On Tuesday, while waiting for Dr. Joe, I found an error in the design of the current project. I’d also figured out that the project was a sophisticated frequency-hopping spread spectrum receiver capable of learning the pattern of the frequency-hopping. Plus, I’d even figured out who this project was for. It was for the Diplomatic Security Service of the State Department.

On Thursday, Charlie and Jackie were moving to the resort for the summer, so we took them out for lunch before they drove north. Then I went to the office and found Dr. Joe and the Dean with their heads together. Later I was able to get it out of Dr. Joe that there was a move afoot to make me a Research Associate. Do I want to do this?

A nice hike on the Armijo Trail, with a stop at one of the picnic areas, made for a wonderful afternoon break.

And our parents should be here by one on Friday afternoon. They’d caught an early morning flight.

With our parents coming this afternoon, Amy was up and at them early. I wanted to sleep in. She was so concerned that the house wouldn’t be perfect that she was going over it again before breakfast. I caught up with her in the powder room off the big room. I grabbed her by the shoulders and said, “Honey! Stop! The house is fine. They’re not going to do a white glove inspection. And they’re here to see us, not the house.”

“But … But they will see the house.”, Amy replied.

“Honey, you’ve become obsessed. It needs to stop. The house is clean.”

Then I took her hand and led her to the kitchen. When we were there, I said, “Sit at the breakfast bar and don’t move!”

She looked at me and knew that I meant what I’d said. I proceeded to make us French toast with a few strips of bacon for breakfast. I also set two glasses of juice on the bar. As we ate, I asked, “Any idea how much luggage their bringing?”

“No.”, Amy said. “Why?”

“There’s no problem with all six of us in one car, but I’m wondering if there’s enough room in the trunk of one car for what they might bring.”

“Mister practical.”

“I think that we should take two cars just to be safe.”

“Okay.”, Amy said. “I also think that since it will almost be two before we get back here, we should probably change into what we’re wearing for the barbecue.”

“Minus the jewelry.”, I said.

“Of course.”

At eleven o’clock, I called the airline to see if their flight was on time, and it was fifteen minutes ahead of schedule, so they should be in at twelve forty-five. So at twelve-thirty, Ajie and I were at the gate waiting for our parent's flight to arrive.

Ajie and I were both dressed in fancy long skirts, fancy blouses, and wrap moccasins. Amy’s hair was in a single braid, and mine was in two braids with the colored leather strips in them. I was wearing the earrings that my grandfather had made, the ones made out of gold and silver. Ajie was wearing a pair of the silver feather earrings. We’d both put on the simple braided leather headbands. Of course, we both had on Concho belts. And very little other jewelry. That’ll wait until we’re at the resort.

When we were at the airport, we went to their gate. And as we waited, we watched the airplanes taxiing on the tarmac. Then we saw an airplane approach the gate. Ajie got excited. After the airplane had stopped, they rolled a set of boarding stairs to the airplane and opened the door.

The passengers started to disembark, and our parents were among the first to come down the stairs. As they walked through the gate in the fence, Ajie ran up to her parents and hugged them, and I hugged mine. Then we switched and hugged each others parents.

As one of the passengers walked past us, he looked at us and said I a nasty way, “Hippies.”

I looked at him and said, “Sir, is there a problem?”

He turned and looked at me and said, “Yes, there should be a law about you hippies.”

“First of all, sir, hippies have a right to their opinions and their way of life. Second, we aren’t hippies. We are members of the Navajo Nation. Do you have a problem with that?”

“Ah. … No. I guess not.”

“Good. Because if you did, you've come to the wrong part of the country.”

“No, Miss, I’m sorry.”

Then he walked away. My dad said, “I liked the way you handled that, Kai.”

“Thanks, dad.”

“Honey.”, my mother asked. “Does that happen often?”

“More than it should.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Mom, it’s not your fault. Some people have to learn to live and let live.”

“Let’s get our luggage and get out of here.”, Ajie’s father said.

