Then we’d had a talk with Sam and Dezba about the Mayor and the State Senator. Dezba, the Senator’s wife, told us that there was no love lost between Hal, the Senator, and the Mayor. And we found out that Hal and others were working behind the scenes to oust the Mayor.

Later we made arrangements with Naainish to do the House Blessing Ceremony next Friday. That way we can spend Friday night in the house, and then on Saturday with the help of Uncle Paul and the guys from the resort we’ll move from the apartment to the house.

Our parents were happy that we'd taken possession of the house. And they were thrilled when they heard that Amy was now a part-time instructor and that I was a full-time instructor.

Sunday on the way to visit the Eagles we’d stopped by the house with Charlie and Jackie to drop off a few things. And Charlie and Jackie got their first look at the inside of the house, and they loved it.

Then we’d visited the Eagles. The lock and sign put up the Fish and Wildlife Service at the gate had been removed by the Santa Anna Pueblo Council. And when we were visiting with the Eagles, they had a big surprise for us. There were three Eaglets.

Back at the apartment, we started packing. And I didn’t realize that we had so much stuff.

Monday after my classes, I stopped by Dr. Joe’s office, and we took the metal briefcase out of the file cabinet, opened it, and started looking at what was in it. There was a binder that contained the technical details of the project and five integrated circuits.

I took a quick read of the technical details and said, “This is going to be some deep reading.”

“I don’t think you can do it justice right now.”, Dr. Joe said. “You’ve got too many other things on your mind right now.”

“Yeah. I think you’re right.”

“Why don’t you forget about this until after the move.”

“That might be a good idea. But, I’ve read the basics, so I’ve gotten the idea behind the project so I can think about it.”

“Knowing you, you’ll be thinking about it the whole time your moving.”

“Maybe not the whole time, but it’ll be in the back of my mind.”

“So, get out of here, and don’t worry about it until next Monday.”, Dr. Joe ordered.

“Amy’s working Noon to eight today.”, I said. “So, I’m doing all the notification stuff today.”

“Have fun. Now get out of here.”

As I was walking out the door, I said, “Hágoónee' – (see you later), Dr. Joe. And thanks.”

“Hágoónee', Kai. And let me know if you need any help.”

“Will do, Dr. Joe.”

My first stop was at the College of Engineering Dean’s office. When I walked in, Sara saw me, smiled, and said, “Hi Kai. How are you?”

“Hi, Sara.”, I said. “I’m doing good. I’m moving and need to give you my new address.”

“I’ve heard a rumor to that effect.”

“From who?”, I asked.

“From me, Miss Nez.”, I heard a male voice say. I turned and looked. It was Dean Rutherford.

“Hello, Dean.”, I said.

“Miss Nez. I also hear that you have an interesting neighbor.”

“Yes. And I had no idea that they lived there.”

“So, it was a surprise?”

“Yes, sir. A big surprise.”

“Ah.”, Sara said. “Can I ask who this neighbor is?”

I looked at her and said, “President Lingham.”

Her mouth opened, and her eyes got big.

Then I looked back at the Dean and asked, “Is that a problem, sir?”

“No, Miss Nez, I don’t think so. He likes you.”

“I’ve gotten that impression, sir.”

“Well, Miss Nez, good luck with the new house.”

“Thank you, sir.”

With that, Dean Rutherford went back into his office. I turned and looked at Sara and said, “Well, I do have a new address for you.”

“You moved in next door to Dr. Lingham?”

“We didn’t know he lived there, but I think we would have still bought the house if we’d known.”

“That would scare me.”

“It shouldn’t. He and his wife are both nice people.”

“You’re braver than I am, Kai. What’s your new address?

“5290 Blue Spring Circle NE”

As Sara wrote down the address, she said, “Nice area.”

“I’ve got to run. We’ll see you later, Sara.”

“Later, Kai.”

My next stop was at the housing office. I told them that we were moving out on Saturday, and I asked what they wanted us to do with the furniture that we weren’t taking. They told me to leave it, and they’d decide what to do with it. And I told them that I’d stop in next Monday and drop off the keys.

Then I stopped at the parking office to pick up a faculty parking permit. And they gave me a permit for the rest of the academic year. Then it was off to the registrar's office to change our address there.

Then it was back to the apartment, and a phone call to the phone company. I told them that we were moving and to where. They told me that we could keep the same telephone number, and they’d have it switched on Friday. Then I made a call to the electric company to stop service at the apartment on Saturday and start service today at the house.

Then I drove to the post office and filed a change of addresses for us. Then to the bank for the same reason.

While I was out, I stopped at the gun shop and looked at safes. I found one that would meet our needs, and they were going to be able to deliver it on Friday afternoon. Then I stopped at the hardware store and picked up what I’d needed to secure the safe to the floor. I also picked up the things that we’d need to mount the garage door openers, plus what I’d need to run the wiring for the openers. Then a stop at the television store to pick up a good set of rabbit-ears for the television.

