Uncategorized

The Kewa Pueblo (formerly Santo Domingo Pueblo) in New Mexico holds vibrant, sacred Corn Dances, typically in the summer (especially August 4th for St. Dominic's Day), as an ancient ritual to give thanks for the harvest and ask for continued blessings, featuring large numbers of dancers in traditional attire shuffling in patterns, accompanied by songs, drummers, and masked clowns in the central plaza under cornstalk arbors.  Key Aspects of the Kewa Corn Dance: Purpose: A deeply spiritual ceremony for gratitude and abundance, deeply tied to the land and community's survival. Timing: Often happens in summer, with significant events around the St. Dominic Annual Feast Day (August 4th). Participants: Involves many dancers in double file (men leading women), with women's hands on men's shoulders, changing formations with the songs. Setting: The dance occurs in the central plaza, often with an arbor made of cornstalks and cottonwoods. Elements: Accompanied by drumming, singing, and ceremonial clowns smeared with clay and wearing traditional markings. Significance: A major cultural event, considered one of the best and largest in New Mexico.  Visiting Kewa Pueblo: Etiquette: When visiting any Pueblo feast day, it's crucial to be respectful, follow instructions, and understand that photography is not allowed or they will confiscate your phone or camera. Cultural Context: These dances are religious ceremonies, not performances for tourists, emphasizing the deep connection to their heritage and land. 

  Both the Crow and Navajo Nations hold deep spiritual connections to specific mountains. The Crow consider the Crazy Mountains sacred, using them for vision quests and ceremony. The Navajo organize their entire cosmology around the Four Sacred Mountains, which define the boundaries of their world. The Four Sacred Navajo Mountains The Four Sacred Mountains mark the boundaries of the Navajo Nation and lie at the heart of Navajo spiritual life. In Navajo belief, each mountain is a living deity — assigned a color and a cardinal direction — and serves as a vital source of sustenance for the Navajo people. For decades, however, uranium mining and other extractive industries have degraded these sacred landscapes, causing lasting harm to Navajo communities. Geographical Location The Navajo hold mountains in especially high reverence, viewing prominent geographic features as bearers of supernatural power. The four sacred mountains define the corners of Navajo Country and are named in sunwise order, each paired with a directional color: Sisnaajiní (Blanca Peak) — white, east; Tsoodził (Mt. Taylor) — blue, south; Doko'oosłííd (San Francisco Peaks) — yellow, west; and Dibéntsaa (Hesperus Peak) — black, north. Within U.S. boundaries, these peaks fall across south-central Colorado, Grants, New Mexico, Flagstaff, Arizona, and the La Plata Mountains of Colorado. Blanca Peak Sisnaajiní — known in English as Blanca Peak and called Pintsae'i'i by the Ute and Peeroradarath by the Tewa — stands as the eastern boundary of the Navajo world. Its Navajo name means "black belted mountain." At 14,351 feet, it is the fourth highest summit in the Rocky Mountains and the tallest peak in both the Sangre de Cristo Range and the broader Sangre de Cristo Mountains. It sits roughly 9.6 miles north-northeast

With rodeo proudly designated as Montana’s official state sport, the state made a strong showing at this year’s NFR, highlighted by Montana athletes earning major wins and thrilling fans in Las Vegas: Sam Petersen and his Bareback Average Championship win; tie-down roper Haven Meged’s Round 9 win with a lightning-fast 7.0-second run; steer wrestlers Ty Erickson and Jesse Brown; and veteran barrel racer Lisa Lockhart.   But Montana doesn’t just produce rodeo champions. It fosters a culture where rodeo is still deeply connected to the land, the people, and the Western way of life. To truly understand why rodeo lives here, you need to experience it in person. Home to some of the nation's oldest and most storied Western traditions, Montana isn’t just a destination for rodeo fans—it’s a way of life for the people who live it every day. Start your journey at RodeoLivesHere.com, your go-to guide for all things Montana rodeo. There you’ll find 2026 rodeo events, including local favorites like the Wolf Point Wild Horse Stampede and Red Lodge Home of Champions, plus regional stops on the PRCA circuit and homegrown competitions across Native nations and ranch communities. You can also explore the stories of people who live and breathe rodeo in small towns with big heart. Ready to plan your 2026 rodeo road trip? Visit RodeoLivesHere.com for travel ideas, event listings, athlete stories, and more. Discover why Montana isn’t just part of rodeo—it’s where rodeo lives.