“We brought two cars.”, Ajie said. “We weren’t sure how much luggage you were bringing.”

“We each have a suitcase, and we also have two garment bags.”

“I’m glad we brought two cars.”, I said.

“One isn’t the Corvette. Is it?”, my dad asked.

I looked at him and said, “Dad, that car doesn’t even have a trunk that’s usable.”

We walked to where the luggage was. And, one of the skycaps helped take all the bags out in front of the airport. Ajie and I ran and got the cars. We loaded Ajie’s parent’s luggage into her ‘68 Chevelle and my parent’s bags in the ‘67 Bel Air. Then we headed towards the house. My dad sat up front with me.

As we drove towards the house, my dad asked, “How far is it?”

“Only twenty minutes.”, I replied.

And twenty minutes later, we were turning into the driveway, and Ajie was right behind me. As we turned into the driveway, my dad commented, “You can’t even see the house from the street.”

“I know.”, I said. “And we can’t even see the neighboring houses.”

As we rounded the curve in the driveway, my parents saw the house. My dad said, “This is yours!?”

“Uh huh.”, I said. “All ours and the banks.”

“Kai. Honey.”, my mother said. “Those pictures just didn’t do it justice.”

“Thanks, mom.”

I pushed the button to open the garage door. As mine started up, so did Ajie’s garage door. We pulled into the garage, and I pointed and said, “Dad, the Corvette is right over there.”

“So, I see.”, my dad said.

The six of us got out of the two cars, and everyone looked around the garage. Then I said, “Let’s go in through the front door.”

I walked out of one of the open garage doors, followed by Ajie and our parents. I walked to the ornate gate in the front courtyard’s wall and pushed it open. Then they followed me across the front courtyard and up onto the front porch. As we were walking through the courtyard, my mother-in-law said, “I love the landscaping.”

“The people who built the house did it. And we love it too.”, Amy said.

As we walked up onto the front porch, my dad looked at the rope with the handle attached to it, and asked, “What’s that for?”

“Pull it and see.”, I replied.

Dad pulled the rope, and you could hear the bell. And I said, “It’s the doorbell. And the bell is hanging on the wall in the big room.”

As I opened the front doors and we walked into the entrance hall, both Ajie and I turned, looked at our parents, and said in unison, “Yá’át’ééh. T'áá shoodí wóshde´e´’.”

I saw my mother smile, and my dad and Ajie’s parents look puzzled. So I said, “That was a Navajo welcome. We said, ‘It is good. Please come in.’”

Then I said, “We have to leave by three or three-thirty at the latest for the resort, so we’ll give you the Cook’s tour.”

I led them out of the entranceway to where the three bedrooms are, and as I pointed to them, I said, “These two are your bedrooms. You can fight over them later. The third bedroom we’re using as an office.”

“These bedrooms are so nice and roomy.”, Ajie’s mother said. “And they all have fireplaces.”

Then I showed them the bathroom and powder room, and said, “This is the bathroom for these bedrooms, and there’s a powder-room right around the corner.”

As my mother headed to the bathroom, she said, “I’ll be right back.”

My mother-in-law headed to the powder-room as she said, “Me too.”

My father-in-law asked, “Do all the bedrooms have fireplaces?”

“Yes.”, Ajie replied. “It does get cold out here in the winter, so it’s good to have a way to add some heat.”

“No, furnace?”, my dad asked.

“There is one, but we’ve been told that in seven years that it’s never been used. Something about the thermal value of the adobe. And there are five fireplaces in the house.”

“I saw that pile of wood out by the driveway.”

“Yeah, what with five fireplaces and two fire pits we could use a lot of wood.”

When our two mothers rejoined us, we showed them the big room, and they love it. I pointed out the plaque that we’d won with the Corvette. Then we showed them the master bedroom, and my dad commented, “We need to find a place with a fireplace in the bedroom.”

Then it was out onto the back courtyard, and they loved it. I told them that we spend most evenings out here star gazing.

Then I guided everyone to the gate in the wall, and we walked out into the backyard. And they saw the hogan, and I said, “We just had that built.”