Back at the apartment, I called our bank in Columbus and told them of the address change. Then I called my financial advisor and told him about the house and gave him our new address. He was surprised when I told him what I paid for the house.

I was able to cross several things off our list of things to do.

Then it was back to the new house. At the house, I backed up to one of the garage doors, got out, opened the garage door, and backed the car in. I then carried the boxes that were in the car into the bedroom that we were going to use for an office. What was in these boxes? Along with miscellaneous things, there were all of Tom’s clothes. It didn’t take me long, at all, to hang up Tom’s things. Then I unloaded everything that I purchased at the hardware store and put it in the garage. And the rabbit ears antenna went into the big room by the fireplace.

I also had time to change the name on the mailbox to “Young & Nez” with some stick-on letters that I picked up at the hardware store.

I locked up the house and then headed back to the apartment to put a dinner together. Then a little before eight, I walked over to the hospital to pick up Amy. As we walked back to the apartment, I told her what I’d gotten done. And, Amy was surprised that I’d gotten that much done. Like I told her, I was on a mission to get things done and I just kept going.

I’m not going to go into the details of the next three days, because it was classes in the morning, then in the afternoon we were packing things and taking somethings to the house in the evening. We did do some cleaning at the house, but there wasn’t too much of that to do. But, we didn’t make it to the shop that sells rugs and blankets.

Friday, after classes, we picked up all of our kitchen stuff, pots, pans, utensils, plates, bowls, knives, forks, spoons, and so on, plus all the food, and loaded them into the car. We also took all the guns and ammunition with us. With the gun safe being delivered today, we’d be able to lock them in there. We left the silver jewelry at the apartment in the old safe, but we took a little with us for tonight.

When we were at the house, we put all the food and kitchen things away. There was still a lot of room in the refrigerator, freezer, and the kitchen cabinets. And the walk-in pantry was all but empty.

Then we made the bed in the master suite. We were planning on sleeping here tonight. Then I went, unlocked, and opened the fancy iron gate that opens into the front courtyard. Being open it tells people that we’re home and accepting visitors.

The telephone man showed up not much later, and shortly after he did, we had phone service. And, just after the phone man left the delivery truck from the gun shop showed up with the gun safe, and they quickly set it in place in the garage. After they left, I put the rifles, handguns, and ammunition in the new safe. I wrote the combination of the new safe down on some three-by-five cards and hid them in various places, after giving one to Amy. Now, I had to figure out what to do with the old safe.

Naainish had asked me to clean out the fire pit for tonight, so I took a bucket and a shovel, and removed all the ashes and unburned wood from of the fire pit. Then using the wheelbarrow, I moved some of the firewood from the big pile of split wood to a nice steel log rack just inside the back courtyard and stacked it. I also used a small hand ax to make a nice pile of kindling. I didn’t lay a fire, Naainish and I would do that later. I then swept the area around the fireplace clean and placed three rugs around the fire pit.

When I finished with the fire pit and stacking the wood, I was dirty and covered by ashes. So, I went to the master suite’s bathroom to take a shower, and Amy followed me. As I undressed, she said, “I should join you.”

I looked at her and said, “That’s fine by me. But, I don’t know when Naainish is getting here.”

“Spoilsport.”

Just then we heard the doorbell. And, as I faked walking out of the bathroom in my birthday suit, I said, “I’ll get that. It’s probably Naainish.”

“No, you won’t!”, Amy said. “I don’t want you scaring him.”

“Oh! Thanks.”

Amy left the master suite, and I took my shower and then got dressed. I dressed in a fancy long skirt, a fancy blouse, and wrap moccasins. After my hair was dry, I braided it into a single braid with a fancy wrap at the end. I added the silver feather earrings. A few rings and a bracelet. And, I placed the choker that both of my grandfathers had made around my neck. Then I joined Amy and Naainish in the kitchen. As I walked in, I said, “Yá’át’ééh - (it is good), Naainish.”

He looked at me and said, “Yá’át’ééh, Kai. Does it feel good to be in your own home?”

“Naainish, it does. This house is bigger than what we needed or wanted. But, it’s what we want as far as location. It’s away from the main part of the city, and it’s light pollution, and near the mountains and desert.”

“It is meant to be yours. Yours and Ajies.”

“I think we both feel that way too.”

Ajie handed me an apron, and while Ajie and I cooked dinner, Naainish sat at the breakfast counter in the kitchen, and we talked. Ajie and I put together Poblano Peppers stuffed with chili, mash potatoes with Mexican corn, and southwestern rice which is rice with diced green peppers, chopped onions, cloves, and spices. For dessert, we cheated a little, the grocery store that we stopped at had a small bakery, and when we were there, they had just put out some Churros. Churros are a fried pastry. We tried one and then bought a dozen. Yes, they were good.

