Decided to stop for the night in Rapid City, and check on the forecast for tomorrow's last leg. I was ever so thrilled to see that the Weather Channel indicated heavy snow for the entire leg between Rapid City through Butte on I-90. I also noticed that New Mexico is under tornado and flood watches. It's kind of weird to see really bad weather in the two places from which I began and will end this trip.
On the good side, gas has been way cheaper than I planned on. I've actually had a half a dozen tanks cost me less than three dollars per gallon. That makes a big difference on a trip of this length. The other thing I've noticed is that in general the motels don't have enough business to keep themselves open. Last night the motel we stayed in had 50 some rooms and four total cars in their parking lot. It seems travel at this time of year is way way down. I have visited national and state parks where we have been the only people there. It's kind of weird, but it does give one the freedom to see things at their leisure.
Today we stopped in Pipe Stone, Minnesota. This is the quarry in which the red stone used for ceremonial peace pipes in most North American tribes is quarried. Although it's a national park, only blood native Americans can quarry the stone. There is a long waiting list. I have some great pictures of the place, but down loading photos from my camera is an issue. Apparently this Google program has trouble with photos that have large mega pixel values. The camera I'm using on this trip takes 12.3 mega pixel photos which is great for maintaining magnified close ups, but not for this blogsite. I got so excited about Pipe Stone, I forgot to dumb down the photos. Oh well.
The interesting thing about Pipestone is that many, many plains tribes considered this a sacred site, and pipe bowls made from this stone were considered very sacred. In order to quarry stone, natives would undertake three day purification rituals before entering the area, and weapons and attitudes were forbidden. There is a very serene quality to the place to this day. It really does feel sacred.
I was given a Pipe Stone pipe some time ago, but have never used it. I fully understand what smoking a peace pipe means, and have resisted accepting the responsibility of being a pipe carrier. Being a pipe carrier is similar to being a priest. One is a servant to the needs of others for prayer and ceremony, and right now my life is a little too chaotic to actually activate the pipe I keep. Being a pipe keeper is different. This essentially means I just keep the pipe until I am given a message to pass it on to a pipe carrier. I seriously doubt I'll be given a message to pass this pipe on, but I also haven't been given a clear message to have it blessed and activate it.
I think this trip is preparation for activation. It's funny sometimes how you find yourself dragged into commitments you wouldn't normally make. Activating a pipe can be a big commitment.
On a less personal level, it seems that Pipe Stone pipe stone has a similar kind of otherside connection capability that crystals do for the south western tribes. Holy persons of south western tribes can activate a crystal and see what amount to videos in the crystals. Pipe stone seems to have an auditory rather than visual connection for the Plains tribes. In both cases these specific earth articles have very specific spiritual properties and psychic enhancement attributes. In that sense they are spiritual tools.
In Catholicism our tools would be consecrated bread and wine and blessed relics and other objects, but our tools don't have the same connections as crystals or a very specific stone for sacred pipes. Tonight I am just too tired to go into the thinking I did while passing the hours it takes to drive the entirety of South Dakota and most of Minnesota. I'll tackle this when I get home.
In the meantime, getting home tomorrow may take more effort than I originally thought, and if I have to get into four wheel drive, a lot more time. So it may be a few more days before I post my thinking. Until then may we all have safe journeys.
Colleen, fascinating travel narrative--and if you see this before you travel, I hope your travels are safe.
ReplyDeleteColleen, it will be great to hear from you after your trip. I'm sure you'll need some time to decompress, especially if the weather was bad after so much driving.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that NCR is locked up and has posted comments from over a year ago. Could it be that comments had reached a crescendo between the medieval trads and the progressive enlightened? Could be, because what I posted last Thursday was not posted and I had a lot of truth telling to tell. Sometimes I think that the truth is too much for even NCR to bear. It seems they go into protection mode at times.
I noticed too that in Bill's forum, GASometer, that all of the comments were gone, just wiped off. I am wondering what's up with that? Have any ideas on why, Carl or Bill?
I noticed a couple of the topics were empty or missing. My guess is that it is probably a computer malfunction or an operator error where the computer did what they told it to instead of what they wanted it to.
ReplyDeleteI clicked on over a dozen NCR threads and there were no comments on any of them anymore. They must have had a major server malfunction. I kind of wonder if the recent comments from over a year ago aren't the most recent they still retain. If this is true what a loss.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't make sense that the original post in the Forums are still there, but all of the comments are gone. Could there be a mole working there?
ReplyDeleteButterfly:
ReplyDeleteReread my posts from 10/7 and 10/13 from the perspective of synchronicity.
I dont think it was a mole or anything malicious. My perception is that this is simply a reminder from the universe, that the old ways no longer work. A gentle reminder that that it really is time for us to choose, do we jump into the new with both feet and swim with the new current, or do we fall into the old and get stuck in the muck.
You may have noticed that I have not be commenting as much on NCR lately as I used to. As much as I love the commentary on NCR Cafe, there is a lot of the old rhetoric there that keeps getting us bogged down. Each time we get caught in the arguments of one of the FO's, we are falling backwards.
However, each time we question the old, challenge the old, present new options and possibilities, look beyond the status quo for new possibilities, we are jumping forward into the new. It is a subtle distinction, but a very important one for us to recognize and embrace.
There is no more middle ground for us anymore. No more fence straddling. We must choose. Failure to choose defaults us to "stuck in the muck".
Each time one of us chooses to jump, the vibrational energy of the planet jumps with us. That jump takes us one step closer to a new world where the old ways are no longer in control. One step closer to a lasting peace. One step closer to world where love is the dominant expression instead of hate.
It only takes one voice to change the world. What if ... today, it is my voice, my choice that makes the difference, my choice that tips the scale to love?
Gee thanks Carl.. so now you are saying I'm stuck in the muck. Thanks. Your comment is just a little puffed up.
ReplyDeleteHow does going into foreclosure sound to you? Sink your feet into that idea and maybe you'll have an idea what I'm up against. I'm jumping forward into the new all right!
Butterfly, after Enron, my career, my retirement, my savings and my lifestyle disappeared.
ReplyDeleteThe muck I was referring to is not the individual circumstances we face. The muck I was referring to is the fear rhetoric and hateful attitudes that underlies so much of the rhetoric of the “trads” and the fear and hate based rhetoric that underlies so much of the traditional religious teachings.
Did you work at Enron Carl?
ReplyDelete