I head out for The Gathering of Nations Pow Wow with my daypack, taking nothing that the Suburban's mice will want. On my own, I get out at each gate and open, close, and lock. I drive the narrow dirt roads with the eroding arroyos ready to grab an unwarry tire and pull me down. I creep along the dry river bed, looking for the few and faded white marks that once blazed the trail and try not to bottom out. I drive by Grandmother Tree hoping she won't drop another limb. I get out to 25 South and head to Santa Fe.
Google Maps finds the Rail Runner Depot and I don't have a lot of time. I rush into the office and move rudely past a couple of Native American women. A microcosm of panic-induced carelessness for other people. I get to make up for myself when one of the women is struggling to lift her bags onto the train. I get the bags up the stairs and deliberately choose to sit across from her, hoping I might connect with her for real on the ride. We say a couple of things and then a man sits down with her. I can't figure out their relationship based on their conversation. She talks about her kids and grandkids but I don't think he knows them well.
On the train, I'm channeling Anna Boysen who travels the world easily by herself. Figuring out the transportation is big for this seldom traveler. Eventually the woman and I get talking. They are going to the Pow Wow, too, but later. They have people to see at an earlier stop. Her name is Elaine and she is hoping to find a shaman at the Pow Wow to help her with some health issues. She's had shamans since she was a child but the current one isn't helping her. She asks what brings me to the area. I tell her a few things and that I'm hoping to find some spiritual healing, too. She tells me I'm on the right path and am where I should be.
A while later we talk more and then she stops. "You're going to meet someone who will give you a bad feeling. Say nothing. Just walk away. And don't let it ruin your time here." Hmmm. Okay. I want to make sure I don't spend the day waiting for someone bad. Elaine suggests we might meet on the same train back to Santa Fe and asks if we can exchange numbers. Sure, and we do. I don't see her again because I leave earlier and she ends up not leaving until the early morning hours when the Pow Wow actually ends.
I take two city buses, both free, to get to The Pit, the venue on the New Mexico University campus. I get my ticket, one of few white people in the long line. Doesn't matter the race, it's fun to people-watch and I see much in the age demeanor and dress that is probably universal.
Inside, the stadium is packed and the usher keeps anyone from blocking stairs even if they're trying to find a seat. She thinks by 3 p.m. people will begin moving out having seen what they came for. That never happens. So, I stand for an hour and a half watching competitive dancers in many colors, designs, feathers, and beads. There are solo drummers between dance acts and on the Jumbotron I watch how their drum strike looks like one but sounds like two. The singing and the drums also remind me of the western shows and movies I grew up with. I'm amazed by the initial gut reaction of fear and difference elicited all these years later and I stare at my racism creeping out of a hole.
I ask where the vendors are and the usher points around the arena. Ruby suggested I should look for some horse energy, maybe mare's tail. I wonder if someone really sells that and how they got it. There are lots of vendors but nothing that calls to me. The first woman I see owns several horses and sells some strands of horse hair with feathers that she says mean this or that. It comes off feeling too commercial and I walk away.
I find out too late that there is at least one huge tent outside with more entertainment and vendors, including food vendors with options other than pretzels and hot dogs. Unsure how to get back to the buses I took here, I leave earlier than I would have. I call Uber after the cab wants to charge me $20 to go about five minutes to the RR station. Less than $7 later, I'm at the station. Somebody's gettin' street-wise. I never met anyone who made me feel badly so maybe it was the cabbie.
I leave messages for Kathleen, Meg, and reach Kate. I figured I'd call while I had WiFi but also don't want to feel the need to be so connected. I'm killing time in an Albuquerque noodle shop and can feel it getting cold again like last night. Since it's late and Juana gave her okay, I'm going to stay the night at her place in Santa Fe. No way do I want to drive those miles of arroyo-edged roads in the dark.
In the morning I take Juana to breakfast at Chris'. It's good and a fav of hers. We have some get-to-know you conversation, a reminder that she is generous with her time and space to have me stay over. I drive to the New Mexico History Museum on the Plaza to see the Lowrider exhibit which was a big part of Juana's life growing up. The parking is non-existent and it's raining, raw, and cold. I give up and head back to the "big box" area of town and decide to catch a movie. I see The Boss which stinks and for the first time in my life, walk into another movie without paying. I see Zootopia which I really wanted to see first. Enjoyed it.
I get the word that weather at Outland is bad. First, big rain followed by snow and the roads are impassable. Shit. Juana lets me stay with her a second night. She gets up around 3 a.m. because she's a baker -- I've tasted her delicious, melt-in-your-mouth pastry that tastes of chocolate but is a very light color. I spend too much time trying to get info on the Blue Bus to Taos on Tuesday.
Monday
Tracy, Indygo's girlfriend, had a drum fall on her head during the weekend and isn't feeling well but is putting off seeing a doctor until tomorrow. That's Tuesday when I'm heading to Taos so they'll drop me back in Santa Fe. Tracy needs a lot of time by herself or with Indygo when she's here on weekends so I've yet to meet her. I guess we'll meet on the ride out.
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