When we were back at the apartment, we had a phone call from Quah Ah, the medicine woman from the Taos Pueblo. When I called her back, she told me something that I was afraid that we’d hear, Tribal Governor Cochiti had passed away. And, now I had to tell Charlie and Jackie when they were back in town.

We went shopping for a typewriter, and that turned into a problem with the salesman. Once that was straightened out, we had a new typewriter. And, I hope the salesman had a fresh outlook on the native American people.

We picked Charlie and Jackie up at the airport, and Amy and I had decided to wait until after dinner to tell them about the Governor. Once we’d told them about the Governor, we told them about the feast to honor the Governor and they wanted to go.

Saturday, on the way to the Taos Pueblo we stopped by the resort so that Charlie could borrow some clothes from my uncle. Then we went to the Pueblo and were pleasantly surprised at the number of people who were there. And, we had a nice talk with the Governors wife.

Naainish and Chief Kinlicheeny were there, and we talked, and Naainish told me that if I would finally accept that I was special, that I would reach hózhó. And, that would put me in balance and beauty with the world. And, Ajie would quickly follow. I’m still puzzled by that.

Then we’d met up with Iz from the Santa Ana Pueblo Indian Reservation, that’s where the Eagles are living. Iz was with his wife, Awinita or Nita, who happens to be the Tribal Governor of the Santa Ana Pueblo. And we agreed to take her to see the Eagles on Sunday. Back at the resort, the four of us decided to go and soak in one of the thermal pools even though it’s snowing.

We’d changed out of our fancy clothes, and as Charlie, Jackie, Ajie, and I were making our way to the bathhouse through the falling snow, Jackie said, “This is crazy.”

“It is.”, I replied. “But, you’ll see that others are doing it.”

“So, who else is this crazy?”

“Skiers that are staying here. They like to soak in the pools after a day of skiing.”

And, I was right. There were a number of others in the bathhouse, some just going to the pools and some just coming out of the pools. And, all of them were in good spirits.

We changed into our suits, put on our robes, and ran to one of the pools. After we’d slipped into the pool, Jackie said, “Kai, you were right. This is fun. Sitting here in the warm waters while the snow falls.”

“Told you that it would be.”, I said.

For the next hour, we soaked, and listened to some of the guests talk about their skiing adventures and how it was nice to now be sitting in the warm water. Later as we were getting out of the pools, we found out how fast Jackie could run, as she headed for the bathhouse.

After we’d showered and changed, and were walking back to the house, Charlie said, “I hate to admit this. But, that was fun.”

“It was.”, Jackie agreed.

When we were back at the house, the smells from the kitchen were already wonderful, and when I saw my aunt, I said, “Aunt Ruth, I thought we were going to help with dinner?”

“Oh, you are.”, my aunt said. “I’m just working on a part of it.”

For an appetizer, we put together a homemade guacamole dip with homemade tortilla chips. We didn’t make the tortilla chips. My aunt had gotten those from a friend. The main course was made with what are called sopes. Oh yum! Sopes are thick fried corn tortillas that can be filled with anything. We filled ours with strips of pork, and a mixture of onions, diced tomatoes and green chilies, honey, and all kinds of herbs. We also put together some toppings, hot refried beans, sour cream, and shredded lettuce. For a side, we had sauteed corn. For dessert, my aunt had earlier made Capirotada which is a bread pudding made with cheese, nuts, fruits, and spices. And, this was wonderful. If I hadn’t eaten so much of the sopes, I would have had two helpings of Capirotada. It gets a double yum from me.

After we’d cleaned up, we just sat in front of the roaring fire, talked, and got sleepy. The cold air and good food was taking it’s toll. When we talked about the feast at the Taos Pueblo, I asked, “Aunt Ruth. Uncle Paul. What can you tell me about hózhó?”

“Honey.”, Aunt Ruth said. “Not much more than what Naainish told you. It’s just becoming in balance with the world.”

I just sat there for a minute, then asked, “How do you know when you have it?”

“I … I don’t know, honey. Maybe you just know. You feel it.”

“Do you have it?”

“I think I do. I feel like things are that way. And, more so since you came into our lives.”

“Really!?”

