Celebration, Tradition, and Inter-generational Connection

Pete and I were with people of the South Whidbey Tilth last Thursday evening. There was a monthly meeting to attend, a potluck of good food to share and then there were reasons for celebrating.

I wrote a story about two women of Whidbey who set off for an occasion. The entire story is just here and the photos that follow are what happened when the story was told. Hover over each photo for a bit of narrative. That story begins this way ... 

" This fall two women of Whidbey set off for an occasion that would open a window to Tradition that was unexpected, unpredictable and in mythic tradition, the perfectly-timed moment to build a very meaningful future. One of the women is tall, the other woman small. The event was a grand celebration -- a gala, held on the land of the Tulalip Tribes in the huge ballroom of the Casino at Quil Ceda Village, and as that fall evening unfolded, the Tradition of gratitude and generosity would wrap these Whidbey women in the spirit of "being fed..." 

First, we celebrated Angie Hart.

 

Angie said as she watched four Killer Whales,  "I wondered what I was going to learn from it?"
And so do we all wonder what can be learned from the medicine and myth of Killer Whales feeding us.

"Oh how strange and unpredictable is the space between what is known, or suspects, and the place where something new (while being very, very old) awaits those who come to be fed."

E Ola Angie. To your good life, and to the strange and unpredictable potential to come as the community of the South Whidbey Tilth builds on the tradition of generosity, gifting and inter-generational connection.

~0~

Before we left that evening, our friends sang me a Happy Birthday song. My 71st year was about to  begin.


And to celebrate my new year ...

 Someone sweet, named Pete, built me a totem of toys and tucked in a new pair of cozy blue gloves.

 Another someone asked me, "What do you need?" And with a little thought I answered, "How about new knives?" I'm always choppin' and dicing something to eat. And there is the big, very sharp chef's knife that arrived in the mail.

 The birthday moved at a very fine pace, and Pete found just the right shoe for a walk on the beach along the shore at Mutiny Bay.

 My Dikka hat from this angle makes me laugh!! Dikka, I still wear your gift and love it, love it, love it!

 Whidbey is an island of sand. To walk it and to see it's history in layers makes me think of an hour glass ... time, how much is there and where do we go with it?

Thank you friends and family for your happy birthday wishes and gifts. If you're nearby come play a game of Go Fish with us, or fold an origami crane (I need to be reminded how).

Mahalo nui Ke Akua, what a fiesta.