Photo credit to Stephen Collector by Jim Harrison Let’s not get romantic or dismal about death.Indeed it’s our most unique act along with birth.We must think of it as cooking breakfast,it’s that ordinary. Break two eggs into a bowlor break a bowl into two eggs. Slip into a coffinafter the fluids have been drained, or better yet,slide into the fire. Of course it’s a little hardto accept your last kiss, your last drink,your last meal about which the condemnedcan be quite particular as if there could bea cheeseburger sent by God. A few loverssweep by the inner eye, but it’s mostly a placidlake at dawn, mist rising, a solitary looncall, and staring into the still, opaque water.We’ll know as children again all that we aredestined to know, that the water is coldand deep, and the sun penetrates only so far. Jim Harrison, “Death Again” from Jim Harrison: The Essential Poems. from the Writer’s Almanac Podcast, August 14th, 2019 ______________________________________________________________________________________________For another fun read on Collector and Harrison: https://stephencollector.com/blog/spring-2020-issue-of-the-flyfish-journal

The Weight We Carry My father-in-law once described life to me with a simple metaphor, "Life is like a backpack." You begin the journey with an empty pack. Then, little by little, you fill it. Some things are beautiful. Some are painful. Some carry more weight than others, the added cost of a new home, a family, the full catastrophe.   There are memories, victories, disappointments, people you have loved, places you have been, mistakes you wish you could undo, and lessons you would never trade away. Over time, the backpack becomes a record of the life you have lived. The problem is that we often forget we have a choice about what stays inside.  We carry possessions we no longer need. We carry old grievances, limiting beliefs, expectations, fear, regret and, sometimes, relationships that have become more burden than blessing. We keep adding things to the pack without ever stopping to ask whether they are worth the weight. Grief is different. Some things cannot simply be removed. Grief becomes part of the journey. Its weight may change, but the experience remains with us. Some days the backpack feels almost weightless. Other days, a familiar memory can make it feel impossibly heavy. Eventually, you learn that healing isn't necessarily about putting the backpack down. It is learning how to carry it differently. The same is true of life itself. A seasoned traveler eventually learns that the freedom of a journey has less to do with what you can carry than with what you can leave behind. The less unnecessary weight you carry, the farther you can go. There is a certain wisdom in traveling light. I've come to believe the same is true of getting older.

Working Dogs: Service Dogs, ESAs, and Legal Guidelines While various working breeds like the Belgian Malinois or Doberman share foundational obedience training, their specialized roles, tasks, and legal protections differ significantly.   Service Dogs vs. Emotional Support Animals (ESAs) The fundamental difference lies in their training and legal rights. Service dogs perform specific tasks to mitigate a disability, granting them public access rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). ESAs provide comfort through their presence and are primarily protected in housing under the Fair Housing Act (FHA).   Service Dogs Training Requirement: Must perform specific tasks directly related to the handler's physical, psychiatric, sensory, or intellectual disability. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] Task Examples: Guiding individuals who are blind, performing deep pressure therapy during panic attacks, or retrieving dropped items for mobility support. Public Access: Full legal right to enter public places like restaurants, stores, and businesses under the ADA. [1, 2] Air Travel: Permitted to fly in the cabin under the Air Carrier Access Act (airlines may require documentation forms). [1, 2, 3] Training Note: Professional training is not legally mandated; individuals with disabilities have the right to self-train their service dogs. [1, 2, 3] Emotional Support Animals (ESAs) Training Requirement: No specialized task training is required. Task Examples: None. The animal helps alleviate symptoms of anxiety, depression, or mental health conditions purely through its presence. Public Access: No public access rights; restricted to general pet-friendly locations. Air Travel: No cabin access guarantees; airlines may treat ESAs as standard pets according to their own policies. Documentation Note: Requires an official letter from a licensed mental health professional confirming the medical need for the animal. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] ⚖️ ADA Compliance:

