Sunday, August 15th

We are here! We arrived yesterday afternoon about 3:00. At one point it seemed like we were going to be late, and then Pat remembered that we would cross into Mountain time and once again all was well! The ironic part of that is that when we began our orientation with the other 43 people who are also here, one of the main points that our leader is stressing is that a major part of our experience is to SLOW Down. A slice of calm and peace is an important gift that this place and experience is to offer us. I suspect it is also a bit of necessity for moving this many people to our work sites and getting things done in a culture that is so much less time oriented than we are used to.

When we arrived Patty met us here. She had another commitment and so flew into Rapid City and was picked up by one of the staff from Re-Member. Several others were also picked up. We then selected bunks in our own private bunk room. Normally we might have had 5 -7 other people in our room, also, but because they have about half as many as in a “full” week, we have the space to ourselves. It’s quite acceptable and the beds are much more comfortable than in New Orleans—Thank you. Thank you!

I want to report a bit about the drive. It was uneventful in any negative sense. But who says that the drive across Nebraska is boring? It was beautiful! We came north from Council Bluffs where we spent the night and then came across Highway 20 which is a 2 lane highway through rich farm land with a gentle roll. The colors, textures and lush vegetation was rich. Then we slowly moved into what I think of when I consider Nebraska. It was more flat, such that we could see for miles and the primary function of the land was pasture, cattle and hay. Then we moved to much more sparse territory. Still cattle and hay, but it obviously took more land to support the herds. Finally it was back into foothills, but still very sparse with houses miles apart. I suspect that this is the place where mail is delivered only every few days. It seemed sort of lonely in a strange, beautiful and rather peaceful way. I know. Rather contradictory, isn’t it. But that’s the way I felt. When we drove into South Dakota we ran into a field of Sunflowers. Beautiful!!!! Pat was driving at that point, and we made her stop so we could take photos.

We did a short orientation last night with some expectations for our time here—SLOW DOWN, and e careful with the water. We will be assigned to different teams, so we will have different experiences. Our groups are from Michigan –several ambitious teens, Delaware, Massachusetts, Hawaii and us. This morning we are discovering our assignments and already Pat is in the kitchen making breakfast.

Last night we went to a POW WOW. It was several miles from here, and the weather has cooled down to the point that we were uncomfortably cold. The pow wow was ok, but I was disappointed because what I saw last year was so much larger and with such incredibly, colorful regalia. We did experience some of the culture, though and saw some really cute youngsters experiencing the pride of their culture.
So tired when we arrived home. We fell into our beds and I think most of us fell instantly asleep. Today is our tour day with a trip to Wounded Knee. We begin working tomorrow, so a bit of a Sabbath.

Right now you are all preparing for worship. I know Sheila will offer a wonderful message. Know that we are thinking of you and looking forward to telling you about this experience. Be well and see you later. (PS. I'm working on getting photos included. Will send some other pics next post.)