Reznjun

 

today we are planted our indian corn. or rather my sons and grand daughters  planted it. i dont even have to tell my sons how to work. they learned how when they were little. i had to do all the planting until they got big enough to help me.  they grew up helping me garden, raising chickens and cutting wood for our home. we even raised several pigs to butcher.

yesterday we used our corn sheller to separate the kernels from the corn cob. we got more corn seed than i realized we had.  we soaked the corn seed over night. soaking the seed helps give it a head start in the germination process. i used rain water from our rain barrels. it isnt harsh and full of chemicals like our tap water.

the garden was already tilled. all that needed to be done was set up a string line to make sure the rows were fairly straight. then someone dragged a hoe down the row creating a furrow to put the seeds in. we had the grand daughters drop some corn seed in. an old man once said that when young girls plant the seed it will be a good crop.

after the seeds were planted, they were covered over with soil. we plant it deep enough that the birds wont up root them.   i dropped sun flower seeds in the rows. sunflowers are a companion crop to corn. after awhile that job was taken over by others. i didnt want to over do it.

my sons kept at it until they got the whole field planted. we have 16 rows of Indian corn planted. the rows are 105 feet long. again i say no maybe, might, gonna. it is planted. it is suppose to rain tonight and maybe for the next few days. we will catch the spring rains that are coming.

hopefully we get a good crop. we have only been getting about 3 gallons of dried corn a year for the past 3 years. we could use a good year like the year before these years. we had 13 gallons that year. one year we had 16 gallons.  we depend on our dried corn in ceremonies. it is one of our sacred foods.

we also eat some at thanksgiving and christmas dinners. and at other times too. we like the taste of our corn so much. thats why we are willing to put in the work to have it. to us nothing tastes as good as our indian corn. even the kids like it. when we are drying it, they will sit there eating several ears of corn while we work.

i will wait to plant my indian beans and squash. the corn should be a coupla inches high before planting the indian beans. the squash is planted after that. i like to dry them and store them for the year too.

the other night i burned off the piles of leaves in my sema field. it killed off the weeds growing there and saved me from raking the leaves up. today i noticed a few sema plants coming up. i scattered some seeds anyway. i figure with the rains coming i can get some plants to grow.

its nice to have everything planted. well i may still plant a few more things. but thats another day.

today is my grand daughter cecelia’s birthday. she is 7years old today. she is named after my aunt. she has both her english and indian names. my aunt wanted to adopt me when i was little but my mother wouldnt let me go. i didnt get to know my aunt until she moved back to the rez. she kept to herself but she finally opened up to me and we got close before she left us.

we pick my grand daughter cecelia up from school during the week. she is here until her parents get off work. i enjoy the time i get to spend with her. i remember when she was just a baby and had open heart surgery. she looked so peaceful like it didnt even bother her. now she is in kindergarten.

i have been talking to or texting people i know. we catch up on what is going on with our lives. i know some wondered how i am doing. i tell them about my progress. i know they care. i am glad to have people like them in my life.

one friend asked me if i was working on my book. she said she wanted to see some chapters. i better work on that. i havent been. i lost the chapter on my days of alcohol and drug abuse. its kinda hard to relive that stuff in order to write about it. like my brother larry said  its ‘better to let it go’.

i have to keep my water intake up. i cant dehydrate. i cant have coffee yet. i sure miss it. i am drinking tea instead. i drink either green tea or indian tea. i dried and put away lotsa indian tea. i like drinking it. it reminds me of when i was younger. i used to pick it from the meadow by mishos house.

i found my indian corn seed. it is still on the cob. we will have to run it thru the antique corn sheller i bought. anything called an antique gets kinda pricey. this sheller is worth it though. it gets the kernels off the cob easier than any other way.

my sons are gonna plant our indian corn friday. we probably only have enough seed corn for one field.  after we get it planted we should catch the coming spring rains. our corn should sprout. we may even soak it over night before planting.

my son fired up our riding mower last evening. he mowed the yard. i am glad our mower is still working good. it was easier to do after the three men came here and mowed. all the wood and limbs have been moved. it will be easier to maintain now.

i appreciate my family helping me. i will be able to do all these chores later. my wife has been a big  help.  sometimes i tell young people its better to find one good one instead of a bunch that arent. some day they will understand that.

what will the rest of the week bring.

