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Author Topic:   The Adventures of FishKitten
FishKitten
Knowflake

Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003

posted August 12, 2004 07:55 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FishKitten     Edit/Delete Message
The Adventures of FishKitten
Or
What I Did On My Summer Vocation


I usually drive my own vehicle on my archaeological outings, at least to the airport, but this time was different. I knew I would be going to an island in the Pacific off the western coast of Vancouver Island. What I didn’t know ws exactly how or when I would get there or which direction I would be going when I eventually left. There’s no sense having a car waiting for you in a town to which you are unlikely to return. So Brad drove me to the neatest town that had Greyhound service (only one hour away) and dropped me off at the station with all my gear.

Having traveled to many strange places in my life, I have adopted a somewhat unusual set of luggage. I travel with two big Rubbermaid containers and a back pack. One container holds my tent, sleeping bag, tarps, and all my camping gear. The other one holds my dig kit, trowels, tools, rain gear, hatchet, and other archaeological stuff (plus a couple of books). The backpack contains the few clothes I take, shampoo, toothpaste, and sunscreen. No room or need for make-up, dresses, high heels, hair styling equipment, or anything like that. To set off this lovely ensemble, the Rubbermaid containers are wrapped a few times around with duct tape. The duct tape is absolutely necessary and I’m not sure how anyone carried on even the most rudimentary of archaeological investigations prior to its invention. Without the duct tape, your containers can come open. The last thing you want is to get miles and miles from nowhere and find that your tent dropped out of your bag somewhere along the way. As you will see later, the Rubbermaid also has a variety of other practical uses as well.

So off I went on a bus in the general direction of the dig. It was far too isolated for the bus to go all the way, but it would get me almost 24 hours closer to where I needed to be. I knew from the start that I would be on the bus all night. For any of you who haven’t experienced that little slice of joy, let me tell you right now that is a whole new world to those of us who generally always have our own cars. I had, however, been on public transportation worldwide and was not to be put off by a few drunks in the back of the bus. See, if you are going to be on a bus overnight, you need to have the very back seats. All of them. For one thing, there tends to be three seats in a row instead of two, which gives you almost enough room to kind of lie down. Plus, no one walks by you during the night, so you don’t have to worry about letting your feet go across an aisle.

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FishKitten
Knowflake

Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003

posted August 12, 2004 07:55 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FishKitten     Edit/Delete Message
I went straight to the back of the bus and wedged myself and my back pack in between the two young hooligans that were back there being loud and drinking (supposedly in secret, but anyone not blind, deaf, and smelling disabled caught on pretty quick). The looks on their faces when some middle aged lady dressed like Indiana Jones on a bad hat day plopped down in the middle of them was priceless. I immediately started talking (at some length) about history and archaeology and individual responsibility in today’s world and next thing you know, those nice young men moved up to the front and sort of passed out. That was great and it gave me the opportunity to stretch out, at least to some extent, and sleep off and on until morning.

During the night, I had a dream. A woman’s voice came to me and said, clear as a bell, “If you wish to understand us, you must join us. Follow the old ones.” When I woke up, I wasn’t sure exactly what she meant, but I decided to watch for opportunities to do as the ancestors of the people I was seeking must have done.

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FishKitten
Knowflake

Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003

posted August 12, 2004 07:57 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FishKitten     Edit/Delete Message
The people I was seeking…you should know about them. The first people to come to North America crossed over from Siberia during the last ice age. Everyone agrees on that because there is hard scientific evidence to support it. After that, there is a division. Traditional archaeological theory supports two concepts called ‘Clovis First” and “The Ice Free Corridor” which basically states that the first people walked across the Bering Land Bridge about 12,000 to 14,000 years ago, then traveled down an ice free corridor east of the Rockies and west of the plains where two major ice sheets almost met. A somewhat newer theory suggests that the first people were mariners. They had to stay near shore, naturally, but they were maritime adapted. This meant that they paddled around the shore of the land bridge, hunting sea mammals and fishing plus surviving off little areas of refugia such as existed on Haida Gwaii. Those are small areas that never froze over during the ice age. We know those areas were there, by the way, so if anyone is interested in scientific references on any of this info, just ask. Anyway, the mariners sailed down the west coast of the Americas and that is why some extremely ancient knowledge has permeated from these areas (such as the Incas, among others).