After we’d eaten, Amy and I cleaned up the dinner dishes and put them in the dishwasher.

Sunset was at six-fifty tonight so that we couldn’t start the ceremony until then, so we sat and talked. I mentioned State Senator Bisahalani “Hal” Tso, and Naainish said, “He is a good man. He helps his people and everyone else in his district.”

“That’s good to hear.”, I said. “We thought that he might be a friend of Mayor Rodrìguez.”

“No, they are almost complete opposites in their views on many things.”

“The more I hear about the Senator, the more I like him.”

“Yes, I’d like to see him as the Mayor, but he’s looking at running for the U.S. Senate.”

“We’ve heard that.”

Then Naainish and I went out to his pickup truck and retrieved the two five-gallon buckets of ashes. These ashes were from the bonfire at the resort. We didn’t want to carry the buckets through the house, so we walked around the house and used the gate to enter the back courtyard. We carefully dumped the two buckets of ashes into the courtyard’s fire pit and spread them out. Then we laid a fire on top of the ashes. We did that by placing a bundle of tinder on the ashes, then putting small pieces of kindling on top of the tinder, that was followed by larger pieces of kindling, then we placed other pieces of wood in a tipi style until we were using the larger pieces of split logs. But, we didn’t light it.

Just as the Sunset, Ajie joined us, and she handed me one of the braided leather headbands with the Eagle feather. I put it on.

(everything from here on is in Navajo)

Ajie had changed after dinner and was now wearing just about the same thing I was. But her choker was the one with the Concho.

Naainish then took a long wooden match, lit it, and saying a prayer he lit the kindling. It didn’t take long until we had a nice fire burning.

Naainish then took a pouch containing cornmeal, and we walked to the four cardinal directions within the house. We first went to the east, or the gate into the front courtyard, Naainish placed some cornmeal on top of the arch over the gate and then said a short prayer. Then we went to the north, or the kitchen and Naainish put some more cornmeal on top of one of the kitchen cabinets, and again he said a prayer. We then went to the west or the gate into the back courtyard. And Naainish placed some cornmeal on top of the gate and said a prayer. And, finally we went to the south or, the bedroom that we are going to use as an office, Naainish placed cornmeal on top of the window frame and said a prayer.

We then went back to the fire pit in the back courtyard. And, Naainish told us that we had just marked the house as the Holy People had marked the first hogan.

Then as Naainish handed both Ajie and me a paper, he said, “I want you both to sit with me at the fire and read this out loud together.”

Ajie and I took the papers, sat on the rugs at the edge of the fire, and read out loud together:

"This home, my home, shall be surrounded with sa'ah naaghei bik'eh hozhoo. - (balance in daily life.)
This fire shall be for the good of the family. And the children that
may be born in this hogan will all be in good health. Any plans we
make in this hogan will be for the good of the family.
“May this be a good place for us to live again, may it be happy in this home;
may our lives be long and happy in this home.
May I live in this home happily and peacefully and with respect.
May I have a happy life in this hogan. Myself, my wife, my children,
my relatives, whomever may come into this hogan, may they relax
peacefully and rest up. May all of us have no sickness, no misfortunes.
“May my house be in harmony; From my head, may it be happy;
To my feet, may it be happy; Where I lie, may it be happy;
All above me, may it be happy; All around me, may it be happy;
May my fire be well made and happy; May the sun,
my mother's ancestor, be happy for this gift;
May it be happy as I walk around my house; May this road of light,
my mother's ancestor, be happy.”

Then Naainish tossed something into the fire, and white smoke rose to the sky. Then he said the following prayer:

"I am the Child of White Shell Woman,
I am the Child of Changing Woman,
I am the Child of White Shell Woman,
I am the Child of Changing Woman,
Below the east, Talking God, Hogan God,
At the hogan made of dawn,
At the hogan made of square blocks of dawn,
The dawn trails along those blocks, … ”

This prayer is much longer.

(we’re back to English)

Then Naainish looked at us, smiled, and said, “Kai. Ajie. Welcome to your new home.”

Both of us said, “Ahééh, Naainish. Nizhonigó íiná aadóó hozhónahasdlíí.” - (Thank you, Naainish. It is good, and all is harmony around us.)

We then went into the dining room, and Ajie served up a snack. And we talked some more about the House Blessing.

Naainish then said, “I need to go. But, first Kai and Ajie, the spirits are happy with you. By building a fire for the House Blessing on top of the ashes from the bonfire at the resort, you have shown them that they are welcome here. It has also shown them where your home is. The spirits will help protect you and your family.

“Now I must go.”

“Naainish.”, I said. “It’s late. You’re welcome to stay with us.”

