Friday was a little crazier. Both Amy and I taught our classes, and I went to my grad-level class, and right after that we went to the driver's licenses examination place, and I took my written and driving test. I found out that the driving examiner used to work for my Uncle Gaagii at the Navajo Nation Police Department.

Then I went into the lab to work on the project, and we had problems. Dr. Joe and I worked on it until we became frustrated. So we called it a day, but I took the paperwork with me to go over it with a fresh mind.

We then took Jackie and Charlie up to the resort. And they were amazed by the place and the greetings that they received from my aunt and uncle. We showed them around the resort, and then took them up onto the cliff right as the Sun set. Then we took them to the little tree and told them it’s story. Jackie had asked me if I was special, and before I had to answer that question the call of the coyotes got her attention.

Saturday morning Ajie and I were, as usual, up early. We dressed in our hiking clothes, shorts, blouses, and hiking boots. I brushed my hair into a straight look and added the braided leather headband with the Eagle feather. Amy did her hair in a ponytail. And we were surprised to find Jackie and Charlie sitting at the kitchen table talking with my aunt.

“Charlie.”, I said. “What are you guys doing up so early?”

“We’re from Iowa and aren’t used to the time difference yet, so we still get up early.”, Charlie replied.

“Well do you want to join us up on the cliff for the Sunrise?”

“We’d love to.”, Jackie replied.

“Grab a jacket and let's go.”

“And, I’ll have breakfast ready when you get back.”, my Aunt Ruth said.

I looked at my aunt and grinned. And she said, “No, Kai. No breakfast tacos today, maybe tomorrow.”

“Ahh.”, I said.

“Come on Kai.”, Ajie said. “Or we’ll miss the Sunrise.”

As the four of us walked out of the house and towards the trail, Jackie said, “That dinner that your aunt made last night was wonderful.”

“Those were frybread tacos.”, Ajie replied. “And, if you’d like to learn how to make them Kai and I can teach you.”

“That would be wonderful.”

We hiked up the cliff trail, and when we were at the top, there were six or eight guests up there. And we waited with them for the Sunrise. A few people were chatting, but I was listening, and I wasn’t hearing what I was listening for. Coyotes.

Then I heard something, and I said, “Shh. Listen.”

“For what.”, someone asked.

“Just listen.”

It got quiet. Then we heard it. The howl of a wolf. “There.”, I whispered. “Here that?”

“Yeah.”, a couple of people said.

“What is it.”, Charlie asked. “The coyotes.”

“No.”, I said. “Wolves. I wasn’t hearing the coyotes this morning. So, I figured that there were wolves in the area. So, I listened closely. If we’re lucky, we might see them.”

Someone asked, “They won’t bother us. Will they?”

“No. Just like with the coyotes they will try to avoid us.”

It wasn’t long until Ajie pointed, and said, “Kai, look over there.”

Everyone looked to where Ajie was pointing, and we saw eight wolves walking in a line. I whispered, “You are seeing a rare sight. We don’t see wolves here very often, but when we do we embrace it.”

As wolves will do, they disappeared, and we turned our attention to the Sunrise. And the Sunrise didn’t disappoint. Bright yellows and golds. No reds, so no rain or storms.

“Kai and Ajie.”, Jackie said. “I am beginning to see why you love it out here.”

“It’s not hard to fall in love with this place.”, I replied.

“No, it’s not.”, Ajie added.

We walked back down the trail, and to the house. And when we walked in, the smell was amazing. We walked into the kitchen and Aunt Ruth was making breakfast. I asked, “Aunt Ruth, what smells so go?”

“Oh, nothing special. Just a Southwest scramble.”

“What’s in it, Aunt Ruth.”, Jackie asked.

“Just eggs, onions, peppers, cheese, and some bacon. Kai, if you and Charlie will pour some orange juice. And, Ajie, if you and Jackie will finish making the toast. Breakfast will be ready.”