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FishKitten
Knowflake

Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003

posted August 12, 2004 07:58 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FishKitten     Edit/Delete Message
The argument about the Ice Free Corridor and thus the whole Clovis First thing is argued among archaeologists much like the Liberals and Conservatives take each other on in Global Unity here in Lindaland. Although I do not completely discount the Ice Free Corridor, I do have some problems with it. Whether or not it existed, however, seems to me to be irrelevant as to the people who may have gone down the coast. Anyway, without going into that any further, you begin to see where I am going with all this theory. I was going to an island off the west coast where some of the very first people who came to this continent may have set foot. The real old ones. The ancestors’ ancestors. Before the Maya, the Inca, the Anasazi, before there were Aztecs or Apaches or Algonquins, there were the old ones. The rest of us with native ancestry carry their blood.

OK, so I’m supposed to follow the old ones, but I can’t exactly row to the island from Siberia eating seals and scavenging for vegetation. I can, however, get off this bus and get on a boat. Let’s start there.

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FishKitten
Knowflake

Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003

posted August 12, 2004 07:58 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FishKitten     Edit/Delete Message
I got off the bus and slept over night on a deserted beach somewhere on Vancouver Island. There were no stores or restaurants any where near, so it turned out I actually was going to scavenge for a bit of vegetation after all. When I started looking around I noticed something immediately. Berries were everywhere! Of course, I have studied west coast cultures. I knew they ate a lot of berries. Why didn’t I think of it before? So I picked a ton of berries, found some wild chamomile for tea, scoped out some young ferns and had a grand meal. Once I started thinking in that direction, I knew that the old ones would have had shellfish, fish, or sea mammals along with the veggies. I was not about to go out killing clams. For one thing, there are red tide warnings. For another thing, I don’t like to leap to the idea of killing something without checking for other options. Even though I am usually a vegetarian, when I am on an archaeological investigation, I eat traditional foods from the areas where I go. It would be hugely insulting to most cultures to refuse their offers of meals because I think I am too spiritually advanced to eat meat. That would not be spiritually advanced at all, but rather, it would show a lack of understanding that would negate any other connections I might be able to make with them. I figured something would come up, so I left it to the universe.

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FishKitten
Knowflake

Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003

posted August 12, 2004 08:00 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FishKitten     Edit/Delete Message
The next day I went to a small harbour at dawn and found a freight boat that was heading in the right direction. For a small fee, they were willing to take my Rubbermaid and me along. There was no food service and I was going to be on the boat all day, so I had to find something to bring along to eat. I still had a bunch of berries, so those came along. Then I met an old native fellow on the dock. He was setting up a little folding table. As I got closer, the smell of smoked salmon wafted by on the breeze. I went over to say hello and discovered he was putting out little bags on the table. He called them “Indian Candy”. It was actually salmon, caught and smoked the traditional way. I bought a mit full. Afterwards, I filled my water bottles in the nearest stream and I was off.

I won’t go into all the pleasures of hitching a ride on a small freight boat that stops at little isolated island paradises all along the west coast. Just take my word for it, it was spectacular. The sea touches a special place in the heart…and this sea…this was the one the old ones traveled…the old ones who, like me, felt called to go ever onward into adventure.


I have to leave the story there for a bit and go to the store for a friend. Obviously, there's lots more if you guys are interested. I'll write more when I return.

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FishKitten
Knowflake

Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003

posted August 12, 2004 11:00 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FishKitten     Edit/Delete Message
The captain of the freight boat let me stand up top next to the wheelhouse. I could have gone inside, but I wanted to be out in the sea air. The North Pacific is nothing like that calm, warm blanket of an ocean that sometimes you see if you live in southern California or on the US Gulf Coast. It is cold, wild, and ferocious, even at its calmest. Like the old ones before us, we stayed fairly close to shore...never out of sight. And like them we poked our bow into hidden harbours and private bays nestled among the islands that are woven off the coast like handmade lace. I ate the blueberries and smoked salmon. “The Feeling” began to come over me.