“No, I need to leave the two of you to be alone in your new home.”

“Okay, Naainish. We’ll see you later.”

We walked Naainish to the gate in the front courtyard, and after he left, we closed and locked the gate. We walked back into the house, our house. I turned on the porch lights and closed and locked the front doors.

Then we walked out onto the rear courtyard. The fire had died down. Ajie said, “Let’s sit out here for a little while.”

“Sure.”, I replied. “Want me to toss a couple more logs on the fire.”

“No. … I want to be able to see all of the stars.”

We sat on one of the benches and looked at the western sky. And there were a lot of stars visible. We just sat there quietly cuddled together for about twenty minutes. Then Ajie pointed and said, “Look! There are two shooting stars.”

I looked to where she was pointing and saw the shooting stars. I said I wonder if they’re going to reach the earth?”

“I hope they do.”

“So, do I.”

We sat there a while longer. Then I said, “We need to get up early tomorrow. We don’t want Uncle Paul to beat us to the apartment.”

I stood, offered Ajie my hand, she took it, and I helped her to her feet. She wrapped her arms around my neck, looked into my eyes with those marvelous blue eyes of hers, and asked, “Tommy, are we home.”

I pulled her close and whispered, “Yes, my love. I believe that we are.”

We kissed. Then she said, “My Prince, lock up the castle and meet me in my bedchamber.”

“Yes, my Queen. Your wish is my desire.”

She gave me a quick kiss, and as she walked away, she said, “Don’t be too long.”

I made sure that the fire was out, checked to see that all the doors were locked, turned on the light over the kitchen sink, and headed for the Queen’s bedchamber.

When I walked into the Queens’s bedchamber, she was on the bed completely naked, she smiled at me and said, “My Prince, join me.”

She didn’t have to ask twice. And, she received a fantastic foot massage.

Saturday morning, we were up early. We made a quick breakfast and headed to the apartment. And we were there before my uncle and the truck. We were going to take the ‘57 Chevy back to the house with us, but we had to wait until Charlie and Jackie were up before we could get it out of their garage.

We removed everything from the old safe and placed it in the camera bag. Then we put the camera bag in a safe hiding place. And we waited for my uncle. I carried the television out of the living room and put it in the ‘67 Chevy.

My Uncle Paul, along with my Aunt Ruth, and the truck from the resort showed up at about nine-thirty. Aunt Ruth stayed with Amy while the rest of us packed the truck. Francisco and the other two guys that Uncle Paul brought with him wasted no time in breaking down the beds and loading them into the truck, followed by all the bedroom furniture.

Francisco then asked, “Miss Kai is there anything else?”

“Yes.”, I said. “Follow me.”

I took them into the small room. And said, “Francisco, everything in here goes.”

Everything was the small desk, the typing table, the chair, and the safe. Francisco looked at everything, looked at me, and said, “Miss Kai. Even the safe?”

“Afraid so, Francisco.”, I said. “Unless you can think of something to do with it.”

“You don’t need it anymore, Miss Kai.”

“No. It’s just going to take up space at the house.”

Francisco thought for a minute, then said, “I think my one son could use it.”

“It’s yours, Francisco.”

“Thank you, Miss Kai.”

“No, thank you, Francisco. For taking it off our hands. Don’t let me forget to give you the combination.”

That’s one problem taken care of. The guys moved the safe out and put it on the truck. Then they brought out the other things.

As I helped them carry the last of the boxes out of the apartment, Charlie and Jackie walked out of the front door of their apartment. They walked over to us, and you could see the tears in Jackie’s eyes.

Amy looked at her and said, “Honey, don’t cry. We aren’t that far away.”

“I know.”, Jackie said. “I’m just being silly.”

Amy hugged Jackie, and said, “Why don’t you join our little parade to the house.”

Jackie looked at Charlie and asked, “Honey, could we?”

“Of course.”, Charlie said.

I had the guys from the resort take the kitchen table and chairs to Charlie and Jackie’s apartment.

Charlie and Jackie stayed with my aunt and uncle while Amy and I took a last walk through the apartment, and we’d done a good job of finding everything. I checked the couch, that we were leaving, and found a dollar's worth of change.

We locked the front door from inside, and as we walked through the kitchen, I set both controllers for the garage door on the kitchen counter. Then I retrieved the camera bag from where I’d hidden it. Amy and I walked out of the kitchen door into the garage. I pushed the button by the kitchen door to open the garage door, and Amy walked out of the garage door. I pushed the button again, and ran for the door, and ducked under it as it was closing.

I walked next door to Charlie and Jackie’s garage, and Charlie backed their car out onto the street. I opened their garage door, walked to the ‘57 Chevy, put the camera bag behind the front seat, got in, and backed the ‘57 Chevy out of their garage. Jackie closed the garage door, and got in their car with Charlie. I then backed out onto the street and led a procession of four cars and a truck to the house.