Coach Prime was just quoted upon Shilo's release from the NFL, "He’s my son, I’m proud of my kids, all of them, and I prepared my kids for any and everything that could possibly happen in life and in sports." Later he was quoted as saying, “Thank God that God prepared him for everything he’s dealing with,” he said. “I mean, I think a lesser man would have crumbled. But he’s been built for this, and who else is built for the adversity like he is? Like, going into the NFL? I don’t think it’s too many quarterbacks that have (been) built like that for the adverse situations and not having the best of things to happen around him.” That reminded me of my falconer friend, Hal Webster, who trained falcons much of his life and is one of the most published authors on the subject. He also trained falcons for flight with lures, kites, balloons, etc. The parents will catch small prey—like a dove—and begin flying past the cliff, trying to entice the young chick, which by this point is usually between 48 and 55 days old. They gradually stop feeding the chick, teasing it instead to encourage it to take flight. Once the fledglings finally launch into the air, a graceful aerial dance of food exchanges begins. As the young birds build muscle and confidence, the parents continually raise the challenge, pushing them to refine their skills. The falconers mimic this training process, now with drones, but they used to use balloons or kites to dangle the bait. He introduced me to Gene Johnson and several other amazing falconers. Gene was also quite the artist as you can see from one of

I never thought of shaving as a hobby, but apparently it is now in 2025, especially with double edge safety razors and straight edge razors.    I didn’t know this was a thing, but apparently razors are now something guys even collect and talk about like bourbon, cigars, and now your grandpa’s safety razors (together with new ones made by people who make satellites with aluminum.) The other day I was at Costco and this old guy was looking at the 24 pack of Gillette Fusion Five razors which now cost almost $100 a pack.   He said to me that it’s too expensive to shave anymore and he didn’t buy any.   That got me thinking. My grandfather used to shave with a double edge razor. And I remember watching him.   It seemed kind of a romantic at the time because I was about eight and wished that I had something to shave. And then I was on Facebook and Hensen shaving runs ads all the time.   And they promote that it’s only $.05-$.08 per blade, and you only need one a week and you’re gonna save a ton of money.   And I’m all about saving a ton of money.  So I ordered an $80 shaver.   And it’s not that good, it’s kind of like a Bic disposable.  And it also gave me a little bit of razor burn feeling afterwards, not burning, but not feeling great.  But it was lightweight. So that let me down the rabbit hole and after that I ordered a Rockwell Razors 6C, Feather Stainless Steel AS D2 at $165, and a Merkur 34C, then a Rockwell Razors 6S.   You can watch YouTube videos

Diamonds are Forever, But Their Price Aren't Diamonds lose 50-70% of their price once they leave the store.   Try pawning your "forever ring" and you will learn real fast.   Lab diamonds are worth nothing once you leave the store and DeBeers saw that coming, as they are exiting the lab diamond market completely this year. There are a few tips that you need to know, which is a certified stone will be worth more and is less of a gamble.   A GIA (Gemological Institute of America) report number (if graded in the last 20 years by GIA) is often laser-inscribed on the girdle of a diamond , which is the outer edge where the crown meets the pavilion. This tiny inscription, visible under 10x magnification, provides a unique identifier linking the stone to its GIA report.    There are other IGI and GRA, which are usually not as stringent grading, and therefore less accurate and less valuable of a grade.   Often lessor stones are sent there because they know the GIA report will not be as good of a rating. Colored Gem Stones The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) doesn't offer formal grading for emeralds, rubies, or sapphires, but they do provide detailed reports on their characteristics. These reports assess weight, measurements, shape, cutting style, color, clarity, and other relevant factors. GIA also determines if the gem is natural or laboratory-grown and identifies any detectable treatments. Key Takeaways: No Formal Grading: GIA doesn't assign numerical grades like they do for diamonds. Detailed Reports: GIA provides comprehensive reports that detail a gem's characteristics and origin. Focus on Identification: The reports primarily focus on identifying and assessing the quality of the gem, including its color, clarity, and any treatments. Buying