Some new clothes.

Now, after presenting myself to this group of people, I was sitting in a room across the hall from a conference room where my fate, so to say, was being determined.

I sat there thinking, even if they allow Kai to teach, can I teach a bunch of guys with me looking like a girl? No, not looking like, but being Kai. Could Kai do this? Yes!

It’s still Friday, and we’re at the resort, and it’s the last barbecue of the year. And there's more than the usual number of special guests here tonight.

We had used the mud pool to try to help both of us relax, and it worked. We also found out that next Friday would be the last barbecue of the year. That made us sad.

The Sunset was an excellent one, but the storms building to the west showed that we were going to get a thunderstorm or two. As the storms approached, I warned everyone to get off the cliff, and all but one guy did. He wanted one more picture. And that turned tragic. Lightning struck him, and he died.

Sunday morning when I woke up to the smell of breakfast cooking and Ajie looking down at me with that cute smile on her face. I smiled up at her, and said, “Morning lover.”

She bent down, kissed me, sat back, and said, “Good morning sweetheart.”

Then Kelly and Larry had asked us to be the godparents to their baby, who could say no to that. The barbecue went smoothly. No surprise guests. I sat and meditated at the bonfire under a full Moon. And as Naainish had told me, there were no problems with my spirits and the Moon or spirits of the bonfire. I did tell Kelly and Larry that I felt that their son would do some amazing things during his lifetime.

The sunset was a good one, and the crew pledged to get together once a year no matter what. That also made me happy. We also decided to stay the night with my aunt and uncle and go to Taos in the morning.

On Saturday morning the crew witnessed a sunrise and met the wolves. Then we headed to my aunt and uncle’s house for breakfast.

As we walked into the house, the smells were incredible. Aunt Ruth must be cooking already. We followed the aroma into the kitchen and found my aunt and grandmother cooking, and I said, “Well, good morning grandma and Aunt Ruth.”

Kelly and Larry had arrived to use the gift certificate that we’d given them for their wedding. And they had brought a big surprise with them. Maria and Mark. So we now had our first house guests.

After we were out of that mess, we finished the drive to Albuquerque. I was so mad at myself for setting the camera bag down that I was ready to put all the jewelry in the safe and weld the safe shut. But calmer heads prevailed, Amy calmed me down. And she suggested that we find someplace to watch a sunset. That place was an hours drive and five-thousand feet higher then we are in Albuquerque. But it was worth the trip. But what was even better was finding a drive-in afterward that served ginger ale milkshakes and great fries. Now if their hamburgers are just as good.

We’d had also found maps of the parks in Albuquerque, and one of the parks had a trail that sounded interesting, and we’d taken a two-and-a-half mile hike on a loop trail. And we found out that we haven’t adjusted to the climate and altitude in the area. Albuquerque is a little over five-thousand feet above sea level, and back home is only about nine-hundred feet.

Then today, Tuesday, we had meetings with my advisor for my master’s program, and Amy’s preceptor for her master’s program who was Dr. Etsitty. And during our talk with Dr. Etsitty, she told us that she knew I was Kai. Which, for some reason, didn’t upset me. And as we talked, we found out that Chief Peshlakai was up to his old tricks. Now that did upset me just a little bit. Yeah right. It upset me a hell of a lot!

After dinner, we watched a Sunset and then went to the bonfire. Naainish was there, and after greeting us, he had said in Navajo, “Kai, I sense trouble. Is everything good?”