pictures to add to my collection. I don’t have a face book page anymore to post my pictures. that’s okay. I keep pictures as mementos of places I have visited. that and my refrig magnets. my mother used to save them. I took her to over 40 states with me.

gotta get to work now. at least I have something to keep me going thru the monotony of sorting hair.

P.S. is it allowable to add something? just read the mail. the Holton Recorder (local county rag) has an article about my brother larry. it is a good article. it is a series on wounded veterans from Jackson county. if you haven’t read larrys book one is on sale on amazon for $549.41. and no he don’t get a dime from it.

this is a picture of the drive up to the road. it was taken by my niece after they opened our road yesterday. that is a lot of snow piled up on the sides. her car got stuck trying to get out. the road will drift at the top of the hill every time we get a substantial amount of snow especially if the wind is blowing.

it used to be that the tribe wouldn’t do driveways. reasoning behind it was it’s the home owners responsibility to shovel it. this meant even if you lived a quarter or half a mile off the main road. it is very improbable i could move that much snow with a shovel. one time they called me about helping do a funeral. I said I cant get out because of the snow. so they relented and came to open my road. I wondered is that what it takes.

guess some bright bureaucrat didn’t understand the concept of people going to work or kids going to school or maybe old people needing help in case of an emergency.  thankfully saner minds prevail. safety of all the people is more important than bureaucracy.

I have been feeding my chickens inside the chicken house. their yard is covered in snow. I am still getting a few eggs each day.  before it got cold I added more straw to my dogs’ house. it is situated with a north and west wind break to stop the most of the cold wind. gotta take care of my animals.

yesterday was cyber Monday. I checked out a few pages to see what bargains they had. I didn’t see anything that I wanted. the sale prices looked like every day prices to me. marketing is designed to make you feel like you are getting a deal.

I started sorting porcupine hair yesterday. got pounds of the stuff I have bought over the years. it will take many man hours to sort all of it. I usually just sort enough for the roach I am working on.  I haven’t finished a roach since I did Andrews’.

the hide and fur place I buy my deer tails from still aint selling them. they advertise them as ‘November quality’. deer have thicker hair during the winter. the porcupines are the same way. their hair is better during winter than summer. when the tails are available I will have to buy a coupla hundred bucks worth. that should last me til spring maybe.

we have the grand daughters today. the tribe is closed down. no day care. i wont be able to sort hair today. a slight bump and all my work would be wasted. i can sort hair tomorrow. i will enjoy time with my grand daughters instead.

well actually its not even winter yet. I just like the lyrics of Simon and Garfunkel. we are having another snow. earlier I can hear the wind blowing hard. it sounded as cold as a few can be at a general council meeting. in this picture I cant see my nieces house less than an eighth of a mile away. she lives on the west 20 of my misho’s 80 acre allotment.

I already washed my face in the first snow. I still do that again in almost every snow. I like the feeling of that cold snow on my face. the cold is invigorating. I will wash my face in this snow too.

the tv kept going off because of the wind.  it finally quit doing that. glad of that because they are having free hbo, showtime, starz and cinemax this weekend. this indian don’t pay for those packages. I am recording shows with my dvr. this week I will have movies to watch while working on roaches.

I will still have to feed my animals. no matter what the weather is like, they gotta eat and have water.  most likely I will feed them inside the chcken house. the wind is blowing too hard for them to be outside.

I hope my animals appreciate me. I know the dogs do. they went with us for a two mile walk on the road yesterday. I logged 9 miles this past week.  that will be our last walk on the road for awhile. will have to use the tread mill from now on.  maybe we will get a few days when we can still walk on the road. fresh air and sunshine is better than walking on a tread mill any day.

we have to take my daughter to the airport tomorrow. she has been home for the holiday. she took a train here and will fly back. don’t even know how much snow we are suppose to get by the time we have to head to the airport near Kansas city. my car is covered in snow. I imagine the roads will be cleared by then.

I might have to go shop at a mall in the big city. I am still looking for some clothes for my winter vacation in Hawaii. I want some casual dress clothes. don’t want to look like a tourist with Hawaiian shirts and loud Bermuda shorts. I don’t want a pair of walking shorts though. cant find any in topeekie.

glad we got our wood stacked in the basement. we have been keeping the wood stove going. our house feels like a home with heat from the stove. our furnace don’t heat the basement and the floors would be cold. not so when the wood stove is going. even if the fire goes out early in the morning the basement is still warm. that keeps the floors warm. this country indian likes to walk around the house in bare feet.

hope my ancestors aren’t thinking I am crazy. we had nenwezhek for thanksgiving. there was a lot left over. I warmed some up and added chopped green onions and a splash of my hot sauce. I add hot sauce to everything so I thought why not nenwezhek. it tasted good especially with the green onions in it. the super tradish probably have a rule against that. but its my food.

we had left over ham too. I had some with eggs for breakfast. the ham we buy from the meat locker is better than any from the grocery store. yesterday we had ham fried rice.

thanksgiving is over. so does that mean we have to put the Christmas tree up? the grand kids always like the tree. when the kids were little they liked to break the Christmas bulbs on the tree. they getting past that now. I like to see the lights on the tree. a hold over from my hippie days. I don’t say far out man though. not one of those burn outs.

gonna keep the fire going thru this cold.

 

oh that was yesterday? well not for us. we are having our dinner today. we decided that about a week or so ago. today was the best time for all of us to get together. its all about the get together, not the day.

I don’t have any thanksgiving stories to write about. or at least none stick out in my mind.  I used to want to hire some one to dress up like pilgrims and serve us our meal. that never happened.

we used to have thanksgiving dinners at a place I worked. one year some one suggested that maybe all of us should share what we were thankful for. ended up that we didn’t do that. just as well. who knows how that would have turned out. the competitive spirit of some would make them want to top the last story. or some one would have to be funny. or someone would tell a sad story. etc.

I don’t know what I would have said in that setting. I have gone hungry many times in my life. don’t think that was any thing I would have wanted to share. part of it was my own fault. I was into alcohol and drugs for many years. that had a lot to do with it. I got out of that trip.  haven’t been hungry for a few decades. guess I am thankful for that.

another thing I am thankful for is I can still grow a good garden. that is if nature allows me to. I don’t irrigate so when there is no rain, my crops don’t do well. that don’t stop me from trying. I dry corn, beans and squash in the years when I get plenty of them. that lasts me during the lean years. I am glad that I can eat these foods when ever I am able to.

most likely we will play cards after our meal. the grand kids will be here. I don’t know if they will control the tv or if I get to watch KU’s last football game of the season. don’t know if they will beat texas again or not but I am a Jayhawk fan.

I got an email about ku basketball tickets. the cheap ones I bought for $15 are now selling for 10. black Friday deal. don’t know why that games ticket are going so low. don’t think it is semester break. or maybe it is. I don’t go to school there. in the past I have said KU was the best school I dropped out of or was kicked out of.

I will definitely watch the KU basketball game tonight. grand kids or not. misho gets the tv any time KU plays. that is if I have the channel in my package. I pay way too much for it and I don’t get some of the games.

good thing I walked 4 times this week. needed to do that since we will eat a big meal today. maybe I will hit the tread mill one more time before the week end is done.