My father asked, “How far back does the property go?”

“See that tree line?”, I said as pointed into the backyard. “That’s the Cibola National Forest and over that way is the Sandia Pueblo Indian Reservation.”

“What is it? About two acres?”

“Yes.”

Then we took them into the hogan, and, using a flashlight, we showed them the interior. I promised that when we had more time that we’d light all the kerosene lanterns and the fire so that they could get the full effect. My mother said that it’s nothing like she remembered. I told them that they were welcome to spend a night in the hogan if they wanted to, but they’d have to use the bathroom in the house.

Then my father-in-law asked, “Do you have any neighbors out here?”

“Oh yes.”, Ajie said. “And you’ll never guess who one of them is.”

“I have no idea, daughter.”

“Dr. Lingham.”

“Who is this, Dr. Lingham?”

“He’s the President of the University of New Mexico.”

“You are kidding me?”, Ajie’s dad said,

“No, we didn’t know it when we bought the house.”, Ajie replied.

“Does he know who you are?”

“Oh, yes. He knows Kai very well. And he and his wife are very nice.”

“Well, it could be worse.”

“Yes, it could.”

Then it was back into the house for a look at the kitchen and dining room.

As we stood looking at the kitchen, my mother said, “Kids, this house is amazing. You have a wonderful house.”

“Thanks, Mom.”, Ajie said. “It has everything that we wanted.

“But, it’s so big.”, Ajie’s mother said.

“Mom, at first, we thought so too. But after being here a while, it’s just perfect. It’s what we wanted.”

“And I love how you’ve decorated it with the wall hangings and rugs.”

“Thanks. But, I want to change a few of the window drapes.”

I looked at Ajie and thought, ‘That’s the first that I’ve heard that.’

As Ajie and our mothers got us drinks, our fathers and I went out to the garage and brought the luggage into the house. We had a little time before we had to leave for the resort, so we all got back together out on the courtyard, sat, enjoyed our drinks, and talked for a little while.

When I mentioned that the university was going to offer me the Research Associate’s position, my dad sat back and looked at me. Then he said, “You know, knowing how curious you were when you were growing up, it doesn’t surprise me. You had a way about you that could solve almost everything that was thrown at you. Most of the time, you had the answer right out of the gate. But, sometimes, it was through trial and error, and sometimes you had to do some reading, but in most cases, you came up with the answer. And when you didn’t, you didn’t let it discourage you. You kept looking for the answer.”

“I know.”, I said. “But realize that only a year ago I’d just received my bachelor's degree. And now I’m full-time faculty and probably going to be offered a Research Associate’s position. It just seems that it’s too much too quickly.”

“It sometimes happens that way. They’ve seen your talents and want to reward you for them. And you may just have to accept it.”

I looked at the time and said, “We need to leave here no later than three-thirty to be at the resort in time for the barbecue. So if you want to get cleaned up and change clothes, now’s the time.”

Our parents got up and headed to their rooms. And Ajie and I went to the safe to pick out the jewelry that we wanted for tonight and put it in the camera case. And that went into the trunk of the 68 Chevy.

It wasn’t much later that our parents came back into the big room. Both of our fathers were in blue jeans and plaid shirts. My mother was in a long skirt, a fancy blouse, and moccasins, with some jewelry. But, my mother-in-law was a little overdressed. I looked at Ajie and said, “Think your mom could use a little help?”

As Ajie nodded yes, she said, “Mom, come with me.”

Ajie and her mom headed back to our room, and they were quickly back with Ajie’s mother dressed in a long skirt, a fancy blouse, and moccasins.

As we walked into the garage, Ajie walked over to the safe, opened it, and took out some more silver jewelry. She opened the trunk of the car and put the jewelry into the camera case.

A little less than two hours later, we were pulling into the resort and up to Uncle Paul and Aunt Ruth’s house. After I retrieved the camera bag from the trunk, we walked right into the house. My mother said, “Kai, you should knock.”

