Thursday had been the trip to Los Alamos to give them the completed project. On the way there, the Dean told us that there was a plan to have two seminars to help correct the problems that Dr. Kilmer had caused. I wasn’t happy with the idea.

We’d presented the completed project to our people at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and they gave us a new project. Then we stopped for lunch, on the Dean, at The Pink Adobe in Santa Fe. While we were there, we talked about this summer and the new house. Once we left the restaurant, the Dean started talking about what they wanted me to teach next year. And, then he hit me with the offer of a full-time teaching position. Then I hit him with another way to correct what Dr. Kilmer had done.

Later, when we were back home, Amy, Jackie, Charlie, and I went out to dinner, and we met up with Chief Tom, Vickie, Dr. Tom, and Mary. It was to a surprise celebration of my new teaching position which everyone but me knew about until today. Jackie and Vickie hit it off. Remember that Jackie is a nursing student, and Vickie is the assistant Dean of the nursing school. As we were having dessert, Vickie hit Amy with an offer of a part-time teaching position.

Saturday we met with Sam and his sister Dezba to go through the house and get the keys. Then we met one of our neighbors, who we already knew, it was Sam’s brother Hosteen and his wife. And we had a friendly chat.

Then Sam called the other neighbor. And, when I’d heard the name, it surprised me because I knew the name.

Ajie had been talking to Dezba and hadn’t heard what Sam had said. Then Ajie saw the look on my face and gave me a questioning look. I smiled at her but didn’t say anything.

A few minutes later, we heard the doorbell ring. The four of us got up and walked to the front door, as we got there, I said, “Sam, you open the door.”

As he walked up to the door, Sam said, “Okay.”

He grabbed the handle, opened the door, and we saw who was standing there. Ajie, who was standing behind me, whispered, “You are kidding me.”

I just shook my head no.

Then we heard Sam say, “Dr. and Mrs. Lingham, it’s good to see you. I’d like you to meet ...”

“Miss Nez!?”, Dr. Lingham said.

“Hello, Dr. Lingham.”, I said.

(Dr. Lingham is the President of the University of New Mexico.)

“You … You bought this house?”

“Yes, sir. My cousin Ajie and I did.”

“I’m shocked.

“I hope not too shocked?”

“No, I guess it’s more of a surprise.”

“More of a pleasant surprise.”, I said. “I hope?”

“Yes.”, Dr. Lingham said.

“I’ll give you the welcome that we will give anyone visiting us here. Yá’át’ ééh. T'áá shoodí wóshde´e´’. It’s Navajo and means, ‘It is good. Please come in.’”

The three of us backed away from the door. And Dr. Lingham and his wife walked into the house.

“Thank you very much, Miss Nez. You remember my wife, Katrina. Don’t you?”

“Of course we do.”

We all walked into the big room, and I invited everyone to take a seat. As Dr. Lingham sat, he said, “It’s been a while since we’ve been in his house, and it still impresses me.”

“It impressed us too, Dr. Lingham.”, I said.

“I didn’t know it was even for sale.”

“We had some inside information that it was coming on the market. And after seeing it, we fell in love with it.”

“I don’t blame you, Miss Nez.”

Mrs. Lingham then said, “I remember you from that New Years party. You stood up to the Mayor.”

“Yes.”, I said. “His attitude towards women doing technical work like medicine and engineering. Was just wrong.”

“I know. I’ve just never heard anyone stand up to him like that.”

“Katrina.”, Dr. Lingham said. “Do you remember me telling you about the girl who stood up to Dr. Cox and the Board of Regents?”

“Yes, I do.”, Katrina said.

“Meet the girl.”

“Miss Nez, that was you!?”

“Unfortunately yes.”, I said.

“Miss Nez.”, Dr. Lingham said. “That turned out to be a fortunate thing for the university. It helped us get rid of some deadwood that was causing us to sink in a muddy quagmire.”

I looked at Dr. Lingham, and I know it was a puzzled look.

“Miss Nez.”, Dr. Lingham continued. “You would be surprised how things have improved since Dr. Cox and his cronies have been gone. I can’t publicly say this, but what you did was an excellent thing.”

