sleeping tonight.
So Iâll stay in that chair there while you sleep.
And this will all make sense in the morning?
Old Man tried to straighten his back but went right back to being hunched over.
Like someone had put a heavy load on his shoulders.
No, he answered. Probably not.
Crazy Horse
I donât know if I was actually asleep
or whether Old Man did something
but I was not in my room. I was
on top of a hill surrounded by brown
dry hills beneath a bright sun.
And Old Man was walking towards me.
He looked a lot younger.
This is better, he said. Weâll start here.
Let me tell you about Crazy Horse.
He was born near here and was a warrior and great leader.
Like Geronimo?
Yes.
See that bird.
A red-tailed hawk flew toward us and then away.
Letâs go, Old Man said. Crazy Horse followed a red-tailed hawk one day and he had many visions.
We started walking south.
Following the bird, Crazy Horse went into the spirit world where he could see that the spirit world was the real world and the physical world was just like a place made up of shadows of the spirit world.
In that spirit world, Crazy Horse was told that he could move freely between the two worlds if he needed to do so and that when he was going into battle, he could slip out of the physical world and see what was going on behind it all to understand what was really going on. That way he would not get injured and he would be safe.
He was told that he needed to be the protector of his people and that heâd have help from the spirits of his ancestors. He was to keep an eye out for a white owl that would be around to help protect him.
Later, he was also given a black stone from a man named Horn Chips, a medicine man, and he put that stone behind his horseâs ear to protect the horse and make man and animal become one in battle.
But he was killed, right?
Not before he had been in many battles and become a great warrior. We all have to give our bodies back to the earth eventually. He did what he needed to do and then he moved on.
It was about then that I thought I was going to wake up.
But I opened my eyes and realized
I had not been asleep.
It had been some kind of trance, maybe.
Old Man, the older Old Man, was sitting there
beside my bed in the dim light of morning.
Iâm not saying you should be engaging in battles like Crazy Horse or Geronimo. That time is past.
Today, itâs kinda complicated being a warrior. Itâs not about fighting your enemies anymore.
Itâs about conquering your fears, conquering yourself, and protecting what needs to be protected.
Protect who from what?
He laughed. It varies, he said.
Sometimes it means learning to help someone protect themselves from what is within.
The Bird
The bird outside my window
was not a red-tailed hawk
or a white owl.
It was a small
brown
sparrow
with a
very
ambitious
song.
Saturday: Caitlan Day
Think of it as a quest, I told her.
She looked sullen, a little crazy, pale
but she still had those
beautiful Indian eyes.
There is a petroglyph not far from here, I said.
A what?
A drawing in stone. Put there by ancient peoples.
Jeremy, youâve been playing
too many video games.
I donât play video games.
Then what is this?
A quest.
We are searching for something.
I donât know. I donât feel good.
I know. But trust me.
I held her hand.
She looked scared.
I felt the scars on her hands,
an unhealed cut deep in the palm of one hand.
Jeremy, what about Jenson?
Weâll talk about Jenson.
We took a bus
that went almost all the way
to my old community.
When we got off
Old Man was there
sitting on a bench
reading a newspaper.
I hadnât expected that.
He smiled at us.
You know him? Caitlan asked.
Yep. Thatâs my grandfather.
Caitlan understood.
I wasnât sure how we would find the trail to the petroglyph, I said. (This was true. I was waiting for guidance. But here it was.)
Heâll show us the
So Iâll stay in that chair there while you sleep.
And this will all make sense in the morning?
Old Man tried to straighten his back but went right back to being hunched over.
Like someone had put a heavy load on his shoulders.
No, he answered. Probably not.
Crazy Horse
I donât know if I was actually asleep
or whether Old Man did something
but I was not in my room. I was
on top of a hill surrounded by brown
dry hills beneath a bright sun.
And Old Man was walking towards me.
He looked a lot younger.
This is better, he said. Weâll start here.
Let me tell you about Crazy Horse.
He was born near here and was a warrior and great leader.
Like Geronimo?
Yes.
See that bird.
A red-tailed hawk flew toward us and then away.
Letâs go, Old Man said. Crazy Horse followed a red-tailed hawk one day and he had many visions.
We started walking south.
Following the bird, Crazy Horse went into the spirit world where he could see that the spirit world was the real world and the physical world was just like a place made up of shadows of the spirit world.
In that spirit world, Crazy Horse was told that he could move freely between the two worlds if he needed to do so and that when he was going into battle, he could slip out of the physical world and see what was going on behind it all to understand what was really going on. That way he would not get injured and he would be safe.
He was told that he needed to be the protector of his people and that heâd have help from the spirits of his ancestors. He was to keep an eye out for a white owl that would be around to help protect him.
Later, he was also given a black stone from a man named Horn Chips, a medicine man, and he put that stone behind his horseâs ear to protect the horse and make man and animal become one in battle.
But he was killed, right?
Not before he had been in many battles and become a great warrior. We all have to give our bodies back to the earth eventually. He did what he needed to do and then he moved on.
It was about then that I thought I was going to wake up.
But I opened my eyes and realized
I had not been asleep.
It had been some kind of trance, maybe.
Old Man, the older Old Man, was sitting there
beside my bed in the dim light of morning.
Iâm not saying you should be engaging in battles like Crazy Horse or Geronimo. That time is past.
Today, itâs kinda complicated being a warrior. Itâs not about fighting your enemies anymore.
Itâs about conquering your fears, conquering yourself, and protecting what needs to be protected.
Protect who from what?
He laughed. It varies, he said.
Sometimes it means learning to help someone protect themselves from what is within.
The Bird
The bird outside my window
was not a red-tailed hawk
or a white owl.
It was a small
brown
sparrow
with a
very
ambitious
song.
Saturday: Caitlan Day
Think of it as a quest, I told her.
She looked sullen, a little crazy, pale
but she still had those
beautiful Indian eyes.
There is a petroglyph not far from here, I said.
A what?
A drawing in stone. Put there by ancient peoples.
Jeremy, youâve been playing
too many video games.
I donât play video games.
Then what is this?
A quest.
We are searching for something.
I donât know. I donât feel good.
I know. But trust me.
I held her hand.
She looked scared.
I felt the scars on her hands,
an unhealed cut deep in the palm of one hand.
Jeremy, what about Jenson?
Weâll talk about Jenson.
We took a bus
that went almost all the way
to my old community.
When we got off
Old Man was there
sitting on a bench
reading a newspaper.
I hadnât expected that.
He smiled at us.
You know him? Caitlan asked.
Yep. Thatâs my grandfather.
Caitlan understood.
I wasnât sure how we would find the trail to the petroglyph, I said. (This was true. I was waiting for guidance. But here it was.)
Heâll show us the
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