Monday Mystery Tour, May 16, 2011

Spring means the Bear Spirit is awakening after a long Winter slumber

I've been watching Doctor Who on the BBC Network. My Grandson has discovered the good Doctor and we're recording all the episodes. I'm watching here and there while they are in recording mode, between Stanley Cup Playoff games. (Go Vancouver!).

Doctor Who had his Tardis. He'd simply pull down on the blue levers, the column of green light bubbled with joy and he and his platonic partner were hurdled into a time warp, traveling not only across distance but also through time. After all, a Tardis is "Time and Relative Dimension in Space", and looks like a common Police Call Box on the streets of London. That's right. Doctor Who is an alien.

I so wish I could travel like that. Yesterday, while enjoying the second day of our 30 day Summer, I was out on the motorcycle. As I rode along the beautiful Mississippi River bluffs along Lake Pepin, I had traveling on my mind. The 40 mile ride had me planning  trips on the motorcycle and in the car for later this Summer and one late in the Fall. Of course, reality came crashing down when I turned right on County Road O and headed for home. That's when I started to think about the trip I am leaving for Tuesday morning.

That's tomorrow, as I'll post this story on Monday. I'll be away for a little over a week. I'll be headed to the Red Cliff Indian Reservation on the shore of the Great Lake Superior. I'll call it a camping trip and be up there until next Sunday, but it will be so much more than that really. A Native Elder is holding a Vision Quest ceremony and I am going up to help out. I believe my main duty will be to tend a Sacred Fire that will burn while the ceremony is being conducted.

The Full Moon will take place on Tuesday and the night will be lit up like daytime. Nightfall is already after 8:30 PM and it is light in the Eastern sky by 4:30 AM. The nights will be short on the darkness scale.

Friends of mine that are participating in the Vision Quest have their own agendas. I have one too. Like I wandered the desert last February in New Mexico, I will wander the lakeshore, the water, the view of Sand Island, the sky, Grandfather Sun and Grandmother Moon and the new plants getting green. I'll pay attention to my heart and listen to what it says as it guides me to the next adventure, which will simply be to return home to my family.

Along the South Shore of Lake Superior at Saxon Harbor

I guess I could have just said, "I'll be away until next Monday" and left it at that, but there might be some of you that want to know where I'm at and what I'm doing. So, look up at the Moon, our gazes will meet there, or across the water, I'll see what you saw eventually. The birds will take our messages back and forth and we'll find a little peace on earth, even if only for a moment.

Lastly, there are two dear friends I will be thinking of. One lives out East. I promised a narrative about the Vision Quest last year and never wrote one. I'll chronicle the events as they unfold and make good on that commitment when I return. Maybe I'll see one of the Bear Spirits she is so fond of, like the one in the beautiful water color at the top of the page. Thank you for this gift.

The other is a dear lady, an artist, a healer, an old soul and spirit sent here for some reason we don't get to understand. She wrote the Paper-N-Soul Blog. Her name is Deb Gilchrist and she passed in March of 2011. Ironic then, that her last post is about a Full Moon and she loved the Great Lakes.

Be kind to each other. Be peaceful. Practice it in your daily affairs. Enjoy life as you can.

Peace