Somehow we arrived at the house without losing anyone. As I got out of the car, I retrieved the camera bag. I gave Francisco the option of carrying things in through the front door or the garage door. He liked the front door as it opened wide as did the gate in the wall.

I took the camera bag into the house and out into the garage. I unlocked the new safe, opened it, and placed the camera bag into the safe, closed, and relocked the door. Then I joined in unloading the truck.

It didn’t take the guys long to move everything into the house. I had them leave the boxes in the entryway. Later we’d move them to where they needed to be. Once the guys had placed the television stand, we got the television out of the backseat of the car, carried it in, and set it on the stand.

Before they left the guys from the resort wanted a look at the ‘57 Chevy. Of course, I opened the hood and told them that it was all stock. As they looked at it, I told them about the car and how I’d come to have it. As they were leaving, I slipped each of the guys a ten-dollar bill. And, as he’d done before, Francisco said, “Miss Kai, that’s not necessary.”

I replied, “Yes, it is Francisco. You’ve helped us a lot in doing this and other things. Like the little tree.”

“Thank you, Miss Nez.”

“And, thank you and the guys, Francisco. I’ll see you later.”

As the truck left, I walked over and opened the garage door to the double deep garage bay, and pulled the ‘57 Chevy into its new home. Then I put the ‘67 Chevy into its new home. As I walked into the house, I noticed that the front door was open, so I closed it. Then I went into the house and found that my aunt, Jackie, and Amy were making us a late lunch.

The girls had put together a nice taco salad. We sat at the dining room table and enjoyed a nice lunch. As we were loading the dishwasher, my aunt said, “Excuse me for a minute. I’ll be right back.”

Aunt Ruth walked out the front door and was quickly back carrying a tubular-shaped package. As she walked up to us, she said, “Kids, we have your first house warming present for you.”

“Aunt Ruth.”, I said. “You shouldn’t have.”

Handing me the package, Aunt Ruth said, “Yes, we should have.”

I laid the package on the breakfast counter, unwrapped it, then unrolled it. It was an embroidered wall hanging with the head of two wolves embroidered at the top. Around the edges were embroidered various spirit images. And in the middle was an embroidered copy of the ‘Wolf Prayer.’

“Spirit of the wolf,
You who wanders in wildlands,
You who stalks in silent shadows,
You who runs and leaps
between the moss covered trees,
Lend me your primal strength
and the wisdom of your glowing eyes,
Teach me to relentlessly track my desire
and to stand in defense of those I love,
Show me the hidden paths and the moonlit fields,
Fierce spirit,
Walk with me in my joy,
Guard me as I move through this world.”

As we looked at the wall hanging, my Aunt Ruth said, “I’ve read this prayer a few times, and the more I read it, the more I saw more than just Kai in it, I also felt Ajie in it. I feel that this prayer is both of you, that’s why the two wolf heads.”

“Where did you get this, Aunt Ruth?”, Ajie asked. “It’s wonderful.”

“Remember when Kai gave me the copy of the prayer?”

“Yes.”

“Well I took it to a couple of ladies that do embroidery, and they made it.”

“They did an amazing job.”, Ajie said. “We’re going to have to find a special place for it.”

“I think that it might go good in the entrance way across from the front doors.”, I said.

“That may work.”, Ajie said. “The Tl'izilanis did have something there. We’ll see what it looks like there.”

Jackie read the prayer and said, “I like that prayer.”

Everyone then helped move boxes to where they needed to be. Everyone also offered to help put things away, but we told them that we’d better do it so that we’d know where everything was.

It was late afternoon by the time everyone left, and Charlie and Jackie were the last to leave. As they were waving so long, I said to Amy, “You know. We have the fixings for a good dinner.”

“Yeah.”, Amy said. “And, I know what you’re thinking. Have Charlie and Jackie, the Oshies, and the Etsittys for dinner tomorrow night.”

“Great minds.”

“Kind of a post-move-in dinner for close friends.”

“How fancy do you want to get?”, I asked.

“For that crowd. Do you think Nunzios would deliver this far out?”

I chuckled as I said, “I doubt it.”

“Well, then I guess that we’ll just have to put something together.”, Amy said.

“Any ideas?”

“Yes, but I’ll have to find the magazine that I was reading.”

“That could be fun.”

“It was in magazine holder in the bathroom at the apartment. Which you packed.”

“Then it’s in one of two boxes that are marked ‘B’room’.”

“Think we should call them and see if they’re available before we go too far?”, Amy asked.

“That might be a good idea.”, I replied. “What time?”

“Let’s say four. That’ll give us some time to do some more unpacking.”