It is difficult to adequately explain “the Feeling”. I guess I should explain something about myself first. My specialties, as an archaeologist, include several areas. The one I’ve spent the most time studying and researching is the history and pre-history of religion and metaphysical thought. (Though I’ve also done lots in American Civil War and Polynesia and Palaeoanthropology and steamships and on and on. Those kids from the bus can tell you.) In order to adequately satisfy my questions in the area of religious/metaphysical studies, I delved into both the scientific and the spiritual. Frankly, I find they go hand in hand more often than most people think. Anyway, without going in to a whole speech on the nature of reality, I will simply say that I think vibrational influences are very important. By vibrational influences, I mean everything that actually has an effect on the atoms that compose your body. Things like gravitational pull, sound waves, radioactive materials, photons, cosmic waves, brain waves, nutrition, etc. We know all those things exist. Science has proven it. The argument is HOW those things affect your mind and body, not IF they do.

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FishKitten
Knowflake

Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003

posted August 12, 2004 11:01 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FishKitten     Edit/Delete Message
That is where “the Feeling” comes in. I find if I purposely manipulate my physical vibration, I can get a much better grasp of the religious/metaphysical history of a given place. That actually sounds more difficult then it is. I mean, anyone who goes into one of the old cathedrals in Europe can feel the religious vibrations veritably bouncing off the walls. Same thing in the Temple of the Sun in Mesa Verde. You just have to think about the people you are seeking, eat the food they eat, see the places they see…you know, try to walk a mile in their moccasins as far as possible. It helps entrain your vibration to interact with theirs.

“The Feeling” in this case had to do with the old ones I was looking for. My job on this dig was to find the place of status…the area used by the chief and / or the shaman. I was reaching out in my mind for their memories. I am part Choctaw, so the blood of these old ones flows in my veins. I could feel them as surely as I could feel the salt air in my face.

The boat put me off in a tiny coastal town on the west side of Vancouver Island called Bamfield. It has a population of only a few hundred. Bamfield is split into West and East Bamfield by an arm of the ocean. You’ll see from the pictures once they come back. Such a beautiful spot. West Bamfield is boat access only, but Easts Bamfield can be reached by several hours of dirt mountain roads that cross over the island from Victoria. The freight boat set me off on the government dock in East Bamfield to look for archaeologists, or, failing that, a ride out to a deserted island.

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FishKitten
Knowflake

Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003

posted August 12, 2004 11:04 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FishKitten     Edit/Delete Message
Knowing archaeologists the way I do, I went immediately to the pub. If there are any archaeologists in your town, I assure you they will either be at the pub, on their way to the pub, or will have left a bunch of awestruck locals with many stories to tell at the pub. We tend to come off as somewhat unusual when encountered in a pack. Anyway, I left my Rubbermaid at the dock with a note that said, “don’t touch my stuff”. I carried the back pack up the hill to the pub. The kid behind the bar immediately said, “Are you one of those archaeologists?”

“Yep, I’m one. Are there any others around?”

“Not right now, but they were here earlier.”

“Excellent. Could I please get a very cold Corona with a large slice of lime?”

“Sure. Would you like a menu?”

I looked at him. You have to realize that by this time, I had spent several days on a bus, a beach, and a boat. I had not eaten anything but blueberries and salmon since I left home. My fingers were purple and I smelled strongly of smoked fish and freight boats. A bath or shower was but a distant memory. I was carrying a large back pack and wearing an old straw hat that has seen way too many digs.

“No thanks,” I said, taking a container out of my pack. “I’ve got salmon and blueberries.”

He backed away somewhat slowly, pitched my beer at me and went over to talk to a table full of people who were obviously his cronies. I drank the beer, which was one of the best I ever had, by the way, and thought about what to do next. How do I follow the old ones?

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FishKitten
Knowflake

Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003

posted August 12, 2004 11:06 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FishKitten     Edit/Delete Message
An extremely small native woman walked into the pub. She must have been about 4 foot 8. Tiny. She looked like she was roughly somewhere between the ages of 50 and 612. What a smile she had. She walked slowly up to the bar. When the bartender came up, she quietly asked to use the phone. After her call, she turned her sunny little face to me and stuck out her hand.

“I’m Sky Woman,” she said.

“Hi, I’m FishKitten.” (except I said my real name, of course, or at least the one that people consider real right now)

“You’ve been eating salmon and blueberries,” she said.