We sat down to a great breakfast. And everyone couldn't say enough good things about it. We did help clean up the breakfast dishes. And as we were doing that, Jackie asked me, “Kai, Charlie and I also have some studying to do. Could we go with you to this quiet place that you talk about? I promise that we won’t bother you.”

I looked at Ajie, she shrugged her shoulders, and then I said, “Sure. But, we need to find a blanket for you to use.”

“I have one that they can borrow.”, Aunt Ruth said.

A short time later the four of us were in the car heading to the pond by the remote hogan. Ajie and I were going to walk over, but with Jackie and Charlie going we figured that driving would be better.

As we drove past the round barn, Charlie said, “I’ve never seen a barn like before.”

"Neat isn’t it.”, I said. “I think it’s the only one like it in New Mexico. I hope they fix it up. I'd hate to see it destroyed.”

“It would be a shame if it was.”

We then approached the wood bridge over the dry arroyo. Jackie saw it, and asked, “Is that thing safe?”

“It’s been fine every time we’ve been over it.”, I said. "It’s made out of telephone poles with boards laid across it.”

“I hope it doesn’t break.”

“The arroyo is dry, so if it does, we won’t drown.”

“Kai, that’s not funny.”

“Sorry.”

We safely crossed the rickety bridge, then pulled up to the lake. As we were getting out of the car, Charlie asked, “What’s that building over there?”

“We call that the remote hogan.”, Ajie said. “It’s used for special things. It’s where I received my Navajo name from the tribal elders. And where we first met Naainish.”

We pulled the blankets out of the car and walked over to the trees on the side of the pond. Ajie and I spread our blanket at our spot, and Jackie and Charlie walked a little further down the shore and spread their blanket.

Ajie sat down, took out the books she’d brought, leaned against a tree, and started to read. I sat down cross-legged, took out the information on the circuit, and started going over it.

About ten minutes after I started looking at things, I saw it, and thought, ‘How did Dr. Joe and I miss this.’ I looked closer, and I was right, and I let out a loud, “Yes!”

Ajie looked over at me, and asked, “Did you find something?”

“Yes, and I don’t know how we missed this, but I found it.”

“Good going lover.”

I then went to work on the things for my class. After I’d been at that for about an hour and a half, Ajie asked, “You ready to take a break?”

“Sure.”, I replied.

I got up and helped Ajie stand. Then we walked down to where Jackie and Charlie were, and I asked, “You two ready to take a break?”

“Sure thing.”, Charlie said.

He and Jackie got up, and Jackie asked, “Would it be all right if we looked in the hogan?”

“Sure.”, I said.

We started walking towards the hogan, and as we walked past where Ajie and I had been sitting, I picked up the paperwork on the circuit and put it in the car as we walked past.

We walked to the door of the hogan which was closed by a blanket. I pulled the blanket aside and hooked it such a way that it would stay open and allow some light into the hogan.

We went inside, and Jackie and Charlie looked around. Then Jackie asked, “Did people really live in these hogans?”

“Did and still do.”, I said. “There is a lot of poverty on the reservation. Something like this is still the home to a lot of people.”

“That’s sad. Why the hole in the roof?”

“It’s a smoke hole. It allows the smoke from the fire in the fire pit to leave the hogan. Some now have stoves, so they have a stove pipe through the hole, but this is a traditional hogan used for ceremonies.”

“Wouldn’t the smoke hole let rain in?”

“Yes, it would.”, Ajie replied. “Some consider the smoke hole to be a problem as it does let the rain in. But, the Diné or Navajo feel that when there are no more smoke holes that the old religion will be no more. They also feel that evil spirits can be chased away through the smoke hole by a medicine man using a ghost chasing chant.”

“So, it’s more than just a way to remove smoke from the hogan. It has a kind of religious meaning.”

Ajie just nodded yes.

As we walked back outside, a light rain had started to fall, and Jackie yelled, “Our books!”

As Charlie and I ran to grab our books, Ajie and Jackie headed for the car. I wrapped everything up in the blanket, went over to where Charlie was, and he was wrapping thing up in their blanket. We ran together back to the car and tossed the blankets in the trunk. Just as we got into the car, the rain started to come down harder.