Katrina then said, “When Charles came home that day and told me about what happened he was smiling. He even laughed about it.”

“I wish I could have laughed about it.”, I said. “It stressed me out. Not to mention Ajie.”

“I imagine that it did, Miss Nez.”, Dr. Lingham said. “I wish I could undo all the things Dr. Cox has done.”

“I know, but why didn’t someone else stop them before.”

“Miss Nez, it took someone like you to stop him. Someone that had the courage and backing to show them that they were a problem and that their foolishness would no longer be tolerated.”

I nodded, yes.

“Miss Nez.”, Katrina said. “Not to change the subject, but didn’t you have something to do with that scholarship program for the Navajo children.”

“Yes, Ajie and I started that. The Chief was very close to us, and we needed to do something to honor him.”

“That was a wonderful thing.”

“Thank you.”

We sat and talked for a little while longer. Then the Linghams said that they had a dinner to go to that they had to get ready for. So, they excused themselves. Ajie and I walked with them to the door, and as we were saying so long, I said, “Hágoónee', Katrina dóó Naat'áanii Lingham.”

And, Dr. Lingham asked, “What does that mean Miss Nez?”

“It means, see you later, Katrina and President Lingham. Ajie and I never say goodbye. It’s too permanent.”

“Miss Nez, I have a feeling that you are going to be a good neighbor.”

“I hope so, sir. And, it’s just Kai and Ajie.”

“Thank you for having us. And we’ll see you later.”

As I closed the door, I said, to Ajie, “Wait until I tell Dr. Joe who our one neighbor is.”

“He won’t believe you.”, Ajie said.

“Maybe not, but once he sees the mailbox, he’ll realize that it’s true.”

“Mailbox?”

“I noticed the name on the mailbox, and I wasn’t sure until just now.”

Ajie and I walked back into the big room, and Sam said, “I didn’t know you knew the Linghams’?”

“Yes, through the university. We’ve had dealings with the upper levels of the administration. I knew that some of them lived out this way. But, not where.”

“What he said about you and the Board of Regents was very interesting.”

“Sam.”, Amy said. “Kai is a very, … how should I say this? She’s a force to be reckoned with when she’s been wronged. Her response won’t necessarily be physical, and is more likely to be verbal.”

“Kai.”, Dezba asked. “You said that you had a run-in with Mayor Rodrìguez?”

“Yes, his attitude towards women isn’t good.”

“I’m glad to hear that you feel that way.”

“You are?”

“Yes, the Senator and I don’t agree with his ideas at all.”

I looked at Ajie, then back at Dezba, and said. “We were wondering about that. When we were in Hal’s office the other day, we saw him and the Mayor together, and it seemed like they were very close.”

“Oh no.”, Dezba said. “It may seem like Hal is buddy-buddy with the Mayor, but he isn’t. Hal is looking at running for the U.S. Senate, and the Mayor is the boss of the local political party that he and Hal are a part of.”

“Doesn’t that make it a little hard for the Senator?”

“Yes, being a State Senator and having to act as he agrees with the Mayor is hard on Hal. But, it’s how the game of politics is played. And, between the four of us, Hal is working on ousting the Mayor.”

“I felt good about the Senator when I first met him and was surprised to see him with the Mayor.”

“Felt good?”, Dezba asked.

“Kai can sense things about people.”, Ajie said. “And, when she met the Mayor, she didn’t feel good about him.”

“Oh. How does she do that?”

“It’s something to do with her being a Nádleeh. She can’t do it with everyone. But, with certain people, she can.”

Then I said, “When I first heard about Hal running for the U.S. Senate I was ready to support him. Then when I saw him with the Mayor, I wasn’t. But, now talking with you, I’m ready to support him again.”

“I’ll tell him that.”

“Please do.”

“I’ve got to run.”, Dezba said. “Hal and I are going to the same dinner as the Linghams’ are.”

“Please keep what Dr. Lingham told you about the Board of Regents and me between us.”, I asked.

“I will, Kai.”

“Thank you, Dezba. And, hágoónee' – (see you later). Don’t be a stranger. And, thank you for everything.”