it took a family effort but we did more planting.  planting is usually my job but they helped me this time.  i wanted it done before the coming rains. my son, grandson and wife did most of the work. i just had to direct what needed to be done. first thing  was turning the soil over with a shovel.  composted manure and hummus was then added to each grow box.

we added some top soil on top of this. i planted one tomato each in three different grow boxes. i want lotsa tomatoes. andrew scattered  carrot seeds in each of these boxes. he wants carrots. it is a companion plant to tomatoes. i will be able to water them from the rain barrel or with a garden hose. they take a lot of water to grow.

we planted two grow boxes with green peppers and jalapeno peppers. maybe later i will add a habanero plant to one of these boxes. i need habanero peppers for my hot sauce. i added epsom salt around the tomato and pepper plants. that helps them grow.

i had two boxes that my dog dug up. they had a few strawberry plants left that we got  berries from in the past few years. we transplanted all of them into one grow box. they are flowering. these are june bearing plants. i have two long 8 foot boxes with ever bearing strawberries i planted earlier. i am counting on getting lotsa straw berries this year.

i put cages around the plants. i also laid some of my drying screens on a few boxes. this is to prevent the dog from digging the boxes up. i am not planting all this to have him ruin it by digging it up.

we have one box left. it is ready to plant. andrew said he wanted watermelon in it. we left it empty. it will be planted later with a warm weather crop. now we have 13 grow boxes that are planted. no maybe, might, gonna. these are planted. we got some rain last night and more is expected the next coupla days. let it rain.

we are planning on getting our indian corn planted this friday. at first we said saturday. then the weather guy predicted rain for saturday and sunday. i told my sons and they agreed friday. i said plant one field then plant the other one in a week or two later. one field takes us all day to pick, shuck, blanch, spoon and spread out to dry on screens. we can have some time before we have to dry the corn from the other field.

i talked to a few guys i have known a long time. one had open heart surgery 17 years ago. the other one had it 22 years ago. i hope i get that many years or more. that would put me in my 80s. that would be okay with me. my grand kids will have graduated by then. thats what i want to see.

it is the month of may. that means 3 generations of our family have  birthdays. my grand daughter cece has her birthday on may 5th. my daughter hattie was born on may 6th.  my birthday is on the 10th.

i am lucky i have reached this age. next year i will be 70,  i remember my great uncle wabnum dancing when he was 70. the ol’ boy still had it. thats the way i wanna be. still dancing when i am older. after my heart surgery i should have more years of dancing ahead of me.

friends and relatives have been dropping by for a visit.  or calling. they want to know how i am doing. some have offered their help if i need it.  it still humbles me that people care. that helps in my recovery.  i am getting stronger every day.  my rehab will start in about two weeks.

i have to keep track of my blood pressure, weight, temperature and blood sugar. i can see they have all improved.  my blood pressure is the best it has been in a long time.  i havent experienced any shortness of breath. i finally lost some weight. now i am getting up early as an old person. overall i feel pretty good.

last evening i was sitting outside copping some fresh air.  andrew was practicing his basket ball shot. after he would make one he would look to see if misho saw it. i am glad he is using his new basket ball goal we bought him. today he has 2 soccer games. one in meridan and one in manhattan. he is on a lawrence all star team that plays other towns.

this past week i was gonna try to sort some porcupine hair. it is a chore that needs to be done all the time. i didnt do it too long. it was too much reaching for me. i didnt want to push it so i quit. i will have plenty of time to do that as i get better.

speaking of porcupine hair, i have another 10 ounces of hair coming. it is from the same trapper that i bought the last pound of hair from. it is good hair, so i  bought more. i will also get some porcupine quills. i dont know how much. i hope enough to finish the fan i have. it will have a birch bark handle decorated with quills.

today is the kentucky derby. i have been watching it for the past several years. i like to look at the horses and try to guess which one is gonna win. i am usually wrong. thats why i dont make many bets at the track. i do like to watch the horses run.

question is will i get to watch it. 4 grand kids are here today. they control the tv when they are here. i probably get more enjoyment out of watching them than i do watching tv. any time i get to spend with them makes my day.  i will see if i can get a picture of me and them together.

four inches of snow and two frosts didnt kill what i have planted. the 25 straw berry plants i transplanted are leafing out. i transplanted another dozen straw berry plants. they all had a good root system.  all will bear fruit this year. i have both june bearing and ever bearing plants. i will get strawberries from spring until first frost in the fall.