“Yes, Kai.”, Uncle Paul said. “When you’re around things just feel good.”

“But, what about all of the things that have happened to Ajie and me.”

“Like what?”, Aunt Ruth asked.

“All the troubles we’ve had with people, the guy that came after me here in the hotel, people shooting at the Eagles, having that religious group verbally attacked us, and stuff like that.”

“I’m not sure. Maybe you were being tested. There have also been good things too. Like Dibe Bylilly and the scholarship, helping with the research project, helping Naainish’s father and the Governor pass, and then there’s your two friends, Charlie and Jackie. And, I know that there’s more.”

I looked at Charlie and Jackie, and said, “You’re right. But, it seems that I remember the bad more than the good.”

“Honey.”, Ajie said. “It’s the way your brain works. It keeps the bad things to the forefront so that you can avoid them happening again.

“And, like with the salesman on Friday, you sense more things about people than others do. I think that you sensed that the salesman wasn’t a bad person, and just needed to be shown where he went wrong. Then you stood up for him with his manager.”

I just nodded yes.

Then I sat back, thought for a minute, and said, “You know. … Right now I feel really good. I’m sitting in front of a nice fire. I’m with the love of my life. I’m also with two terrific friends. And, I’m also with two of my favorite relatives. And, right now I don’t have a care in the world.”

Ajie, with a mischievous smile, said, “Ah, Kai. But, there’s … ”

I looked at her and said, “Don’t even go there.”

Later that night as we were getting ready for bed, I was on the bed waiting for Ajie to finish in the bathroom. When she came out, I was staring at the ceiling, she walked over to the bed, looked down at me, and asked, “What are you thinking about?”

“Just today.”, I replied.

“What about today.”

“Just everything that happened. Seeing the Governors wife again. Talking with Quah Ah. Talking with Naainish. And, seeing Iz and his wife.”

“I didn’t realize that a woman could lead a tribe.”

“In some tribes, the women are the leaders, remember how they felt about grandma in the Navajo Council. And, there are other women on the council.”

“You’re right. So, I guess that having a woman as the Chief or Governor wouldn’t be unusual.”

As Ajie joined me on the bed, she asked, “What do you think about this hózhó thing.”

“That was something else I was thinking about.”, I said. “And, I’m not sure what to think about it yet.”

“I know. It’s puzzling to me too.”

“Maybe a good nights sleep will help.”

I rolled over to give Ajie a kiss, she smiled at me, and I knew what she was thinking. So, I said, “My Queen. The King is in the castle.”

“Yes, my Prince, I know, but my handmaiden is with him in his bedchamber. And, she will keep him occupied.”

Needless to say, sleep didn’t come for over an hour. But, what a way to stay awake.

Sunday morning, despite last nights activity, I was awake early. And, I lay there watching Ajie as she slept. She finally started to stir. I kissed her. She opened her eyes, smiled, and said, “I love it when you wake me up that way.”

“I’m glad.”, I said. “Because I love waking you up that way. And, I’m not going to stop.”

We got dressed and went to the kitchen. My aunt was there, and she said, “Good morning you two. I hope you’re not planning on going to the pools this morning.”

“Why?”, I asked.

“It got really cold last night, and the wind picked up.”

“Oh. That doesn’t sound good for a soak in the pools.”

“No, it doesn’t. It is supposed to warm up by noon.”

“What about the wind?”

“It’s supposed to die down soon.”

“That’s good.”, I said. “We’re meeting people at the reservoir on the way home to see the Eagles.”

After breakfast, it was still too cold and windy to go to the pools. So, after the four of us got everything packed up, it was sit in front of the fire and talk. Then as we helped Aunt Ruth fix lunch, we noticed that the wind had died down, and when Uncle Paul came in, he said that it had warmed up a little.

So, after lunch, I called the operator and gave her the number that Nita Yupanqui, who is Iz’s wife and the Tribal Governor of the Santa Ana Pueblo, had given me. When the operator said that my party was on the line, I said, “Hello.”

A woman’s voice said, “Hello, Santa Ana Pueblo Government Offices. How can I help you.”

“Hello, this is Kai Nez. Is Governor Yupanqui there?”