“Hágoónee', Kai and Ajie. I won’t be a stranger. And, Sam, I’ll see you later.”

“Don’t run off with all that money.”, Sam said to Dezba.

“I can’t. Both of our names are on the checks.”

Right after Dezba left, Sam said, “Well, you two. I think I’ll leave you alone in your new house. At night, Mom and dad usually left the front porch lights and the light over the sink in the kitchen on. And, if you have any questions don’t hesitate to call.”

“Thanks for everything, Sam. And we’ll see you later. Hágoónee'.”

“Hágoónee', you two.” And, Sam left.

After Sam had left, I said to Ajie, “I wish Dr. Lingham hadn’t brought up Dr. Cox and that thing with the Board of Regents. I’ve tried to forget that.”

“I know, honey.”, Ajie said. “But, you did learn how the university feels about it.”

“I know. But, it’s more how I feel about it. It’s a few days in my life that I’d like to forget.”

“I understand that. I wish it hadn’t happened.”

“Me, too.”

Ajie and I stood there in the big room and looked around. And I finally said, “Well, love, it’s ours.”

“Yes.”, Ajie said. “And you know I love it, and I can’t wait to move in.”

“We’ll do that as soon as we can.”

I took Ajie’s hand in mine, and we walked through the house again. This time by ourselves. As we walked, Ajie said, “It just seems so big.”

“I know.”, I said.

“I’d love to spend the night here,”

“So would I, but we’d better wait until Naainish does the House Blessing Ceremony.”

“You’re right.”, Ajie said.

Then I said, “We’ll see if we can get a hold of him and find out how quickly he can do it.”

“Plus we need to start packing.”

“I’d like to come back up tomorrow with a couple of the lamps, and some timers.”

“That may be a good idea.”

We carefully walked around the house again. And we made sure all the doors and windows were closed and locked, along with the outside gate from the back courtyard to the backyard. We then turned the light on over the kitchen sink, and as we walked out the front door, we turned on the front porch lights. These lights are two old kerosene lanterns wired for electricity.

We then closed and locked the front doors. As we walked through the gate in the front courtyard wall, I closed the gate and locked it.

As we drove towards the apartment, I said, “I noticed several telephone extensions in the house.”

“I didn’t pay any attention to that.”, Ajie said.

“There was one in the kitchen, one in the master suite, one in the garage, one in one of the other bedrooms, and one in the big room.”

“That’s sound like more than enough.”

“I think so too.”

“But, I’m wondering about the build in dishwasher.”

“Wondering what?”, I asked.

“If it’ll clean the dishes as well as hand washing will.”, Ajie said.

“It might. From what I’ve read, they heat the water to the point that you can’t put your hands in it.”

“We’ll see.”

When we were back in downtown Albuquerque, we stopped at the hardware store. I was just going to pick up two timers for lights, but I noticed that they had two garage door openers on the shelf. So I figured why not. And I told the guy in the hardware store that I was looking for a third one. He told me that they’d have them in later next week.

When we were back at the apartment, I checked the mail, and we only had two bills. And, I said to Amy, “We need to file a change of address with the post office.”

“And, see if we can have the same phone number.”, Amy said.

“We need to make a list of that kind of thing.”

Then I looked at the answering machine, and the light was blinking. I rewound the tape and pressed play. And, we heard, “Kai Nez. This is Naainish Yazzie. I’ve heard that you’ve bought the house. I have the ashes that we need from the bonfire at the resort. We can do the House Blessing Ceremony anytime that you would like so that you can be in the house. I’ll be at the resort tonight. Call me.”

“Well, that answers that question.”, Amy said.

I picked up the phone, but I didn’t call Naainish, I called Dr. Joe. When he answered the phone, he said, “Hello.”

“Hi, Dr. Joe. It’s Kai.”, I said.

“Well?”

“Well, what?”

“Do you have the house?”

“We have the keys.”

“When are you moving?”

“As soon as we can. But, we have to have the house blessing done first.”

“The Navajo do a house blessing too?”

“Yes. Do the Ojibwa?”, I asked.

“Yes, we do.”, Dr. Joe replied.