I said, “It wasn’t supposed to rain today.”

“How do you know?”, Charles asked.

“The Sunrise didn’t have any reds in it. Usually, when the sky is red in the morning, it’s an indication of pending rain. And it wasn’t red this morning.”

“I guess this proves that that isn’t always true.”

“I guess you’re right. At least we didn’t get soaked.”

“Did our books get wet?”, Jackie asked.

“No.”, Charlie answered. “Being under the trees helped protect them.”

“Did you guys get everything done that you wanted to?”, I asked Jackie and Charlie.

“More or less. How about you?”

“I found our problem in the project that I’m working on, and got started on the mid-term exams that I need.”

“I got a lot of things done too.”, Ajie said.

“I guess it did some good coming out here.”

“As you guys have said, it’s very peaceful out here.”, Jackie said.

“I guess we could go back to the house, and finish what we need to.”

“I’d rather stay out here, even if it’s in the hogan.”

“We could do that, but we wouldn’t have enough light.”

“Yeah. You’re right.”

We headed back to the house, and as we crossed the wooden bridge, the dry arroyo was no longer dry. There wasn’t much water in it, but it was enough to make a nice little stream. I commented, “It must have rained harder upstream from here.”

When we were back at the house, the rain had just stopped, and we took our blankets and what was wrapped up inside them into the house. And neither my aunt or uncle were there. We opened up the blankets and retrieved our books and papers. Everything appeared to be okay. I’d also brought in my paperwork for the circuit.

We still had more than an hour before lunch, so the four of us used the kitchen table to continue our studying.

Right before lunch I called Dr. Joe and told him what I’d found. He was thrilled and said he’d try to fix it later today and see if it worked. I told him to be careful with the part number of the module as there was only one letter different in a long string of numbers and letters. There was a lowercase “e” that looked like a “c”.

After lunch, the four of us hiked one of the trails behind the resort, and Jackie and Charlie enjoyed the hike. Then we used one of the thermal pools to relax.

As we were soaking in the warm mineral water, Charlie asked, “You two like to hike. Don’t you?”

“Yes.”, Ajie replied. “We like to hike here at the resort, along the Rio Grande River in Albuquerque, and then in the mountains east of the city.”

“Aren’t their wild animals around?”

“Sure. Not so much here, but in the mountains, there are black bears.”

“Aren’t you afraid of them.”

“No.”, I said. “We respect them. But, we also carry rifles and side arms when we hike in the mountains.”

“Guns?”

“Yes, we had a Forest Service ranger suggest that we carry them. We’ve never had to use them, and have only seen one bear on the east slope of the mountains east of Albuquerque. And he was more interested in the berry bush that he’d found then us. But we did see another one in the mountains north of here. We were in a cabin, and he was outside.”

“That takes guts.”

“Not really. It takes respecting the bears and knowing how to co-exist with them.”

“Can I ask the two of you something?”, Jackie asked.

“Sure.”, Ajie said.

“I’ve seen a lot of Indians since we’ve been out here, and most, if not all, of those have brown eyes. But, both of you have blue eyes.”

I looked at Ajie, smiled, looked at Jackie, and said, “I’m surprised that it’s taken you this long to notice. I’ll tell you what we tell most people. It’s a recessive gene because we both have Anglo ancestors.

“With Ajie, she is all Anglo with only a little Indian blood. And I think you know that. Right, Jackie?”

“Yeah.”, Jackie replied.

“And, you also know that she's a blue-eyed blond. With her hair dyed black.”

Charlie looked at Ajie, and said, “A blue-eyed blond? I’d never have known.”

Jackie then said, “Amy told me that when we were talking about her grandmother, that was an Indian.”

Then I grinned and said, “Would you believe that I’m also a blue-eyed blond.”

“No way.”