my cabbages are doing good. my radishes, onions and peas came up. my kale is growing.  i dont see any carrots yet. i covered every thing with fencing, tomato cages and my drying screens. this is to keep my dog konugish from digging up my grow boxes.

my corn field has been tilled. my sons will plant indian corn in a coupla weeks. i dont know if i got enough seed corn to fill both fields. i will see when that time comes. i will plant sunflowers in the corn field. they are companion plants to corn. wild birds will eat all the seeds from them.

yesterday three men came to mow my yard. they knew i had open heart surgery and wouldnt be able to do that for some time. they saw i needed help  and did it.  that is the indian way. they have good teachings. wood and limbs had to be moved in order to mow. i wouldnt have been able to move the wood so soon after surgery. they moved them. i told them i really appreciated what they did for me.  i was getting concerned because the grass was getting taller.

i was looking to pay someone to move the wood that was lying in the yard. couldnt find any body.  then my niece said she, her cousin and a co-worker would do it for free. i thanked her and told her to thank the other two ladies. they were willing to help me. that wont need to be done now since the three men done it. my lawn really looks good now.

that glucose monitoring system is giving me false readings. i heard a beeping. it said i had low glucose. i drank some orange juice. i checked again and it was still low. i took a coupla pieces of the maple candy i bought. my glucose was still low. it beeped again. so took more orange juice. it was still low. we checked again by poking my finger. it was high. probably because of the juice.

i called our diabetes program. they came and changed the sensor. wasnt too long after i got another low reading. i checked again by poking my finger. it wasnt low. i think it must be the machine. i check against it by using the old way of poking my finger. the readings arent close. musta got a dud of a machine. i will call again. probably have to take the machine back and exchange it.

our diabetes program is giving away free plants today. last year they gave away tomato and pepper plants. mary will go check out what they giving this year. i have a few empty grow boxes. i saved room for warm weather crops like peppers. some way or other i will have a garden.

every few months the internet says we gonna have a super moon. it is closer to the earth since when ever. that is suppose to make it appear bigger.  this particular one was called the pink moon.  i took a picture with my cell phone. it wasnt a good picture.  i didnt notice any difference in how it looked. it didnt seem bigger or pink.  maybe that was just me.

one year i stayed outside for a lunar eclipse. i sat in my lawn chair waiting in the dark. i was hoping no one would go by and see me sitting in the cold. i did have a blanket wrapped around me.  i got a  good series of pictures of the moon getting smaller until it blacked out. i used my nikon. i still like that group of pictures. it was worth the effort.

i have some good news from all this surgery stuff. i have lost 17 pounds since the day before my surgery. i was on a liquid diet for bout 4 days. a nurse told me i am losing weight because my body is burning calories while healing. i am eating 3 meals a day with no snacks or junk food. i tried for years to lose some weight. it took open heart surgery to lose a few pounds.

i had a problem with gas in my stomach when i was in the hospital. i had that for some time before then. that’s why my stomach was big. i was told it would eventually shrink as it worked itself out. i and others have noticed that indeed my stomach has shrunk some. that problem caused me enough discomfort that i couldnt sleep good. now my sleep cycle is messed up.  i cant sleep all night. that too will work itself out.

i didnt know that it was a medical condition.  this one guy was making fun of me. he told this other indian a joke about my belly. they laughed. i walked on because there was no sense dealing with their ignorance. i hope neither has to undergo the discomfort i did. even if they are dumb asses. thats why it best not to say any thing to another. you never know what they are going thru in their life.

my chickens have been laying close to a dozen eggs a day. we are selling our surplus eggs. we have a market with people that want fresh, cage free eggs. they know country eggs taste better than store bought ones. i use the money to buy chicken feed. my chickens are close to paying for their up keep.

i got a glucose monitoring system. it replaces the poking your finger to check sugar level. i put a sensing pad on the back of my arm. then put the machine next to it for a reading. i am to record my sugar level 4 times a day. this means i dont have to poke  my fingers that many times. i had enough of that for the past two weeks. i am tired of having needles jabbed into me.

what will this week bring?

the grand kids were here last night. all day long andrew wanted to get a fire going. i coached him on how to get it going and how to stoke it up. he was game to learn. i am getting my 40 bucks worth from that fire ring i bought. we used it many times every year we’ve had it.