“Then we have to pack.”

“That’s the biggest problem with moving.”

“True. We also met two of our neighbors, and you know one of them.”

“I do.”, Dr. Joe said. “Who?”

“I’m not going to tell.”, I replied.

“Kai!”

“Okay. Are you sitting down?”

“Yes.”

“Good. It’s Dr. Lingham.”

“Kai, stop messing with me.”

“I’m not messing with you. Dr. Lingham really lives next door.”

“Let me speak to Amy.”. Dr. Joe said.

As I handed Amy the handset, I said, “Dr. Joe wants to talk to you.”

Amy took the handset and said, “Hi, Dr. Joe.”… “Yes, Dr. Lingham does live next door.”… “I know it surprised us too.”… “Okay, here’s Kai.”

Amy gave me the handset back, and I said, “Believe me now, Dr. Joe?”

“Yeah.”, Dr. Joe said. “But, I’ll bet he moves out quickly.”

“Dr. Joe. Now come on. I’m not that bad. Am I?”

“No, Kai, you’re not. I don’t know if I’d want Dr. Lingham living next door to me or not.”

“We can’t even see his house from our yard.”

“That’s a plus. So, when can we see the house?”

“Give us a chance to get settled in, and then we’ll have everyone up for dinner.”

“Okay. But don’t be too long.”

“We won’t. Hágoónee' – (see you later), Dr. Joe.”

“Hágoónee', Kai.”

As I hung up the phone, Amy said, “I told you Dr. Joe wouldn’t believe you.”

“You’re right.”, I said. “But I think he believes me, or at least you, now.”

Then I picked up the phone and called my aunt and uncle at the resort. When my Aunt Ruth answered, I said, “Hi, Aunt Ruth, it’s Kai.”

“Hi, honey.”, Aunt Ruth said. “Do you have the house?”

“Yes, we met with the Tl’izilanis this morning, and we have the keys.”

“This is exciting.”

“Yes, it is. Would Naainish happen to be there?”

“Yes, he is.”

“Could I speak to him.”

“Hold on.”

A few seconds later, I heard Naainish say, “Yá’át’ ééh - (It is good), Kai.”

I replied, “Yá’át’ ééh, Naainish. You left us a message.”

“Yes, when do you want to do the House Blessing Ceremony?

“When is the best time to do it.”

“After Sunset on the night of a New Moon. And, the new Moon is next Saturday.”

“Hold on let me ask Ajie something.”

Then I asked Ajie, “Naainish says that it’s better to do the House Blessing Ceremony on the night of the New Moon, and that’s a week away. But it can be done earlier. Can you wait until the new Moon to move into the house?”

Ajie thought for a few seconds, then said, “I could. But …”

“But what?”

“But I don’t want to wait.”

I then said into the handset, “Naainish, did you hear that?”

“Yes.”, Naainish said. “It sounds like Ajie is in a hurry.”

“We both are. But, we have a lot to do before we’re ready to make the full move. Why don’t we do the ceremony next Friday night, then we can move out of the apartment and into the house that weekend.”

Ajie glared at me as I said that. And, I blew her a kiss.

Then, Naainish said, “Friday will be good. It is the beginning of the New Moon. Saturday is the New Moon.”

“Do you know where the house is?”, I asked.

“Yes, Kai. I did the House Blessing Ceremony for the Tl’izilanis when they built the house.”

“Should it be just you, me, and Ajie?”

“Yes.”

“Can we do things at the house before next Friday?”

“Yes, as long as you’re not staying there over night.”

“Would you like dinner on Friday?”

“That would be nice.”

“Okay, we’ll see you on Friday. Let me speak to my Uncle Paul. Hágoónee' - (see you later), Naainish.”

“Hang on. Hágoónee’, Kai.”

Shortly I heard my uncle say, “Hello, Kai.”

“Hello, Uncle Paul.”, I said. “We have the house.”

“So, I’ve heard.”

“Would you be able to help us move next weekend?”

“It shouldn’t be a problem. What are we moving?”

“Some boxes and the furniture in the two bedrooms and the things that are in the little room. The living room furniture we’re leaving or giving away. Charlie and Jackie are taking the kitchen furniture.”