“Hello, Kai this is Nita.”

“You answer your own phone.”

“I’m the only one here most of the time.”

I told her that we were about ready to leave the resort, and would be at the reservoir in about an hour and forty-five minutes. She said that she and Iz would be there.

We packed the car, said so long to my aunt and uncle, and Amy, Jackie, Charlie, and I headed south. And, like I’d told Nita, an hour and forty-five minutes we were pulling into the parking for the trail at the Jemez Canyon Reservoir in the Santa Ana Pueblo Indian Reservation, and Iz’s truck was already parked there.

We parked next to Iz’s truck, and as we got out of the car, Iz and Nita got out of the truck. Luckily we were all dressed for cold weather, because it was cold, but there wasn’t any wind.

As I was taking the camera bag out of the trunk, another car pulled into the parking area and parked a little distance away from us. We watched as two men and two women got out of the car.

Iz said, “This is unusual. This time of year no one comes here.”

As they walked towards us, I noticed that two of them had binoculars and two of them had cameras. As they walked up to us, one of the women said, “Hello.”

Iz said, “Hello.”

“Do you know this area?”

“Yes.”

“We’re here on a year-end ski trip, took today off from skiing, and came here.”

“Why here?”

We’ve been told that there may be Bald Eagles around here. Do you know where they are?”

“Where did you hear that?”, Iz asked.

“Friends of ours read it somewhere. And, we thought we’d come and find them.”

“Ma’am.”, Iz said. “I don’t know where that information came from. But, I’ve never seen or heard of any Eagles around here.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m the Director of Parks for the reservation, and I think that I’d know.”

“Oh, I guess that you would.”

“And, we’ve had people from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service here looking for them, and they decided that there aren’t any around here. Eagles are rare in this part of New Mexico.”

Through this whole thing, I’m thinking, ‘I sure hope that the Eagles stay away from here.’

“That’s a shame.”, the woman said. “We would have loved to have seen them.”

“Sorry.”, Iz said. “You’re welcome to hike the trail if you like, but this time of the year there isn’t much going on.”

The woman looked at one of the men, and he said, “We might as well go. If this gentleman says, there aren’t any Eagles here. There aren’t any Eagles here.”

The woman then looked at Iz, and said, “Thank you. We would have wasted our time if we hadn't run into you.”

“You’re welcome.”

The two men and two women walked back to their car, got in, and drove away.

As they drove out of the parking area, Iz said, “I wonder who spilled the beans?”

“I wonder too.”, I said. “But, Iz, you did a good job of misleading them.”

“I had to. I promised you that we’d keep this secret.”

“And I appreciate it, and I bet the Eagles do too.”

We waited until the car was out of site, then I slung the camera bag over my shoulder, and we headed down the trail. We took the side trail, and when we reached the gate, Iz opened it, and we all walked through it, then Iz closed it.

After walking another three-quarters of a mile down the trail we arrived at the nest site. As we looked at the nest, I said, “They’ve been adding to it.”

“It does look that way.”, Iz said.

Then I noticed that one of the Eagles was in the nest, and I pointed it out to Nita. And, she said, “The last couple of times we were here, they weren’t around.”

“I told you that they’d be here when Kai and Ajie were here.”, Iz said.

A couple of minutes later, we watched as the other Eagle showed up carrying a fish. As he landed, he dropped the fish in the nest, then they both came to the edge of the nest and looked at us.

Nita said, “There wing span is so big, from a distance it doesn’t look this big. This is wonderful, being so close to them.”

“It is.”, Amy said. “We just love seeing them. And, I read somewhere that they can have a wingspan of up to seven and a half feet.”

“And, they’re here. That’s amazing.”

“They like the two of us. And, they trust us, because they know that we’ll protect them.”

“That’s wonderful.”

“Plus we feel that they represent our spirits.”, Amy said.

“Iz said that you think that they followed you out here from Ohio.”

“We think that it’s possible, but there’s no way to know.”

“Just believe that they did.”, Nita said. “It’s something good to believe in.”

“Yes, it is.”

We stayed a little while longer, then headed back to the parking area. As we walked, Nita said, “Kai, you didn’t take any pictures.”