it wasnt too soon after the fire was going when some one wanted smores. most were up for smores. that required a quick trip to $ general in mayetti. it being so close to the rez is  convenient.

i think the kids like making smores more than eating them. that dont matter. they all had fun doing it. we were making them and heard kids coming down the road. my sister in law and grand kids came down. they were cleaning the road of trash for earth day. they were thirsty and came for some water. they all made some smores.

i sat outside in my pow wow chair. i wanted fresh air. i was able to watch every one having fun. i had a flannel shirt on as a jacket over my t shirt. it still got a little cool. i stood by the fire to warm up. i like the warmth of any fire.

i noticed my lawn is getting tall. i asked my son to see if the riding mower would start.  i wanted to know if the battery was dead. i dont wanna buy another battery if i dont have to. it had fire but it didnt turn over.

i wasnt surprised. it has no gas. i drained the gas out before storing it for the winter. one year the carburetor had to be rebuilt. that cost me some dinero. the small engine guy said to drain the gas before storage and i wouldnt have that problem. so i do.  as soon as we fill the mower with gas, some one will mow. probably not me yet.

i have a bunch of wood laying in the yard. most of it is kinda long for the stove. or small chunks that wont split.  i specifically asked that i not get wood that was too long.  they didnt listen to me. you cant tell a fort indian anything. we have wood left because we didnt have to burn as much as usual.

that pile will have to be moved so we can mow. i wont be able to do that for a few weeks while i am recovering from heart surgery. too bad i cant find some one who wants to make some bucks doing some labor. i used to know a young guy who did but he is working full time now.

i have been keeping up with taking my meds. i also have to record my weight, temperature and blood pressure. i have my sugar levels taken every day. mary has been helping me do that. she also takes me for a walk or two outside so i can get fresh air. when it is nice we leave the doors open to let the air in.

i am feeling better every day. that is a nice feeling.

andrew has been messing with every ones cell phone. he likes to text and take pictures. he took this selfie of him and his little brother samuel.  once he said ” i am nine years old, i need a phone”.  hmm. growing up on the rez, we didnt have phones.  our family didnt get one until i was in high school. the world has changed.

i am still eating some of the mushrooms we were given. we had them sauteed in butter and put into scrambled eggs again. i like them fried but after my operation i was advised to stay away from fried foods. i can handle that.

my diet has changed. one lady doctor stressed during my recovery i was to eat protein, protein, protein at every meal. it promotes healing. she asked me ‘what did i say to eat’. when i didnt reply she asked again. i answered ‘protein’. i have been following that. she wouldnt point it out if it wasnt important. i am doing what the doctors told me to do.

i didnt feel much like eating anything after my surgery. i was on a liquid diet for the first few days. i was put on solid food before i was released from the hospital. now i am just eating the 3 meals a day. i havent been snacking. i lost 6 pounds since i have been home because of that. i am taking in less calories.

after the past year of staying home, i am used to it. well i was a home body any way. while i am recovering i feel i shouldnt be out and about. i will be able to travel or get around after i am stronger.

andrew had a baseball game the other night. he got a hit for a double. it drove in two runs. later he said ‘that hit was for misho’.  my grand kids have really helped me thru this. i know they care for me as much as i care for them.

i renewed my subscription to the county rag recently. it used to be twice a week. now it is once a week. no drop in price though. i read it to keep up with what goes on in the county. they have one page that lists arrests. i check it out to see which of my relatives is being john dillinger.

i havent been working on my roaches. i am suppose to limit my reaching for awhile. i will have plenty of time to continue making roaches. i contacted the trapper that sold me my last pound of porcupine hair. i told him i would take the rest of what he had. i think it may be 8 ounces.

i probably need more hair. i make a double row of front hair on every roach i am making now. the man that taught me didnt make double rows so i didnt. now i know that most dancers prefer to have thicker hair up front. i will meet the demand.

i havent been feeding my dog and chickens. nor do i pick up the eggs. my wife and son have taken care of that for me. i will get back to those chores later. i will begin cardiac rehab in a coupla weeks. they waiting for me to heal and get stronger. i will be ready.

yesterday we got the predicted snow. nearly  5 inches worth. it covered everything-the tree limbs, bushes and lawn.  my raised beds were also buried under all that snow. it didnt take long for most of it to melt away though. by afternoon most was gone. that snow disappeared faster than a smile off a candidate for tribal offices’ face after the election.