“Does this move include that safe?”

“Yes. But at the house, it’s going into the garage. I don’t want to roll that thing across the ceramic tile floors in the house.”

“Good thought, Kai. You don’t want to damage those tiles.”

“No, we don’t.”

“So, next Saturday morning for the move?”, Uncle Paul asked.

“That’ll work.”

As I hung up the phone, Ajie said, “Honey, I would have liked to have started staying at the house this coming week.”

“Love.”, I said. “I would too. But think about it. We have a lot to do here before we move. And, by being here, we can get it done. We’ll still go up there. We can also buy things we need and take them up.”

“You’re right. The logical mind is at work.”

“Think we should call our parents?”

“Yes.”

So, Amy and I called our parents and told them that we had the keys to the house, and everyone said they couldn’t wait to see it. Then we told them about me receiving a full-time teaching position, and Amy accepting a part-time teaching position. They were all very happy for us.

Then I said, “Think we should call Aunt Ginny and tell her what we found out about the Senator.”

“Do it.”, Amy said.

I called my Aunt Ginny and filled her in on what we’d found about Senator Tso’s feeling towards the Mayor of Albuquerque. She was surprised that we’d heard it from the Senator’s wife. She told me that she hadn’t found out anything. We chatted a bit, then said hágoónee'.

As I was hanging up the phone, I said, “We missed lunch.”

“Yes, we did.”, Amy said.

“Do you want to make an early dinner.”

“Well, we do have the makings for frybread tacos.”

“Say no more, my love.”

“Want company?”

“Charlie and Jackie?”

“Sure thing.”

An hour later, the four of us were making frybread tacos. And, as we were eating, we talked about the house. Then I asked Charlie and Jackie, “What are you two doing tomorrow?”

“Studying.”, Jackie said.

“We want to visit the Eagles, and we thought of doing that via the house since we have somethings to drop off. Want to go along?”

Without hesitation, Charlie and Jackie in unison said, “Yes.”

That night as we were getting ready for bed, Amy said, “You know, we’re going to have to get some more rugs.”

“You’re right. That sounds like a drive to Taos and The Rug House.”

“Plus we should get a christening blanket for Maria’s baby.”

“True.”, I said.

“And, maybe one for Dr. Joe and Mary’s baby.”, Amy said. “Mary’s due in early June.”

“That’s doable.”

“So we’d better take some measurements for the rugs.”

“Okay. We can take a tape measure with us tomorrow.”

Sunday after breakfast, Charlie, Jackie, Amy, and I headed to the house. After the twenty-minute drive, I pulled up to the gate in the front courtyard wall, parked the car, and we all got out. I fumbled through the keys and found the correct one. Then I unlocked the gate, and we walked up to the front door. Charlie spotted the pull rope next to the door, pointed to it, and asked, “What’s that for?”

“That’s the doorbell.”, I replied. “Pull it.”

Charlie pulled the rope, and you could barely hear the bell ring. Charlie said, “You can barely hear it.”

“Remember that the outside walls are twenty inches thick, and those doors are heavy.”

“You’re right.”

I unlocked and opened one of the two front doors and said, “Pull it again.”

Charlie pulled the rope pull again, and you could clearly hear the bell. And, Charlie said, “Yep. That’s loud.”

“Yes, it’s a nice brass bell.”

We walked into the house, and Amy and I gave Charlie and Jackie a tour. And they were amazed by the house. They’d seen it from outside before. But they were amazed as to how big it seemed to be on the inside. Jackie couldn’t get over the kitchen and dining room. And, they both couldn’t get over the master suite and its Kiva fireplace. And, Charlie was interested in the construction, especially the roof.

While the girls took measurements for the rugs, Charlie and I went outside. We backed the car up in front of one of the garage doors. I opened the garage door, then I opened the trunk of the car, and Charlie saw the two garage door openers in their boxes. He looked at me and said, “Only two?”

“That’s all they had, or I’d have all three.”, I replied.