“You know.”, I said. “We’ve never taken any pictures of them. We need to do that sometime.”

“But, you carried a camera bag.”

“I’ll show you why when we get back to the car.”

As we finished walking back to the car, I set the camera bag on the trunk, and said, “Nita, when we get dressed up as we did for the Governor’s feast, we like to wear some of our silver and turquoise jewelry, so we bring it with us. We don’t like to leave it in the car, so we pack it in the camera bag, and take it with us when we get out of the car.”

“You were wearing a lot of silver and turquoise jewelry yesterday.”

“And, most of it is my Great Great Grandfather Kilchii Nez’s work. He was a Navajo silversmith.”

“I have a few pieces of Navajo silver, could I possibly see some of yours?”

“Of course.”

I opened the camera bag and took out what was laying on top. It was the hair-pipe bone choker with the round silver piece that had a silver feather and two hair-pipes with small silver medallions hanging from it. I unwrapped it from it’s cloth wrapping, and handed it to Nita.

She looked at it and said, “Very nice. So, your grandfather made this?”

“Not completely. We think that he and whoever was teaching him made this. The large silver piece has one maker’s mark on the back, and all the other smaller pieces have my grandfather’s maker’s mark.”

Nita turned over the choker and looked at the silver pieces, and said, “I see the two different marks. So, those are put on by the silversmith when he made the piece?”

“Yes, sometimes they were engraved and sometimes stamped. And, if there’s a small ‘s’ it means that it’s sterling silver.”

“Do you often find a piece like this made by two silversmiths?”

“No, our silversmith friend in Taos, Sike Yazzie, said that he’s never seen one like this before.”

“Oh, you know Sike?”

“Yes, his nephew, Naainish, is a friend.”

“Of course, you’re both nádleeh (two spirit person), so you’d know Naainish.”

“He’s taught me a lot.”

“I’m going to have to see if any of my pieces have maker’s marks.”

“That would be interesting. And, if your curious about who the silversmith was my uncle’s cousin, Ahiga Biakeddy, has a shop in Old Town Albuquerque and he has a book of maker’s mark. Tell him that we sent you.”

“That might be interesting to do if mine has maker’s marks.

“Could I see another piece?”

“Of course, Nita.”

I took one of the squash blossom necklaces out of the bag and handed to Nita. She carefully looked at it, then said, “This is gorgeous. Your grandfather did amazing work.”

“Thank you, Nita. We think so too.”

We said so long to Nita and Iz and finished our drive to Albuquerque. As we pulled into the garage at the apartment, Jackie asked, “Are you guys doing anything for New Year’s Eve?”

“Not much. We usually get a good bottle of wine, some snacks, and watch one of the celebrations on TV.”

“You sound like us. We’re not big party people.”

“We aren’t either. Want to join us?”

“You know we don’t drink.”

“We know, and I think that we have some of your favorite pop.”

“What about snacks?”

“We have some chips, pretzels, crackers, cheese, and dip. And, we can make some popcorn.”

“My uncle would love you.”, Charlie said. “He grows popcorn.”

“I may have to get to know him.”, I said.

“Well, it sounds like you’re prepared for tonight. So, there’s nothing that we can bring?”

“Just yourselves.”

“What time?”

“Oh, about ten.”

“That’ll work.”, Charlie said. “After all that cold fresh air when we were at the reservoir I can use a nap.”

We finally got out of the car, and Charlie and Jackie grabbed their luggage and headed to their apartment with a, “See you around ten.”, from Charlie.

I closed the garage door, and Amy and I took all of our stuff into our apartment. I put the silver in the safe. Then I looked at the answering machine and no messages. I went to the front door and grabbed the mail, only two things, a bill and a letter from our financial advisor. I’ll look at those later.

We got our clothes all sorted out. Then we changed into comfortable clothes, made and ate dinner, and took a nap on the couch.

I was awake at about eight thirty, and I started to put the snacks together. Amy joined me a short time later, and we were done a little after nine. Then I started making popcorn. I’d make a batch of popcorn, dump it into a paper bag, and make another batch.

Amy had found a recipe for sangria, and her first attempt at making it was terrific. Yes, I had to taste test it while I was making the popcorn.