“Is it the purple fingers or the lovely scent that gave me away?”

She laughed. “It’s not just that. I see something. Why are you here?”

“I’m an archaeologist, “ I said. “I’m looking for the First Place.”

That’s what they call the first village ever known to house the ancestors of Sky Woman’s nation…the First Place. Actually, that is a translation from their language, but that is what it means. The Island where it was located is the First Island, again by translation.

“Oh,” she said, giving me a laughing look out of the corner of her eyes. “You’re with Al, then.”

Al was the head of this project. He is a big deal kind of guy who has written a bunch of textbooks used in universities around the world. I knew him by sight, but not well. He didn’t know me from Adam, but asked me along for the project because he heard about some other stuff I have done.

“That’s right,” I smiled back, “I’m with Al.”

“He’s not eating salmon and blueberries.”

“Well,” I explained, “I want to find the spirit of the old ones. I had a dream that told me to follow them.”

She reached up and hugged me.

“I am the traditional guardian of First Island,” she said. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

“It’s an honour to meet you, “ I said. “Did Al tell you I was coming?”

She gave her little chuckle.

“Not Al, “ she said. “I already told you he doesn’t eat the blueberries and salmon. I just knew. I only have a few minutes. My brother is coming to pick me up in his boat to go back to the reserve. Take this.”

She dug into her pocket and handed me small, rounded, dark stone.

“They want us to find them,” she said simply. “Keep this and look for the young eagle. The old ones will speak to you.”

“Thank you,” I replied. “I’m honoured. Should I keep eating the traditional foods?”

“The berries were the first foods to grow where the ice retreated,” she said. “They came before the trees. The salmon leap into our arms to sustain us. Eat the traditional foods until they are gone, but do not deprive yourself among your friends. Would you refuse the salmon at my table?”

“Of course not.”

“Then do not hold yourself apart.”

After that we talked about her five daughters and her 10 grandchildren…5 boys and 5 girls…until her brother arrived to ferry her home.

...more to come...

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Rainbow~
Knowflake

Posts: 5927
From: The Little River Indian Reservation
Registered: Jan 2002

posted August 13, 2004 04:21 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Rainbow~     Edit/Delete Message
FishKitten...I don't mean to interrupt the flow you have going here, but I just had to tell you that I'm following your story with total fascination! I'm loving it!...Thank you so much for sharing...eagerly looking foward to more...

Love,
Rainbow

Ps..I am half Ottawa (Odawa) from Michigan..

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trillian
Knowflake

Posts: 4050
From: The Boundless
Registered: Mar 2003

posted August 13, 2004 09:29 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for trillian     Edit/Delete Message
FishKitten...you are my hero. And there is not one note of sarcasm in that at all. You are the kind of woman I sometimes wish I were...brave and smart and fearless and adventerous, able to both transcend and step away from yourself and...well, I won't gush.

Please don't stop. I am enjoying every word, it's very nourishing.

The Feeling of which you speak, I have experienced in my life at certain places. Most recently standing on the Cliffs of Moher. I could have stood there for days.

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proxieme
unregistered
posted August 13, 2004 09:45 AM           Edit/Delete Message
Wow.

FK - You're my hero.

Do you mind if I save your story?

*waiting patiently for the rest*
----------

There are so many people that I admire so much on this site:
FK & trillian probably stand most firmly atop my "hero" pedastals (as much as I can put anyone there; I'm not too great at reverence), but I don't mind saying that there are quite a few inspiring others as well.

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noreenz
Knowflake

Posts: 1229
From: No.CAL
Registered: Feb 2004

posted August 13, 2004 11:39 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for noreenz     Edit/Delete Message
Fishkitten, thank you.

Thank you for sharing and allowing us to travel with you. Dang it, leaving for Vegas in a couple hours, won't be back till Sun. evening............*deep sign*, I change my mind....gonna wait for more from Fishkitten. J/K Sitting on the edge of my seat here, lol. Wow, what an inspiration you are.
Noreen

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FishKitten
Knowflake

Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003

posted August 13, 2004 12:30 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FishKitten     Edit/Delete Message
*totally blushing here*

Thanks so much for the encouragement everyone, and for all the kind words. Since you are interested, I'll write out a bunch more and post it later today.