We then talked about installing them, and he agreed that a couple of two-by-fours fastened to the roof beams with lag bolts would work to hold the openers. Then I explained that I was going to run a circuit from the fuse box to three switches mounted side by side and then a separate circuit from each switch to a box, with outlets, on the ceiling next to where each opener was going to be. Charlie said, “Let me know when, and I’ll give you a hand.”

We took the lamps and timers out of the car, then closed and locked the garage door, and went into the house through the connecting door, which was locked. So, I had to find the key to unlock it.

We took the two lamps and timers into the house with us. And Charlie helped me set them up in the master suite and big room.

The girls had just finished measuring for rugs, and Amy showed me what she wanted. When I finished looking at it, I said, “It looks like we’ll have to rent a truck to go and get those.”

“Kai!”, Amy said. “It’s not that bad.”

“We’ll see.”

“Where are you going to get these rugs?”, Jackie asked.

“There a shop near Taos call The Rug House, and all they carry is locally made rugs and blankets.”, Amy replied.

“Sounds like a fun place.”

“It is. Come with us.”

“When are you going?”

“Maybe one afternoon this coming week.”

“It’ll depend on which day.”, Jackie said. “I have Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoon classes.”

“We’ll see if we can make it Tuesday or Thursday.”

“You may have to go without me.”, Charlie said. “I have afternoon classes every day but Friday.”

“Well, we’ll see what we can work out.”, I said.

Once we had the house locked up, we headed towards the Jemez Canyon Reservoir and the Eagles nest. It’s about a thirty-five-minute drive from the house, but we stopped for lunch so it took a little longer. Then after lunch, we stopped at the Santa Ana Pueblo Government Offices. I know it’s Sunday, but we wanted to try and find Iz before we went to the reservoir. We needed to see if the Fish and Game people still had the area marked off-limits.

As I figured Iz’s truck wasn’t at the government offices when we got there, but one of the pueblo’s police cars was parked there. I told everyone that I’d be right back. I went into the office and spoke with the officer. After I told him who I was, he called, and I talked with Iz. I thanked the officer and went back to the car.

As I got in the car, Amy asked, “What are you smiling about?”

“I just talked to Iz.”, I said. “And, he told me the Santa Ana Pueblo Council decided that the Fish and Game people couldn’t post that area off-limits to everyone. So, that sign and lock had been taken down and the normal sign about the area being off-limits to non-Pueblo members put back up. And that we were okay to be there. Then Iz had spoken with the officer, and when the officer hung up, he told me that Ajie and I and anyone with us were good to be in that area.”

We drove to the parking area for the reservoir, and no one was there. We parked, walked down the trail to the side trail. Then we took the side trail to the gate and we walked through the gate. Then we walked to a good vantage point to see the Eagle’s nest.

It didn’t take long for one of the Eagles to come to the edge of the nest and look at us. It looked at us for a few seconds then it squawked. Then we heard other noises from the nest, and it wasn’t long until we saw the two Eaglets, and they had grown. And Jackie was excited to see them.

Then we had a surprise. We saw a third Eaglet. And, all four of us were excited.

The other Eagle then joined the three Eaglets and the Eagle. So, we have a family of two Eagles and three Eaglets. Wait until I tell Iz.

The Eaglets went back into the nest. And as we started to walk away from the nest area, we saw someone walking towards us. It was Iz. As we reached each other, I said, “Yá’át’ ééh, Iz. You just missed it.”

“Missed what, Kai?”, Iz asked.

“We had a surprise. A third Eaglet.”

“There’s a third one?”

“Yes.”

“That’s amazing.”

“I know, and from what I’ve read it’s rare.”

“Yes, it is. Let me know the next time you’re coming, and I’ll meet you here.”

“We will. Next weekend may be out. We’re moving into the new house next Saturday.”

“That sounds like fun.”, Iz said.

“It’s more like work.”, I said.

The five of us walked back to the parking lot together, and we said hágoónee' - (see you later) to Iz. And the four of us headed back to the apartment. As we were dropping Charlie and Jackie off, Charlie said, “Let us know if you need any help.”

“We will. It’ll probably be with loading the truck.”

“Is your uncle bringing the truck from the resort?”

“Yes, and some of the guys.”