As I started the third batch of popcorn, there was a knock at the door, Amy answered it, and I heard Charlie say, “We could smell the popcorn in our apartment and couldn’t stay away.”

Charlie walked into the kitchen, grabbed a handful of popcorn out of the paper bag, tossed some of it in his mouth, and mumbled, “Not bad. You’ve got the salt just about right, but it could use just a little more butter.”

“Ah, it sounds like we have a popcorn connoisseur with us.”, I said.

“I’m going to get my uncle to send me some of his premier popcorn. It pops about twice as big as this corn.”

“I’d love to try it.”

I won’t bore you with the rest of the evening except to say that we listened to Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians on the TV, as we munched on snacks, sipped sangria and pop, and Charlie and Jackie taught us how to play Euchre. And, yes we did talk a little about Governor Cochiti.

At midnight we watched as the band played Auld Lang Syne, and then we made a toast to the new year.

Charlie and Jackie called it a night at about one. Amy and I spent nearly a half an hour cleaning up, and then we called it a night.

Late Monday morning when Amy and I were up and eating breakfast, we talked about what we wanted to do. A walk along the river would be nice, but it was cold with a strong northwest wind blowing. So, we ruled that out.

We both had to prepare for the first day of classes on Wednesday, so we decided to spend time doing that. A little before Noon, the phone rang, and I answered it with, “Hello.”

Then I heard, “What are you two doing for dinner.”

I knew who it was, so I said, “Jó, Nizhónígo Nináánááhai Dooleel dah ni aldó Naat'áanii Tahoma.” - (Well, Happy New Year to you too Chief Tom.)

“Sorry, Kai. Happy New Year.”

“That’s better. We’re not doing anything.”

“We’re having an informal dinner for some friends and wanted to know if you and Ajie would like to come.”

“An informal dinner? How informal?”

“It’s a stand-up buffet style dinner.”

“How informal?”

“Oh. I don’t know. Here talk to Vickie.”

A few seconds later, I heard Vickie say, “Happy New Year, Kai.”

I responted, “Nizhónígo Nináánááhai Dooleel, Vickie.”

“I have to assume that that was Happy New Year. Wasn’t it?”

“Yes, it was. So, how informal is this dinner?”

“Oh, those long skirts and nice blouses that you and Ajie wear would be fine.”

“Light on the jewelry?”

“I’d say so.”

“What time?”

“Around six, or earlier if you want.”

“Can we bring anything?”

“No. Just yourselves.”

“Who all is coming?”

“Just some people from the university and other friends. So, will we see you around six?”

“We’ll be there.”

“See you then, so long, Kai.”

“So long, Vickie.”

As I hung up the phone, Amy said, “It sounds like we’re going out for dinner?”

“Yes.”, I said. “Tom and Vickie are having a few people in for, as they called it, an informal dinner. And, they kept saying Ajie, so I figure that they want Ajie to come.”

“Sound like, long skirts, fancy blouses, and wrap moccasins to me.”

“Right on, love.”

We spent some time working on what we needed for Wednesday to both teach and take classes. Then we got ready to go to Chief Tom and Vickie’s house for dinner. We braided each other's hair into a single ponytail and added a fancy end to each ponytail. Then we each put on one of the braided leather headbands. Then came the long skirts, fancy blouses, wrap moccasins, and some jewelry. We wore the matching silver feather earrings. Neither of us wore chokers; after all, it’s not a formal dinner. We both wore Concho belts, the blouses and skirts called for them.

As we drove up to the Etsitty house, there were already eight other cars there. So, we parked on the street. As it was cold, we’d brought our shawls, and threw those over our shouldwes. We walked up to the door, rang the doorbell, and waited.

Shortly, Chief Tom answered the door, and he said, “Nizhónígo Nináánááhai Dooleel, Kai dóó Ajie!” - (Happy New Year, Kai and Ajie!)

We both said, “Nizhónígo Nináánááhai Dooleel, Naat'áanii Tahoma.” - (Happy New Year, Chief Tom.)

“Come on in you two.”

We walked into the house and followed Chief Tom into the family room. I stopped at the door and looked around, then I whispered to Ajie, “What are we doing here?”