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FishKitten
Knowflake

Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003

posted August 13, 2004 02:10 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FishKitten     Edit/Delete Message
Once Sky Woman left, I decided to walk back down to the dock and check on my gear. Just as I got there, Al and a man named Denis (pronounced De nee’) drove up in a van. Denis was Al’s partner and was sort of co-in-charge. He is a large man…half Native and half French with the oddest hair I’ve ever seen. It is jet black all over except for a snow white semi-circle that runs right across his front hair line. You’ll see when the pictures come back. I think I got a few good ones of Denis.

I waved them over.

“Hi guys. You’re Al, aren’t you?” I asked even though I knew full well it was Al because I’d seen him around some conferences (and some pubs). “I’m FishKitten.”

Yak, yak, introductions were made. Al and Denis still had some business to transact before setting off for the island.

“See that boat,” Al said, pointing a few docks down. “The blue and white one...the Nikki.”

“Yeah, I see the Nikki.”

“That is the boat we will be taking to the island. Can you find a way over there?”

“Sure,” I said. “I’ll find a way.”

“OK, meet us on the Nikki at 7 o’clock. Don’t be late!”

They put my gear into the van. It would be loaded on the boat along with other supplies for the island. So I was free of everything and it was only 3 in the afternoon.

Al yelled out the window as they drove away, “You might want to pick up some beer. Some people have already been out there for two weeks.”


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FishKitten
Knowflake

Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003

posted August 13, 2004 02:11 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FishKitten     Edit/Delete Message
Well, this was all cool. I wandered around and found a place to buy a case of cold beer. I walked back sown to the dock and hitched a ride on a passing boat over to the Nikki’s dock. I was kind of tired by that time. I’d been on the road for a while and it felt good to just sit in the sun. I didn’t go directly up to the Nikki. Instead I leaned back against some old fishing nets, tilted my hat over my eyes, and popped one of those cold beer. It was so utterly pleasant just sitting there in the sun, relaxing, knowing I had found the people who would take me out to the dig, knowing my gear was all taken care off…ahhh…so pleasant.

After about an hour I started looking a little more closely at the Nikki. She certainly seemed like a small craft for such a journey, but whatever, they must know what they’re doing. These men are internationally renowned professionals, after all. But the Nikki…was that dirt all over the front? Someone doesn’t keep things very ship-shape. I got up and walked over to the boat. As I got closer, I noticed that there were tools strewn around the inside of the cabin, and the door was off its hinges. Wait a minute…is that a tree growing in the back? They got me.

The Nikki was just some derelict old boat that had been sitting there, quite obviously, for a number of years. God only knows who owned it or the private dock upon which I had been making myself at home. I started looking around for a lift because I did NOT want to swim back. The water of the North Pacific is freakin’ cold, even in the summer. About two docks down, I spotted some movement. It was a little far away, but…could it be? Two Eyes!

Cool. Two Eyes was the one person on this dig whom I actually knew…and I knew him quite well. He is in love with a very good friend of mine and is currently trying to find a way to get the lovely Lioness to marry him. They are both archaeologists.

“What are you doing over there?” he yelled.

“I bought the Nikki.” I yelled back. “Can we tow it to the island?”

He threw up his hands and grabbed a skiff to come pick me up. You may notice that I am using his nickname here. That isn’t only because of the internet. We really do call him Two Eyes all the time. For some unknown reason, archaeologists all give each other nicknames. It seems to occur naturally when people are on remote excavations together. I guess in a way it is kind of a badge that says you are a digging-type archaeologist, not just an office-type or lab-type archaeologist.

So he collected me, laughed at me uproariously for falling for the Nikki trick, and took me to the REAL dock where a much larger and nicer ship awaited to carry us off to the First Island.

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pidaua
Knowflake

Posts: 7314
From: Schweinfurt to Grafenwoehr all within 6 months LOL
Registered: May 2002

posted August 13, 2004 02:55 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for pidaua     Edit/Delete Message
Hi FishKitten,

Oh..I am LOVING this tale..the adventure is priceless - I hope you someday consider writing all your journeys down in a book. I'd line up to buy it.

