Tuesday,March15,2005_7:17:41AM

Tuesday, March 15, 2005
7:17:41 AM
Wow did Rima and I have a chat yesterday. I keep telling her we need to be careful about spending too much time together. And I’ve been teaching her a lot of things, like she’s been teaching me. Sunday we had a drum circle in my back yard around a fire. Dan, Angela and her two kids were there, Sammy Jo and Dan dropped in for a bit too. The first Dan is a friend of Angela's from NY. He came south to help her move up north. Now he doesn’t want to leave.

I guess things started with Rima on Saturday. She wanted me to go out to meet some of her close friends in Carrollwood for breakfast. I went to pick her up at 9am. It was a nice group and everyone had a lot to offer and share. Rima has never brought anyone into the group before. They started going around a circle introducing themselves and such. I was really quiet and watching throughout. They started the introductions with Gary http://www.hellofrommyheart.com/ to my left and went the other way around the circle.

When they got to Rima on my right... she introduced me! Wow wasn’t that sweet, all about me being connected to some ancient ritual that she was adorning to help bring out for everyone. And I guess that was really smart, since I would have just said I was an engineer. The hostess Jennifer http://www.skinwisdom.com/ has been doing a lot with patent development, nursing and such. My first feeling was to ask her about helping Rowan get over here. But there was a lot we needed to share and talk about. Evidently she needs Heidi’s help too.

We all had fun chatting and sharing. Then we left. Rima wanted to stop by to see Mary at the Indian shop and we sat and chatted there for a while. Mary wouldn’t even look at me and barely said a word. Rima was the middle of everything there in a flash, while I just sat back and watched. She got a birthday card and a gift for a son-in-law. An hour or so later we were off to deliver the gifts, and stopped into Wally’s next door to get some stones. No one was home at her daughter’s house, which was halfway down Hillsborough. She talked about going to a Pow-Wow in Dunedin but we didn’t go.

However, I did take her to Phillipe Park to visit the Indian mound, since we were half-way there already. Wow, did she love this place. We drummed a bit, and sang and such. She began teaching me things and telling me about the old Indian ways. This might have been what promoted the drum circle Sunday. She was careful to teach me more then and both Dan and I were very careful to listen and follow her directions for how to start the ceremony. She told me that I might learn from him too. And it was very clear how she still separated the “white man” from everything else. She clearly has a lot of resentment and anger towards us. She’s said I have a lot of old Indian stuff and ways, but still calls me a white man.

Funny, one of the Indian books that Dr. Cooper told me to get, is full of people she knows. She found it on my shelf and has been reading it every time she comes over. It’s neat, and I realized why I've not read it yet, because I don’t know the language, or the slang they use. She read a passage about how white men were lost in the ways of the “green frog skins.” The frog skin is the dollar, and so men were lost in money => greedy. Cool to see the truth so clear there from the Indian Medicine Men.


12:37:53 PM
So Heidi and I had a good meeting this morning too. After I wrote this in my journal waiting for her I sat in her office on her computer chatting with her as she ran around me cleaning things up and getting organized. I gave her all I had found about Litman and even searched some more on her PC to make a big folder of stuff on her machine. Then I copied off her “fertilizer” folder so I can go through it for my report in class.

She was still coughing and didn’t sound too good, so I asked her if I could give her some Reiki. To my surprise she said no, because the bible said a lot about staying away from “black magic.” I about laughed, saying she always knew the difference between the light and the dark. It was never a question of discernment for her. But she didn’t like my over-simplification that the “back or white” is only in the intentions not anything else. It sounded like a conversation that could go on for hours. So we made plans for dinner and I went on my way.

I tried to get a hold of Sam in the shop, but had no luck. Then I went to the credit union to deposit my student loan check, and asked if Dr. Ness was around. He was busy in a meeting but certainly wants to meet again. So I left my phone number and hope to stop by there again. I also want to go to Jiwan’s Yoga class tonight. I will see her again Thursday too.

Wow, busy really busy. I invited Heidi to join us Wednesday when I go see Jennifer again, and Rima has already said we were taking her brother out to eat after it all. Angela and Dan left late last night too. So Rima is alone again in her house, and seemed happy about that.