“Mom.”, I said. “If I knock, I get yelled at by Aunt Ruth. She tells us that this is our house and to treat it that way.”

“I see.”

We walked into the house and to the kitchen, and my Aunt Ruth was there. She saw us and said, “Yá'át'ééh t'áá ájíltso.”

My father-in-law whispered to me, “What did she say?”

“Hello everyone.”, I whispered back.

The hugs started. Then Aunt Ginny walked in, followed by Uncle Paul and Uncle Gaagii. And the greetings started all over. After things calmed down, we reintroduced Ajie’s parents, Betty Grant and Fred Grant, to everyone.

Then, Uncle Paul said, “We’d better get going. And I’ve reserved a table so that we can all sit together.”

“We’ll be right back.”, I said as I grabbed the camera case, and Ajie and I headed back to the bedroom that we use.

“We’ll see you there. And don’t be too long.”

“We won’t.”, I shouted over my shoulder.

Ajie and I went to the bedroom, and we put on a little more jewelry. We both put on squash blossom necklaces. I put on the choker that my grandfathers had made, and Ajie put on the beaded fringe choker. And we both put on our Eagle feather headdress.

We then headed to where the barbecue was held, and as we entered the area, there were a lot of people there. The dancers and musicians were doing their thing. And the guests were milling around or watching the dancers. And we caught up with our parents and everyone else.

Then we heard a loud, “Kai! Ajie!”

We turned to see Dibe, the girl who’d receive the first scholarship, and she ran up to us, and we received some big hugs. Once I could, I asked, “How are you?”

“I’m great.”, Dibe said. “How about you guys?”

“We’re good too. How was school?”

“It was wonderful. I don’t know what my final grades are, but I feel that I did good.”

“Dibe, I want to know as soon as you find out what you’re grades are. Okay?”

“Okay, Kai. I’ve got to go and dance. I’ll see you later.”

As she ran off, I said, “Yes, you will.”

“Who was that?”, my mother asked.

“That was Dibe Bylilly.”, I replied. “She received the first scholarship from the Chief Todachine Scholarship.”

“She’s a fireball.”

“Yes, she is.”

Then as Uncle Paul handed me a sheet of paper, he said, “Kai, here’s the list of special guests.”

I looked at the list, then I looked at my Uncle Paul, then I looked at the list again, and said, “Are you kidding me, Uncle Paul?”

“No, why would I kid you.”

“Dr. Lingham is here?”

“Yes.”

I showed Ajie the list. She looked at it and said, “This is interesting! Dr. Lingham, Quah Ah, and Chief Lefthand are here.”

“Something wrong, kids?”, my mother asked.

“No, it’s just that the special guests are interesting tonight.”

We all walked over and watched the dancers for a little while, and I kept an eye on Uncle Paul waiting for his signal.

And it wasn’t long until my uncle waved at us, and Ajie and I walked towards him. As we walked up, Uncle Paul asked, “Are you ready?”

“As always, yes.”, I replied.

Ajie and I watched as the dancers and musicians finished the current dance. Then as they finished, I raised my hand, and they knew it was time for my talk before dinner.

Picking up the microphone, I said, “Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Kai Nez, and my friend here is Ajie Nez. And on behalf of the staff of the resort, we would like to welcome you to our regular Friday night barbecue. And to do it properly, we want to offer you the following old Navajo greeting as a welcome.”

Ajie and I then said, “Yá'át'ééh! Nizhonigó íiná aadóó hozhónahasdlíí.”

Then I said, “And for those of you that don’t speak Navajo, we just said, ‘Hello! It is good, and all is harmony around us.’

“The food is almost ready. But, we do have several special guests that we’d like to introduce to you.

“Our first special guest is the Chief of the Navajo Nation, Chief Kinlicheeny.”

As he usually does, Chief Kinlicheeny just stepped forward and raised his hand. He received a nice round of applause. Then he stepped back.

“Our next guest is the President of the University of New Mexico, Dr. Charles Lingham.”