“She is.”, Ajie said. “Her dad is an Anglo, and her mother is one-half Navajo and one-half Anglo. And because of that Kai’s skin is naturally somewhat darker than mine, she doesn’t have much body hair, and some of her features are Indian, like the higher cheekbones. But, she has blond hair and blue eyes. And she makes a cute blond, blue-eyed girl.”

“Well, I asked.”, Jackie said. “And, you told me. I’m at the point with you two that nothing surprises me any more.”

“You two have a very interesting lifestyle.”, Charlie said. “And you know. I’m glad that we’ve become friends.”

“So are we.”, Ajie said. “But, there’s one thing that concerns me about us being friends.”

“What’s that?”, I asked.

“I’m concerned that the other students in my classes will see it as I’m playing favorites.”

“You’re not.”, Jackie said.

“I know. And, I’ll probably be tougher on you just because I know you.”

“Maybe I should transfer to one of the sections taught by the other grad assistant.”

“I’ve thought about that. We may need to do something, but let me talk with Vickie first.”

“Vickie?”

“Sorry. That would be Dr. Etsitty.”

“The Assistant Dean. Don’t tell me that you’re friends with her too?”

“Yes. Her husband, Tahoma Etsitty, is the Chief of the clan that Kai and I are members of.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me.”

Again we had a nice dinner with my aunt and uncle. And as we ate, my uncle asked, “Kai, are you and Ajie going to meditate at the bonfire tonight?”

“We thought that we would.”

“Good. We have another retreat here this weekend, and I think that they may be of interest to you.”

I gave my uncle a look, and said, “Uncle Paul, not another retreat?”

“Don’t worry Kai. This is a group that you might be interested in.”

“Okay, I’ll bite. What group?”

“Wait and see.”

“Uncle Paul!”

“Don’t worry Kai. It’ll be fine.”

“I hope so. I don’t need another weekend like that last one.”

“I know. I wouldn’t do that to you.”

As Ajie got up from the table, she said, “Come on Kai, lets help with the dishes, and then go change.”

“Go change?”, Jackie asked.

“You’ll see.”, Aunt Ruth said. “These two like to dress up for the evening activities out here.”

We helped with the dishes, then excused ourselves to change.

It’s been a while since Ajie, and I could dress up, so we’d brought along our Biil dresses, wrap moccasins, fancy braid wraps, and the camera bag was full.

The first thing was braiding our hair. I’d brought along the four colored strips of leather that represents the four directions. With white representing the east, turquoise the south, yellow the west, and black the north. I had Ajie braid my hair in two braids, and add two leather strips in each of the braids. Then she added a fancy feathered wrap at the end of each braid. Then I braided her hair in a single braid, with the four colored leather strips braided into it. And I added a fancy wrap to the end of her braid.

Then came the Biil dresses. I slipped into my white one, and Ajie put on her red one. We then added our wrap moccasins.

I opened the floor safe and took out the camera bag. From it came the Concho belts, the squash blossom necklaces, two of the chokers, four bracelets, a few rings, and our braided leather headbands with the Eagle feathers. Then we both put on the matching silver feather earrings.

Ajie put on the hair-pipe bone choker, and I used the Concho choker. I moved my braids from my back to over my shoulders.

We both added a light touch of makeup, I picked up one of the rugs, folded it, placed it over my arm, and we walked out into the main part of the house. My aunt was talking with Jackie and Charlie and was the first to see us. She looked at us and smiled. Jackie was the first to turn to see what she was looking at.

Jackie’s eyes got big, and she said, “I don’t believe you two. You look fabulous.”

“I told you that they like to dress up.”, Aunt Ruth said.

Charlie turned and looked, his mouth dropped open, and he stammered, “Who … Who’s getting married.”

“No one, Charlie.”, I said. “We just happen to like to fancy dress.”

“Is the jewelry silver?”, Jackie asked.

“Yes. Silver and turquoise.”, Ajie replied.

“It’s gorgeous. Where did you get it?”

“Kai’s grandfather was a silversmith. And he made most of it.”

“Wait. The silversmith in the display at the hotel, his last name was Nez. Kai, was he your grandfather?”

