Storms in the Night

Day 8 on the Reservation:

Yesterday, Weatherbug said that all week was going to be beautiful. So imagine my surprise/terror last night at 5:15am when I woke up in a trailer propped up by cinder blocks to a wind and lightning storm. We don't have a tv, radio or the Internet over at the trailer so there was no way for me to see if there was a tornado. I wandered around the trailer for about twenty minutes before returning to my bed against an inside wall, trying to get my head as close as possible to the center of the trailer. By 7:30am, it was still drizzling and I walked down the street to the Tree of Life Ministry as lightning crossed the sky on three sides of the horizon and fresh blue skies brightened behind the trailer in the distance. The rest of the day has been beautiful but now Weatherbug says we'll have rain until Thursday. Whatever.

For Eric

At some point this summer, Eric might think to check my blog and see what's going on, so Eric, if you do, this is for you. Everyone else, sorry.

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Dear Eric,

Since this is kind of a public love blog note, I'll try to refrain from getting too personal or mushy. In order for that to work, insert telepathic *** messages where implied by the asterisks. ;-)

I love you so much. Since we're currently 1,597 miles apart, I wish teleportation had been invented so we could ***. I think of you many times a day and wish that we could *** and ***. I can't wait until August 15th when we get to see each other again and can finally *** and harmonize together with the radio. May this truly be the last time we're apart for this long.

Yours,
Heather

*If you're not Eric and you think my love note is completely inappropriate, then you need to read the message again and insert more appropriate implied thoughts!

No food

"I don't know what to feed [my new stray puppy] because we don't even have food."

- Pedro, approx. 10 years old, Rosebud Reservation, 6/19/09

Lists of Dones

Since I arrived here on Monday night, I have
- moved into a mobile home
- visited a site for public Sun Dances
- saw an elk (rare occurance-- the Native American man we were traveling with had never seen one before!)
- attended a Chamber of Commerce meeting for Mission, SD
- met a Christian Lakota medicine man and a traditional art artisan who's willing to teach me anything I can think of related to hides, beads and quills
- noticed that Oreos at grocery store cost $5.14 (!)
- drank a gallon of milk
- put together 2 bed frames and a closet

I am currently going through withdrawl because my roommate has been preparing our morning coffee with 1/2 decaf beans (!!!). I'm trying to make up for it with caffinated green tea...

From Rosebud

And now I'm on the Rosebud Reservation, SD.

Exhausted after traveling 15 hours yesterday and then setting up house in a mobile home.

But good.

By the way, I forgot to write that Eric and I had a fantastic week-long vacation in DC and NC before I left. I'm so glad I was able to spend time with him.

Another adventure

After traveling via car about 2,500 miles since May 31st and visiting an endless list of great friends, I've now got 24 hours before my plane takes off for Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Prepare yourself for some stories from a couple reservations...

Good for my soul

I'm presently sitting in a quiet apartment in Washington, PA waiting to visit Tricia at her school and observe her afternoon classes. (Yes, I should be writing a paper instead of this post, but c'est la vie!)

Thankfully, the high school lock-in went well, I was able to successfully move out of my apartment, enjoy fellowship with a few amazing seminary ladies and get safely to western PA this past weekend. And now I am so happy to be able to relax here. Eric, Arnold, Leslie and the rest of the Drew team are safely back from the safari in northern Uganda and will start flying home about 2am tonight. It's been a long two weeks since they left. My mind has been cluttered with wishes to be with them, hopes for their safety and a long to do list here in the states. I'm looking forward to seeing Eric soon and hearing stories about some of the people who are on my heart.

Before that happens, however, I'm going to enjoy a great day with Tricia and Shannon and then make a totally-out-of-the-way pit stop at Jumonville on my way to NJ. :-) And this coming weekend will be amazing when Eric and I get to travel to DC and NC to see a whole bunch of great friends. All of this fellowship is so good for my soul, especially before I take off for the flatlands of South Dakota for ten weeks.