Dr. Lingham followed Chief Kinlicheeny's lead and just stepped forward, raised his hand, and stepped back. He also received a nice round of applause.

Then I went on to introduce Chief Clah, the War Chief of the Navajo Nation. Then I introduced Chief James Lefthand, the War Chief of the Taos Pueblo.

And before I introduced Naainish, I introduced Quah Ah, the medicine woman from the Taos Pueblo.

Finally, I introduced Naainish with, “I know I’ve been a little long-winded, and you’re hungry. But I have one more person to introduce, and then the food will be ready.”

Naainish walked up and joined us. Then I said, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is Naainish Yazzie. Naainish is a Navajo medicine-man, he will give us a short prayer, and then we can eat.

“And I’ll guarantee that you are about to enjoy a wonderful Southwestern barbecue.”

I handed the microphone to Naainish, and he said a short prayer, then I took the microphone back and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, the food is ready. Enjoy!”

As I Turned off the microphone and set it down, Quah Ah walked up to us, and as we got hugs, she said, “Kai and Ajie, it’s wonderful to see you again.”

“Quah Ah, it’s always good to see you too.”, I replied.

“Are you here every week?”

“Almost. It’s fun to do this, and the food is good.”

“I’d better get in line so I can get some of that food. I’ll see you two later.”

“Enjoy.”

The food line quickly grew. Ajie and I walked over to where Dr. Lingham was, and I said, “Dr. Lingham, it’s a pleasant surprise to see you here.”

“And it was a surprise to see you too, Miss Nez.” Then he looked at Ajie and said, “And I thought your name was Amy Young?”

“On campus, it is Amy Young, but here the Navajo people know me by Ajie Nez.”, Ajie replied.

“I see.”

“Why are you here, Dr. Lingham?”, I asked.

“My wife and I have heard so much about the resort that we decided to take a long weekend and come up and see what is all about. And then we have the surprise of finding you here.”, he replied.

“My aunt and uncle run the resort, and this is where we stayed when we first came out here a few years ago. We love to come to the barbecues, and a little while ago, my uncle put me to work doing the welcoming.”

“You do a nice job, Miss Nez.”

“Thank you, sir. You’d better get in line and get some of the wonderful food.”

“Mrs. Lingham is already in line, so I’ll join her.”

“Good, and we’ll see you later.”

“Thank you for the nice introduction.”

“It was my pleasure.”

Dr. Lingham walked away from us, and Ajie said, “That was interesting.”

“Yes, it was. But I guess that he needs to relax too.”

Then we walked over to where our reserved table was, and everyone was standing around. As we walked up, Uncle Paul was smiling as he said, “Good job, Kai and Ajie.”

“Is that the Dr. Lingham that's your next-door neighbor?”, my father-in-law asked.

“Yes, it is.”

“You seemed to get along with him. You had a nice chat after you did the introductions.”

“We do get along. It was a nice surprise seeing him here.”

Since the food line had gotten shorter, we decided to head that way. Once we were in line, I saw him. I saw the man from the airport. He saw me and walked towards us. I whispered to Ajie, “There’s the guy from the airport.”

“I know.”, Ajie whispered back. “Behave.”

“I will.”

The man walked up to me and said, “Miss, I’m happy that I’ve found you again.”

“Oh?”, I said.

“Yes, I feel awful about what happened at the airport. And it’s been bothering me. I was surprised to see you here, and I’m glad I did. I just wanted to apologize to you again.”

“It’s alright. You need to be careful about what you say to people.”

“I know, Miss. I sometimes say things without thinking.”

“That can be dangerous.”

“My wife keeps telling me that. And I’m very sorry that I did that to you.”

“That’s okay. I feel that your apology is from the heart.”

“Thank you, Miss.”

He turned and walked away. And my Aunt Ginny asked, “What was that about?”

I quickly explained what had happened at the airport. And Aunt Ginny just shook her head.

We got our food and made it back to our table. Then several people, from Chief Kinlicheeny, to Naainish, to Dr. Lingham and his wife, and others stopped by. And of course, introductions had to be made.