I went to the phone to make three calls. Figuring that Charlie and Jackie weren’t back home yet. I started by calling Chief Tom and Vickie, and they were excited about coming to dinner. I gave them directions and told them to come at four for a tour followed by dinner. Then I called Dr. Joe and Mary, and they were happy to hear that we’d gotten moved and would be happy to come to dinner. And, Mary, being pregnant, was glad to hear that we had three bathrooms.

I waited another half an hour before I called Charlie and Jackie, and they were home. I told them who was coming, and they were happy to hear that. I also told them that the others were going to be here at four for a tour if they wanted to come then too.

Then I went hunting for Amy. That’s one of the problems with a big house. Trying to find someone. I found her in our room, looking through the boxes for our bathroom. Just as I walked in, she looked at me and said, “Found it.”

She stood up and showed me the magazine. It was something about living in the southwest. Then she showed me the recipe, and it was like a lasagna, but instead of pasta, you use corn tortillas. It sounded yummy. And, I noticed that it fed six to eight people. So, I said, “Can you double that recipe?”

“I guess. But why? There’s only going to be eight of us.”, Amy asked.

“With this crew you’d better, the recipe says that it will only feed six to eight.”

“That should be enough. Shouldn’t it?”

“With Chief Tom and Dr. Joe. Do you really think it’ll be enough?”

“Maybe not with you there too. You may have to make a run to the grocery store tomorrow.”

“I can do that.”

We spent the rest of the afternoon and part of the evening, except for a break for dinner, unpacking and putting things away. We concentrated first on our room, and as we finished putting things in the walk-in closet, I said, “It looks like we can go clothes shopping.”

“Why?”, Amy asked.

“There’s still a lot of room to hang clothes in there. It’s got a lot more room than we had in the apartment.”

“There’s that girl’s shopping gene again.”

“Sorry. I just can’t help it.”

We then went to work on the kitchen, and when we finished, Amy said, “When you go shopping tomorrow, you can also pick up what I need to make sangria and a salad.”

“Mary shouldn’t drink, and Charlie and Jackie can’t.”

“We’ll find something for them. I know what they like, and you can get that too.”

“Are you ready to quit for the day?”, I asked.

“Yeah, I think we made a serious dent in it.”, Amy replied.

“Me too. Let’s go out on the courtyard, build a small fire, and watch the stars.”

“I could do that. But, We have one more thing to do.”

“What’s that?”

“We need to find a place for that Wolf Prayer wall hanging first.”

Amy picked up the wall hanging that my aunt had given us, and we went to the entrance hall where the rack of firewood is. And above that was a nail in the wall. So, the Tl'izilanis did have something there.

The wall hanging had a wooden dowel through it with a chain running from one end of the dowel to the other to hang it. So, we hung the wall hanging from that nail, stood back, and looked at it. And it looked good hanging there. Then Amy said, “That’s a good place for that.”

“You know.”, I said. “There are three ceiling lights out here. We could replace the center one with a spotlight to shine on the hanging.”

“I like that. And you know, those two sand painting would look very nice on either side of that wall hanging.”

“You’re right.”

“Now, let’s go and do some stargazing.”

As I was building a small fire in the fire pit, Amy got us something to drink. Then we cuddled on one of the benches where we could look north, and we star gazed. After a little while, I said, “You know I’ve missed doing this.”

“Me too.”, Amy said. “But, you know. These benches are nice, but I’d like something a little more comfortable for us when we sit out here.”

“I see us spending a lot of time out here. So, we’ll see what we can find. You know, we also have to find you a car.”

“I know.”

“Any ideas what you’d like.”

“No.”

“We can go to the dealerships and look.”

“Sounds like something to do next week or the week after.”, Amy said. “Something else we need to do is to figure out is how to properly mount the pictures and wall hangings on adobe walls.”

“Or, we just mount everything on an interior wall.”, I said.

“We could, but there are things that would look better on an outside wall.”

“I guess I could ask Hosteen Tl'izilani. He said to call if we had any questions.”

“Will you do that?”

“Of course. But, not tonight.”

“We can hang the sand painting of the Yei spirits over our bed.”

I then said, “Shh. Forget about that. Let’s just sit here, relax, and enjoy being here.”

Amy cuddled closer. We stayed there cuddled together, watching the fire. And both of us must have been tired because the next thing I remember was Amy waking me up. I guess she got cold when the fire burned down, and it woke her up. We walked around together, making sure everything was locked, including the outside gates and garage doors. And, we called it a night. And I think both of us were asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows.

Sunday morning, we were up early. Why I don’t know, but we were. It took me a few seconds to realize where I was. But, when I did, I smiled.

After a nice breakfast, it was back to work on unpacking. And, Amy, with company coming, wanted to make the beds in the two spare bedrooms. So, while she started that, I went to the garage. I looked at what I had to do to fasten the new safe to the floor. I also looked at the wiring that I wanted to do for the garage door openers, and I changed my plans. I decided on only one switch for all three-doors. I couldn’t see running three separate lines, one for each opener. It could be done with a single circuit with one switch and three outlets, one at each opener. These are projects for later on.

