Pow Wows, Pizza and Panoramas


Today we got a taste of real Taos. Taos the town became a thing long after Taos the Pueblo, about a mile away. The pueblo, which Brian and I got a tour of 5 or 6 years ago, is often open to the public. It’s a great introduction to what life in a Native American pueblo was like, a great cultural experience. It’s part of a reservation where almost 5,000 people reside. The pueblo is closed this weekend, due to the fact that this weekend is the annual Taos Pueblo Pow Wow.

The Pow Wow is held near the pueblo, but not on the grounds. A pow wow is a gathering of different groups in common friendship. This one is in its 30th year, which is a long time for such events to run continuously. We were able to see the Grand Entry, a long procession of people of all ages in traditional ceremonial dress, performing their ceremonial dances to the sound of the drum circle. The dancers come into a sort of arena encircled by a shelter of logs tied together and covered with branches. Two family friends of one of our travelers performed—one as a drummer, one as a dancer. It was an amazing, colorful experience.

Almost as fun was the shopping accompanying the pow wow. Native American artisans set out booths in an even bigger circle around the grounds, and we checked out all the jewelry, clothing, drums, pottery, even pelts that were available for sale. They managed to coax a few dollars out of all of our pockets. And of course, no pow wow is complete without a genuine Pennsylvania Dutch funnel cake, right? I expected to find some fry bread, but this was a very acceptable alternative.

One thing about the pow wow is that it is in an open field in New Mexico in July. It is a little bit hot. We decided to come back and have some recovery time at our adobe before tackling anything else. I think we all fell asleep for at least a little while.

Eventually we all came around again and went for pizza at Taos Pizza Outback. It was great pizza, and since we had sort of skipped lunch, it was eagerly received. Conversation around the table took some interesting turns—let’s just say I learned a bit more about all of the parents of these girls. I am sure that said parents will have the pleasure of learning a few things about me when this is all over. I’ll keep my mouth shut if you will.

The sun was getting low when we finished dinner, so we wasted no time driving out to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. This is typical New Mexico, as far as I can see. Something completely gorgeous and amazing that is treated in a casual, understated way. I have been there before and I knew it was coming, but if you didn’t know and didn’t notice the two smallish brown signs announcing it, you would think you might be about to cross a bridge over a drainage ditch—the bridge just looks like more road. But when you get there, you realize it is an enormous bridge spanning a deep gorge. It may not be the Grand Canyon or Royal Gorge in Colorado, but it is still a breathtaking sight, and so unexpected. We watched the sun begin to set, then loaded back into the car and came home.

These four girls are having something of a pow wow themselves—representatives of different family cultures who come together to celebrate friendship. There is a lot of music, a little bit of dancing, and a lot of sharing of individual cultures. For instance, right now, a couple of them are being inducted into the Miyazaki animated film culture. Another introduced the group to the U2 Joshua Tree album, as it is a fitting soundtrack to this area. Tea has become a staple for all of them. Our devotions tonight will be verses from Revelation 7:9-12, about the great multitude "from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb."

Such things are worthy of celebration.











Popular posts from this blog

[British] Open Minded

Image
About a year ago, a friend asked us if we’d be interested in going to Scotland for the British Open if he won the chance to buy 4 tickets in the ticket lottery. At the end of October he found out he’d won. For a few hours I was celebrating my opportunity to see top-notch tennis players, until my ignorance became apparent to the rest of the foursome. Turns out it’s a golf tournament; I offer that tidbit for anyone else out there like me. After 9 months of anticipation and almost 2 weeks of touring Scotland, the big day was here. Our fellow traveler not only won the chance to buy tickets, he won the chance to buy them for the final day. Again, for those like me, that means they have already played a round of golf for each of the first 3 days, and those that made the cut play a last round on the final day. The excitement of it was heightened because it was the 150 th anniversary of the British Open, and it was being played—as it is every 5 years now—at the birthplace of golf, St Andr
Read more

[Wander] Lust in the Time of COVID, Part I: Fennville and South Haven

Image
It may come as no surprise to find out that I’m afflicted with itchy feet. In normal times, I will seek out any way I can to explore via planes, trains or automobiles. Of course these are not normal times. But the point of travel isn't only to see far-away places. We travel to experience the joy of new  places.  For Mother’s Day this year, I gave out a few copies of books about traveling in Michigan.  Rebel , a fun gift store in Grand Rapids, put many of their products online so you could order curbside when retail was still shut down. One book was  Backroads and Byways of Michigan,  and another focused on hikes in Michigan. I gave myself the Backroads book, and this summer Brian and I have been exploring some areas we haven’t before, or finding new ways to enjoy places we have been. We avoid crowds, watch for well-spaced outdoor dining, and stay masked up whenever we get near other people, which puts us in the majority in some places and the minority in others. Most of the places
Read more

Little Earthquakes Everywhere

Image
This morning, just before 5 am, a 5.0 earthquake somewhere northeast of us made a Tokyo’s ground tremble. I happened to wake up to the bed shaking a bit; this is the fourth time I’ve felt one in my life. Three of those four times I’ve wondered what Brian could possibly be doing in his sleep—a constant leg twitch? a terrifying nightmare?— to cause our bed to shimmy this way. One of those times was three days ago in the middle of the night in the same hotel room, but it didn’t occur to me then what it was. This morning I heard the wall shift slightly as it was happening and it became clear. Japan has small earthquakes almost every day, so this should be no surprise, but of course my nighttime self is not the most reasonable version of me, so I lay in bed another half hour wondering what might come next. I am the family seismograph—everyone else slept through both tremors this week.  This echoes my function in our family in real life. When one of our children is going through
Read more