Then Charlie and Jackie walked up. And we got hugs. Then we introduced them to everyone. They told us that Uncle Paul was letting them enjoy the barbecue tonight, but would put them to work on all the others. I looked at Uncle Paul, smiled, and said, “We’ll see what we can do about that.”

“It’s okay, Kai.”, Jackie said. “That’s what we’re getting paid for.”

“I know. But I like to mess with Uncle Paul. Don’t I Uncle Paul.”

Uncle Paul just shook his head.

After we’d finished eating, Uncle Paul asked, “Kai, are you going to meditate at the bonfire tonight.”

“I don’t know Uncle Paul.”, I said. “We’re going back to the house tonight, and our parents had a long flight and the time difference may not be good. What time is Sunset?”

“Around eight-thirty.”

“That would put us back at the house around midnight or after. Which would be two Ohio time.”

“Kai, I hate to say this.”, my mother said. “But, I think we need to call it a night fairly soon. It’s been a long day.”

“No problem mom.”, I said.

“But we’ll try to make it back here before we go back home.”

“You’d better, or we’ll come down to the house.”, my Aunt Ruth said.

“Why not do both.”, I said.

“That’s a thought.”

“Good. We’ll see what we can work out.”

We said good night to everyone, and the twelve of us walked back to the house. I grabbed the camera case, Ajie, and I put most of our jewelry back into the case. It went into the trunk. And we headed to the house.

By the time we were home, only Ajie and I were still awake. My dad was sitting between us, so after I’d pulled into the garage, I carefully woke him. Then Ajie woke up the other three.

Saturday morning, after everyone was up, we put together frybread breakfast tacos. And I surprised my parents. I had gotten them a coffeemaker and the coffee that they liked. Plus, I’d picked up four fancy University of New Mexico coffee mugs. Did I make the coffee? Oh, dear Great Spirit, no. I would make terrible coffee. I let my father-in-law make it. It smells so good that I wished that I liked it. But I don’t.

After breakfast, our parents asked us if they could take a better look at the house since we didn’t have much time yesterday. So Amy and I showed them around again. They were surprised at the thickness of the walls and how the roof was built. And our mothers loved what Amy had done with decorating.

When we were out in the hogan, we lit all ten kerosene lanterns, The eight hanging from the ceiling, and the two on the bedside tables. The lanterns and the light coming in through the smoke hole provided enough light so that everyone got a good look at the interior. Again our fathers were intrigued by how the roof was built. We had to explain that this wasn’t a typical hogan. And I asked, “Who wants to spend the night out here?”

My father-in-law said that it might be fun. So did my dad. My mother-in-law wasn’t to keen on the idea, but my mother was. My mother told us that when she was growing up out here that they lived in a regular house, but that she had friends that lived in hogans. But they were nothing like our hogan.

Then I asked, “When are you picking up your motor home?”

“I thought we’d do it after lunch.”, my dad said.

So after a nice lunch, my dad, my father-in-law, and I went to where they’d reserved a motor home. On the way to Albuquerque, I asked, “Could I get the two of you to help me with a little project before you go back home?”

“Sure, Kai.”, my father-in-law said.

“How little?”, my father asked.

“I want to install two telephone outlets out in the back courtyard.”, I replied.

“Ah. That could be a big project.”

“It shouldn’t be bad. There’s a conduit from the junction box in the laundry room to a waterproof electrical box in the courtyard, and then to a second box. And there’s a pull wire in the conduit.”

“Oh. That should be easy then.”

“It should. I just need help pulling the wire, and I’ll do the rest while you’re gone.”

“What about your friend Charlie?”, my father-in-law asked.

“He’s already helped me with so much already.”, I replied. “Besides, he’s working for Uncle Paul this summer.”

“Just get everything together, and we’ll do it.”, my dad said.

“All ready done.”

We pulled into where they were renting the motor home. The rental agent took us out to a wonderful motor home and showed us around inside and out. As we were inside the motor home, the agent told us that it would comfortably sleep six, and I commented, “Gee dad. Amy and I could go with you.”