When I finished I went and found Amy, she had made one of the beds and straightened up that bedroom. Then I helped her with the second bedroom, and I learned how to make hospital corners. Then we worked on the third bedroom that we were going to use as an office. It didn’t take long until we had the desk where we wanted it, and the typewriter set up.

We had asked the three sets of our closest friends to come for dinner, and I had to make a run to the grocery store. So I ran to the store, and since I didn’t know the store, it took me a little longer than necessary to find what Amy wanted. But I finally found everything that we’d needrd.

When I was back at the house, I carried everything into the kitchen. And with the door from the garage into the house being close to the kitchen, this was easy.

I put the groceries away and then went looking for Amy. I found her in the shower. Hmm, in the shower. I undressed and said, “Would you like your back washed?”

She jumped and said, “You scared me! I didn’t hear you come home.”

I said, “Home. I like the sound of that!”

“Me too, love.”

As I got in this beautiful big shower with Amy, I said, “Sorry. But, seeing you in here I just had to join you.”

“You are so bad.”

“And you love it.”

Amy and I had a nice … No, a wonderful shower together.

As we were drying each other off, Amy said, “I’ve missed our together showers.”

“Me too.”, I said. “But, with this shower, we’ll never have to miss them again.”

“I know. But, we’d better get dressed. We’ve got dinner to put together. How about you doing the salad.”

“Okay. Should I lay a fire?”

“Wouldn’t hurt. And don’t forget to open the front gate.”

“Right.”

We didn’t get too fancy. Long skirts, nice blouses, moccasins, and we went light on the jewelry. Both of us put out hair in ponytails. Then Amy headed for the kitchen, and I went to the gate in the front courtyard wall, unlocked and opened it. Then I went to the back courtyard and laid a fire.

Once I finished with the fire, I went to the kitchen and made a chopped salad. I made my own vinaigrette with cilantro, garlic, lime juice, sugar, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Then I combined corn, black beans, tomatoes, avocado, and red onion in a bowl and placed that in the refrigerator along with the vinaigrette. I was going to wait until just before we were going to eat to finish the salad. And then I’d chop the romaine lettuce hearts, toss that with some of the vinaigrette that I’d made. Then I’d mix the combined corn, black beans, tomatoes, avocado, and red onion that I’d mixed earlier with the rest of the vinaigrette and then I’d pour that mix over the chopped lettuce.

When I finished, I said to Amy, “You know, love. It’s nice having a big kitchen again. We could never have cooked together like this at the apartment.”

Amy looked at me, smiled, and said, “You’re right. And it’s fun cooking with you.”

Then I put together a fruit salad, with the fruit I’d purchased today, for desert. And that little bakery at the grocery store had cinnamon crisps. So, guess what dessert was. And, Amy threw together her sangria.

Then we took a few minutes to make our usual Sunday calls to our parents, and we told them that we’d gotten moved into the house. They were happy for us, and we gave them our new address.

A few minutes before four, we heard the doorbell. And Amy and I walked to the front door and opened both doors. It was Chief Tom and Vickie. Amy and I said, “Yá’át’ééh, Naat'áanii Tahoma dóó Vickie. T'áá shoodí wóshde´e´’. - (It is good, Chief Tahoma and Vickie. Please come in.)”

I didn’t need to translate for them. But, I did say, “Vickie, we’ve never come up with a Navajo name for you.”

“Never mind that.”, Vickie said. “But this house is something else. When we first pulled up, Tom said that this couldn’t be right. But, I told him that we were on the right street and it was the names on the mailbox that really gave it away.”

“Well, you are in the right place.”, I said. “Come on in.”

Chief Tom and Vickie walked in, and as I started to close the doors, I saw Dr. Joe’s car pull in. So, the four of us stood in the doorway and waited for them. As they walked from the gate to the front porch, Dr. Joe was looking at everything and just shaking his head. Then as they walked up on the front porch, Amy and I said, “Yá’át’ééh, Dr. Joe dóó Mary. T'áá shoodí wóshde´e´’.” And, I had to translate for them.

“Kai.”, Dr. Joe said. “I should be surprised at seeing this house. But knowing you, I’m not. And if the rest of it is like the front entrance … ” And, he just shook his head again.

I just grinned.

Then Dr. Joe spotted the pull rope for the doorbell, and as he pointed, he asked, “What’s that?”

“The doorbell. Go on. Pull it.”

He pulled it, and we heard the bell that was on the wall in the big room ring.

“A real bell?”, Dr. Joe said.

“Yes, a nice brass bell.”

“And it’s mechanical?”

“Yep. The rope runs directly to the bell in the big room.”