By the way, have you ever read the books by W. Micheal Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear? He is anthropologist and investigator for Wind River Archaeological Consultants and she is former state historian and archaeologist for Wyoming, Kansas and Nebraska..

Anyway, they are also writers. They use historical, archaeological and spiritual data concerning American Indian tribes in North America and incorporate the history into books (fiction but based on theory / facts). All their books are titled 'People of the X....Wolf, Sea, Silence..Mist..etc..) All take places at different geological time periods and in different sections of the US / Canada.

I am an avid reader and I find their work brings me to a place where I feel relaxed and in touch with the old ways. I understand - only on a much smaller scale - what you mean about the "feeling". It is a similiar feeling that I get when I walk into a place that is old / sacred -but more so when I am out West -such as when I visit old ruins in Colorado, New Mexico and especially in Arizona. The only other places that sent real electricity through me was in Northern Idaho (Vancouver Island was close - very eerie).

I can't wait to read more of your story.

On another note. My father has that same gift that you have. That ability to understand, intrinsically, the natives. I always watch in admiration when we go to the reservations or when we encounter natives of other tribes (Apache on his side - Cherokee on my moms). They just seem to recognize on old spirit in him. It's just amazing to watch.

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trillian
Knowflake

Posts: 4050
From: The Boundless
Registered: Mar 2003

posted August 13, 2004 06:11 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for trillian     Edit/Delete Message
Proxie You knowhow highly I think of you.

Pid... Love ya dear. I might just check out those book myself.

FK... I can see everything you write. This is wonderful. I will 2nd the notion of you writing a book about your adventures, discoveries, and spiritual journeys. So many of them (new age type books) lack something akin to what you call The Feeling, which is why I stopped reading them. But yours would be special, I know it.
The idea of you writing your story for a book is exciting...

Oh! Proxie, I meant to recommend a book to you in the other thread, but I will do it here. The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra. Amazon has used copies as low as $4.

There is a movie based on some of his works that I will highly recommend to you lovelies, too, titled MindWalk. It's a conversation between a Poet, a Politician, and a Physicist. I loved it so much I bought it and I buy few movies.

Keep it comin' when you can, FK!

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LibraSparkle
Knowflake

Posts: 6034
From: Vancouver USA
Registered: May 2004

posted August 13, 2004 06:16 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LibraSparkle     Edit/Delete Message
OOh FishKitten... how fabulous. I'm so envious of your adventures. I'm glad to know you now... I can live vicariously through you

Keep 'em comin'

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Aselzion
Moderator

Posts: 1422
From: North Andover, MA
Registered: Nov 2002

posted August 16, 2004 04:10 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Aselzion     Edit/Delete Message
Greetings FishKitten...

Thank you for the entertainment and the enlightenmnet.

Please keep it coming.

In the Light...
A

P.S. Sorry I haven't had a chance to write, things in my life are taking an interesting turn at the moment (in a good way). Will tell you more in a less public forum at the earliest opportunity.

Blessings...
A


------------------
"The ALL is MIND; the Universe is Mental." *** The Kybalion

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FishKitten
Knowflake

Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003

posted August 16, 2004 11:16 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FishKitten     Edit/Delete Message
Sorry for the delay everyone. Life just keeps happening.

Pidaua...Your father sounds like quite a man. i'd like to hear more about him. You mention Arizona. Where have you been? I've crossed and recrossed that state, as well as New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Nevada...no point in making a huge list. I really loved Sedona before it became so popular. And Rimrock....Montezuma's well...as well as the northeast part of the state. I've really spent more time there. I was heavily into the Anasazi for a while. I have read some of the Gear books as well as the Jean Auel stuff, which I found quite interesting. Those authors base their stories on archaeological sites and discoveries, though they turn them heavily to fiction. I really liked it and felt it gave a good representtion of the feeling of the time. (At least so far as I feel it.)

Trillian... I know what you mean about some of the new age books losing the thread that first attracted you. Same thing happened to me. Thats why I kept being drawn further and further into the old ages stuff.

LibraSparkle...you are too kind. what do you do for fun and entertainment?

Aselzion...This is kind of strange, but I have been thinking of you lateley and have had the urge to tell you to go back to the dream you had on the Blue Moon. Sorry if that seems ambiguous. I really have no idea what it means.