My father looked at me and said, “No.”

I grinned.

The rental agent then took my father and father-in-law out for a drive. And I waited at the dealership. When they were back, both my father and father-in-law were happy with everything. But, my father asked me, “Kai, will this make it down your driveway?”

“I don’t think that it’ll be a problem, the guys from the resort got their big truck down it when we moved in.”, I said. “Plus, I know they had some big trucks down it when they built the hogan.”

My father and father-in-law followed me back to the house, and as I thought, the motor home had no problems negotiating the driveway. They parked it just off the driveway by the garage. I ran into the house and found Amy and our mothers in the big room, and I said, “Mom and mom, come out and see your home for the next two weeks.”

After our mothers and Amy had a chance to look over the motor home, our mothers felt that it wouldn’t be bad for two weeks roaming around out here. We then locked up the motor home and went into the house and out into the back courtyard to sit and talk. So as our parents went out there, I helped Amy carry out six glasses and a pitcher of her homemade sangria.

As we were talking, I asked, “When are you planning on leaving?”

“We thought that we’d take off right after breakfast on Monday.”, my dad said.

“Well, is there anything that you’d like to do tonight or on Sunday?”

“I think that we’d just like to be with you.”, Amy’s mother said.

“Yes, I think we’d just like to spend time with you.”, my mother added.

“Okay.”. I said. “Would you like to go and see five Bald Eagles all in one place.”

“Five!”, my dad said. “Where at some zoo?”

“No, in the wild.”

“Are two of these the Eagles that you are always talking about?”

“Yep. There are two adults, and three Eaglets that have just learned to fly.”

“I’d love to see them.”, Amy’s mom said.

“Count me in.”, my dad said.

“How about after breakfast tomorrow.”, I said. “And I’ll call Iz and tell him we’re coming.”

“That works. Who’s this, Iz?”

“He’s Izusa Yupanqui and is the head of the Parks Departments for the Santa Ana Pueblo, and that’s where the Eagles are. And his wife is the Tribal Governor for the Pueblo. And they like to see the Eagles.”

“Is it far from here?”, Amy’s mother asked.

“No, it’s only about a half an hour drive and then a short walk.”

“That would be fun.”

“It is.”, Amy said. “We try to go once a week.”

“Why so often, honey?”, Amy’s mother asked her.

“It’s a long story, mom. But we feel that these two Eagles are the ones that we saw back in Columbus when we hiked in the park.”

“You think that they followed you out here!?”

“We think that it’s possible. But there’s no way to know for sure.”

I saw my mother smile as she quietly said, “The Great Spirit works in strange ways.”

I looked at her and said, “We’ve heard that more than once.”

Amy’s mother looked at her and said, “Honey, you believe in all this spirit thing. Don’t you?”

“Mom.”, Amy said. “If you would have seen everything I’ve seen, you would too. It’s interesting to sit and meditate with Kai. And doing it has brought us closer together.

“And the two Eagles. They don’t show up unless we’re there. People from the Fish and Wildlife Service couldn’t believe how they interact with us until they saw it for themselves. Our medicine man friend says that they are our protectors and we are theirs.

“And seeing how Kai can help people is amazing.

“Mom, I know that this is hard to understand. But seeing it and living with it has opened my eyes to it.”

“Daughter, it is hard to accept something like this.”, Amy’s mother said. “But knowing you, you wouldn’t accept something unless you knew all about it and felt that it was right.”

“Mom, no one knows everything about this, not even the medicine men. But I feel that it’s what is good for the people, the Navajo people. We work with a lot of them at the hospital as patients, and we’ve found that by working with them using their beliefs that it helps us treat them.

“I’m even going to be teaching a course next winter, in both the College of Nursing and the College of Medicine, on working with the native people. And I'll be writing the text for it.”

“Honey, that’s wonderful.”, my mother said.

“Amy, tell them the rest.”, I said.

“No, you tell them.”, Amy said.