Everyone walked into the house, and as I was getting ready to close the doors, I saw Charlie and Jackie pull in. And, I said to everyone, “Charlie and Jackie just got here. Go on with Amy, and we’ll be in shortly.”

I waited at the front door for Charlie and Jackie. Then as they walked up, I gave them the same greeting that I’d given the others. Jackie smiled as she said, “I think we just received the official welcome.”

I smiled back at her and said, “Yes, you did. But why so early?”

“Because we wanted to get the official tour along with the official welcome.”, Charlie said.

“Well, come on in and join the others.”

Charlie, Jackie, and I walked into the big room, and since everyone knew everyone else, no introductions were necessary. Mary asked the first question, “Where’s the bathroom?”

Amy took Mary to the powder room that was just off the big room. When Mary came back, she said, “That powder room is cute.”

“We haven’t even done much decorating yet.”, Amy said.

“So, would everyone like a tour?”, I asked.

Amy and I took everyone on a tour, starting with the bedrooms and ending up in the garage. The girls couldn’t get over the kitchen and the walk-in pantry. And the master suite with the en-suite bathroom was the talk of everyone.

I won’t go into the details of the tour, but there were all kinds of questions. Like why the Kiva fireplaces in every bedroom. The answer, just in case it gets cold or you want the ambiance of a fire.

When we were back in the kitchen, the lasagna made with tortillas was ready, so I helped Amy pull the two dishes out of the oven. I then finished making the salad. And, then the eight of us sat down to a meal of salad, tortilla lasagna, with fruit salad and cinnamon crisps for dessert. Those of us that wanted Amy’s sangria had sangria while the others had what they wanted to drink.

Amy did apologize for not having bread with the lasagna. But, Vickie told her to not worry about it. That the meal was delicious, and everyone agreed.

As we were eating dessert, Dr. Joe asked, “Kai, did you tell Chief Joe and Vickie who your neighbors are?”

“No, I haven’t.”, I replied.

“So, who are your neighbors?”, Chief Tom asked.

I casually said, “Dr. Lingham and his family.”

“Did you say, Dr. Lingham?”, Vickie asked.

“Yes, we met them last week. Along with another neighbor.”

“What did he say when he found out that you were his neighbor?”

“Not much. Only that he was surprised to see us and that we’d probably be good neighbors.”

“Amy, you didn’t tell me?”, Vickie said.

“Sorry, Vickie. But, I haven’t seen you since we met them.”, Amy replied.

“Isn’t Dr. Lingham the President of the University?”, Charlie asked.

“Yes.”, I replied. “And, he and his wife, as neighbors, are very nice. Will we socialize with them? I don’t think so. Both Amy and I are more down to earth than that. Since we’re both on the faculty, there may be somethings we need to go to, and we’ll go.”

“So, if I become the Dean of the nursing school, will you all still socialize with Tom and me?”, Vickie asked.

“What are you trying to tell us, Vickie.”, Amy asked.

“Well, it isn’t official, but Dean Milford may retire at the end of the year.”

“And, you might be the next dean?”

“I would be one of the people up for it. If I want it.”

“If they offer it to you, you’d better accept it.”

“Why?”

“You have a lot of good ideas, you're forward-thinking, and you have a lot of respect from your peers.”

“No more than you, Amy.”

To change the subject, Amy asked, “Anyone want to go sit in the back courtyard, and we can enjoy a fire?”

We all went out onto the courtyard, and we moved the benches around so that we were sitting around the fire pit. And we talked. Both Amy and I noticed a look on Jackie’s face that concerned us.

Amy finally asked, “Jackie. Honey. Is something wrong?”

“Kinda.”, Jackie said. “I am a freshman nursing student. And here I’m sitting and talking with the possible next Dean of the nursing school, with two others who have their doctorate, and two others who are working on their doctorate. I … I feel like the odd man out.”

“Honey, don’t. The people here are all friends, and that includes you. We all like you and Charlie. Sure you’re the youngest ones here, but in this circle age means nothing. What matter is who that person is, and what’s in their heart.”

“Jackie.”, Vickie said. “What Amy said. You and Charlie are friends. You both have good personalities and can contribute to a conversation. And, you fit in with us. And as Amy said, age has nothing to do with it. And, if by some slim chance, I become the Dean of the nursing school, I will still be the same person underneath.”

I’d been watching Chief Tom and Dr. Joe through this, and they both were nodding yes. Then I said, “Jackie, you and Charlie are important to us. You, like us, and Dr. Joe and Mary, are a long way from home. And the more support that we can give to each other, the better we all will be. And Chief Tom and Vickie, being locals, are like the anchor to our little boat.”

I saw the expression on Jackie face change to a little smile, then she looked at us and said, “You’re right. We’re friends. It’s important to have friends. Friends like you guys.”