“Kilchii Nez. Yes, he was.”. I replied.

“So, you two like dressing up like this?”

“Yes, it’s a lot of fun to dress like this and go to events like the bonfire, or the barbecue, or dance competition.

“Has Uncle Paul already gone to the bonfire.”

“No.”, Uncle Paul said. “I’m right behind you.”

Ajie and I turned to look at Uncle Pal, and he was also dressed up. He was dressed in white linen pants, a bright red shirt, wrap moccasins, a red headscarf, and some jewelry.

Then Uncle Paul said, “I couldn’t let the two of you outdo me. But it looks like you have.”

“No, Uncle Paul.”, I said. “You look sharp.”

“Are we going to fit in at this bonfire?”, Charlie asked.

“Charlie.”, I said. “You’ll fit in just fine. You look like a regular guest. And the three of us we’ll stand out like a sore thumb.”

“Okay. Enough chatter.”, Uncle Paul said. “Let’s go, or we’ll be late.”

The six of us walked towards the hotel and to where the bonfire is. Again the bonfire wasn’t lit. When we got there, I went to where Ajie and I sit and spread the blanket on the ground. Then I joined the other five who were standing with a group of guests.

Uncle Paul then, like last time, handed Ajie and me each a long match and something to strike it on. We took the matches and walked over to where the bonfire was laid. We struck our matches, stooped down, and lit the kerosene. And it wasn’t long until Ajie, and I were backing away from the fire and walking towards where we like to sit.

When we reached our rug, we sat and concentrated on the fire. Then I heard chanting, and Ajie asked, “Naainish?”

“It sounds like him.”, I answered.

We listened to Naainish chant and concentrated on our meditating. Naainish’s chant lasted a few minutes, but we sat for a few minutes after he’d finished. Then Ajie and I got up, I picked up the rug, folded it, and placed it over my arm.

Ajie and I then walked over to where everyone was standing, and we walked up to Naainish, and I said, “Yá’át’ééh alní'íní, Naainish.” (Good evening, Naainish.)

“Yá’át’ééh alní'íní, Kai dóó Ajie.”, Naainish returned.

“What are you doing here.”

“We have a meeting tomorrow, so I thought that I’d come early, help you and Ajie meditate. And spend the night.”

“That’s nice. Are you staying at the hotel?”

“No. No, hotel for me. I’m going to the small hogan by the pond.”

“We were just there this morning.”

“Is it in good shape?”

“Yes. There is even a wood pile just outside the door.”

“That is good. It’s supposed to become cold tonight.”

My uncle walked over, and said, “Kai and Ajie can I borrow you for a minute.”

“Sure Uncle Paul. But, give me a minute.”, I replied.

I turned to Naainish, and said, “Naainish, you remember Jackie and Charlie from that hike where the boy was bitten by the rattler?”

“Yes, I do.”, Naainish replied.”

“A while ago Jackie asked me if I was special, and I didn’t get a chance to answer her. Would you take Jackie and Charlie aside and talk to them?”

“Do you feel comfortable with them knowing about you?”, Naainish asked in Navajo.

I smiled, and said, “Aoó.” (Yes.)

“It’s been a long day.”, Naainish said. “After I talk with your friends, I’m going over to the hogan, pray for a while, then sleep.”

“Then we’ll see you in the morning. Hágoónee', Naainish.” (See you later, Naainish.)

“Hágoónee', Naainish.”, Ajie echoed.

“Hágoónee', Kai dóó Ajie.”, Naainish said.

As Jackie and Charlie walked away with Naainish, I looked at Uncle Paul, and said, “Okay Uncle Paul.”

Ajie and I then followed Uncle Paul towards four men. As we walked up, Uncle Paul said, “Kai and Ajie. I’d like you to meet Dr. Gerling, Dr. Davidson, Dr. Fontheim, and Dr. Höllmann.

“Gentlemen, these are my nieces Kai Nez and Ajie Nez.”

“Kai and Ajie these gentlemen are … ”