“She’s using the paper she wrote for the seminar that she taught as the basis of the new class, and if it’s good enough, it might make a good doctoral thesis for her.”

“That’s amazing, daughter.”, her father said. “So, Kai, are you going to work on a doctoral too?”

“There are a few colleagues of hers that think that she is already a PhD.”, Amy said.

“That so, Kai.”

“I guess.”, I said. “Dr. Oshie, my proctor, is always calling me Dr. Kai. And the Dean is pushing for it.”

“Also, Dr. Lingham said that he’d love to present her with her Doctoral next year.”, Amy added.

“He’s the President of the university. Isn’t he?”, my mother asked.

“Yes, he is.”

“The only person who's not pushing me is Amy. And I’m glad of it.”, I said.

“Honey.”, Amy said. “I know that you will do it in your own time and only if you really want to do it. And no pushing from anyone will do any good. In fact, I'm afraid it may do more harm than good.”

I just nodded, yes. Then to change the subject, I said, “Anyone want a good pizza for dinner? My treat.”

Later as we were standing in line at Nunzio's Pizza, I asked, “We also know of a great place to watch a Sunset.”

“Where’s that?”, Amy’s dad asked.

I turned and pointed to the Sandia Crest and said, “Up there.”

“How do you get up there?”

“There are three ways. You can hike up, or take the tramway, or drive.”

“You’ve been up there?”

“Many times, daddy.”, Amy said. “But, we’ve only driven up.”

“And the drive is worth it.”, I added.

“That looks like it’s a lot higher than we are here?”, my dad asked.

“It is. We’re at about fifty-three hundred feet here, and the peak of the Crest is at about ten thousand feet. So, is anyone game for a little drive after dinner?”

“That’s almost a mile higher than here!”

“I know.”

Everyone agreed that it might be fun.

We finally made it into Nunzio's and had some great pizza. Everyone but me had wine, and since I was driving, I had a Coke. As we were getting ready to leave, I said, “If you need to use the facilities I’d do it now. It takes an hour to get to the Crest.”

“An hour!?”, my father-in-law said.

“Just about. There’s no straight shot up there.”

Amy, her mother, and my mother used the lady's room before we left. As we drove, my dad said, “You know I think that pizza was better than the one back home.”

“It is good.”, I said. “And since school is out, it didn’t take long to get a seat.”

“What’s it usually take?”

“We’ve waited as long as an hour.”

As we started up the Sandia Crest National Scenic Highway, Amy said, “We won’t do much up here tonight. Just watch the sunset.”

“Why?”, her dad asked.

“Altitude sickness. It took us a couple of weeks to get used to the altitude out here.”

“What’s up there?”, my dad asked.

“There’s the top of a ski area that goes down the east slope. All the transmitters for the Albuquerque TV and radio stations are up here. Plus, some hiking trails.”

As we went through the switchbacks, everyone commented about the view. When we pulled into the parking lot at the top, our dads walked over to the information sign, and we heard Amy’s dad say, “Ten-thousand six-hundred and seventy-eight feet above sea level. That’s more than two miles above sea level!”

As they walked back over to the rest of us, my dad asked, “Have you hiked any of the trails up here.”

“A couple of them, and they’re nice.”, I said. “But we take guns with us.”

“Guns!”, my mother said.

“There are bears in the mountains, mom. And we’ve seen a couple of them.”

“Weren’t you scared?”

“Not scared. Just cautious. Uncle Paul taught us how to hike when there may be Mountain People around.”

“Mountain People?”, Amy’s mother asked.

“That’s what the Navajo call bears, mom.”, Amy replied.

Then we found a place to sit and watch the Sunset. And it didn’t disappoint. There were golds, yellows, oranges, and reds.

My dad asked, “Where’s your house from here?”

As I pointed west, I said, “About two and a half miles that way and a mile below us. And about thirty-six miles by road.”

After the Sun has set, as it usually does, up here, it got cold, and we didn’t have coats with us. So, it wasn’t long after Sunset that we were on the way back to the house.