my plants didnt look like they froze. they still hanging in there. they are all cool weather crops. i was so proud i had them planted before my surgery. now i gotta hope they make it thru this. if not i will replant when able. at the very worst i go to the farmers market in topeekie.

when i was in the hospital they gave me a red, heart shaped pillow. it was to place against my chest with my arms crossed . this made it bearable to stand up from a bed or chair. it also helped when i coughed. i have grown attached to this pillow. i still use it to hold against coughs.

i was sent a plant while in the hospital also. it has artificial flowers but all the greens are live plants. i brought the plant home. i will take care of it. it will remind me to keep growing.

i was wishing for morel mushrooms. last night my son, daughter in law and grand daughters came to visit.  i got a big hug from my grand daughters. they brought me a bag of mushrooms. i had some for breakfast. they were sauteed in butter and added to scrambled eggs. later i will have the rest of them fried. i love them that way.

i used to give my first pickings of mushrooms to an older lady down the road from me. i dropped some off once and she got up and started cooking them right away. now i am the old person that gets some.

at a previous visit i showed my zipper scar to my grand daughter cece. she had open heart surgery when she was just a baby. she ran on. then came back and pointed at where her scar was. we have always had a bond. now we have another.

i have been wishing for maple candy.  over the years i have asked many northerners where i can score some. none of them could get me a connection. i used to buy maple candy and give it to some of the old men i knew. they appreciated that. i gave it to them because of the knowledge they gave me.

after a year of staying home during this covid, i found i can order anything off the internet. i looked up several places. one on etsy made their maple candy the same way that indians have been doing for hundreds of years. i ordered some maple candy from them. shipping was pricey but i gotta have my taste of maple.

i still have to breathe thru this machine. it expands my lung capacity. it makes me exercise my lungs. this lessens my chance of catching pneumonia. i was told to use this everyday. i am doing what i was told to do. i am feeling stronger each day it seems. i will keep working on my recovery. i figured why not burn some sage in the house too if i need to breathe better. so i did. it was nice.

actually i have to follow the road to recovery. right now i am required to get up and walk at least 4 times a day.  i got to go outside in our yard a coupla times yesterday. i can use my strength to pull myself up.  a few times i needed help.

its a good thing my family is around me. my grand kids showed concern for me. i know they love misho. i am still overwhelmed by the support shown toward me from the people i care about.

recovery will be a slow process. i am willing to put in the work. i was told i would feel a lot different after 12 days.  i will be able to do all the things i did before. thats good. the things that i do makes me what i am. `

i have been sleeping in my bed the past coupla nights. i had some peaceful sleep. i still aint sleeping all night. its hard to get comfortable.  i am glad i am in the familiar surroundings of my home. one of my sisters said i will recover faster here. i can believe that.

i cant drink coffee. i will miss that life long habit. i think after 30 days i can have it. i probably will savor a small cup of it soon as i can. this indian wouldnt know what its like not to have coffee. i have to monitor my blood sugar, weight and temperature every day. i keep a log of it that i have to take to my follow up appointments.

i had never spent a night in the hospital in my life before my surgery. i had been healthy most of my life. it wasnt until i got to an older age that my health started to go down. first i had arthritis. later came diabetes a few years back.  high blood pressure and cholesterol followed that. my blockage was caused by a few of these things combined and my past smoking. my genetics also factored into it.

my grandsons made some bird houses at their school. after the houses are done they are put up for auction. it is done to make money for their gardening project. i already have three of andrew’s bird houses hanging in the yard now. my yard will get one more his and the first one of samuels. the bids usually go for $20. normally i wouldnt pay that much but i support my grand sons.

the weather guy said we may get some snow tomorrow. i planted many things before i went for surgery. the cold shouldn’t hurt them.  i came home to find my two fields tilled up by the garden program i used to work for.  my sons will plant indian corn in these fields next month. they helped me ever since they were little. now they can take over for me. i have good sons.

people have been finding morel mushrooms. i usually go hunt for them at least 4 or 5 times a year. after i get my fill i am content until the next year. i wont be out looking this year though. and i damn sure aint paying the outrageous prices some charge for a small bag of mushrooms. as much as i love mushrooms i aint supporting that.