Ok, here's some more...

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FishKitten
Knowflake

Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003

posted August 16, 2004 11:17 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FishKitten     Edit/Delete Message
First Island peeked over the edge of the sea like a rough-cut emerald waiting barely beyond my grasp. It is a rainforest today. Towering cedars form a rounded living canopy above its rocky shoreline. Back when the old ones first found it, it would have looked much different.

Everyone with internet access, a TV, or magazines has some idea what British Columbia looks like. Trees, mountains, water…not necessarily in that order. Twelve thousand years ago, it was entirely different. An ice sheet over a mile thick covered all of the interior of BC and most of the cost. Even where the ice withdrew, there were no gigantic cedars, no endless forests. Only ice, ferns, berries, sedges, and some early bushes.

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FishKitten
Knowflake

Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003

posted August 16, 2004 11:18 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FishKitten     Edit/Delete Message
People were in British Columbia long before the trees showed up. The western Red Cedar, for which we are so famous, only arrived some five thousand years ago in most areas. The old ones were greeted by a low, rocky bushland whose shores were thick with seals and sea lions. This abundance remained throughout the years until today. Even after the trees came and the ancestors of the first people had been here longer than the oldest story, the earth continued to provide like a vast, seaside Garden of Eden. All the beaches and waterways were crowded with fish, porpoise, whales, and otters. Edible kelp reaches up for harvest. The shellfish, crabs, starfish, and other tidal pool life are so abundant, a population of hundreds would not go hungry. No wonder these people had time to create so much outstanding art. There was no need to consider farming. Instead they developed long houses and potlatches and “totem poles” and hundreds of artistic and utilitarian devices.

I felt them on that island…the ones who came before. The hair stood on the back of my neck as we navigated the path through the water that would take us close to the landing spot. There was a narrow opening in the jagged rocks that led to a wide sandy beach. It was a natural landing site in later years for Sky Woman’s people. I could see their sea canoes. But this was a fairly new beach. I could tell by the sharpness of the rocks and the pulverized sand and rocks beyond that this beach had been created in the last thousand or so years by seismic activity. We were, after all, riding a fault line. I wondered if that had anything to do with why there were areas of refugia along this coastal line. Did the deep faults bring enough deep activities to the surface to fight back an ice sheet? (I haven’t had time to investigate this yet.) As I set my foot upon the shore, The Feeling became intense. I kept my breathing steady.

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FishKitten
Knowflake

Posts: 1033
From: on the trail of the Old Ones
Registered: Aug 2003

posted August 16, 2004 11:19 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FishKitten     Edit/Delete Message
People were now filling the beach and the boats. There would be 25 of us on the island. About half were archaeologists and the other half were members of Sky Woman’s people. They were there to learn what we were doing and also to reach out to the ancestors of the First Place. Several of them were young men in their teens and early twenties. They were born to be hereditary chiefs. One day they would replace their grandfathers as leaders of their nation. The others were women, aged 25 to about 50. They were the story keepers of their people. With the presence of this group, both the future leaders and the future legends would know of the finding of the First Place.

We arrived on the beach about 8:30 pm. I met everyone briefly, but had to get my camp set up quickly. Dark came at about 10:30 these days and I had a lot to do. Two Eyes volunteered to helped me put up my tent and tarps.

“Where do you want to set up?” he asked, looking around at some little groupings of tents.

“Ummm..not here,” I said. I looked around at the cook tent, the dining area with its tarps and tables, and the small clusters of tents in various woody nooks. “ I need more privacy.”

Usually in BC, you don’t want to camp too far from your fellow archaeologists. Bears and cougars and stuff tend to go through your belongings and eat your sleeping bag if you get too far out side the smells-like-people area. But this was different. No griz, no cats, only birds and the odd sneaky seal. I wanted a spot where I could think.

I was working my way south along the beach with Two Eyes, each of us carrying a Rubbermaid container. Suddenly a young bald eagle soared above our heads and entered a rather loud discourse. His head and tail were just showing their first touches of white, so he was probably under two years old…a teenager eagle…a young chief like those in camp. And like them, he had many opinions and much to say. I remembered what Sky Woman had told me about the young eagle.

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