Such is Life
Life is full of surprises, isn’t it?
This past week I rode a whirlwind of adventure and discovery. Friday evening, Jenny and I drove down to Washington DC so that we might be ready to meet and greet our good friend Cyndy Palcich. She flew in from Arizona to receive a prestigious award from the DAR for her work in forensic anthropology. We met Cyndy while on a fascinating trip to China (Pre-Covid). Sharing long bus conversations with her we learned that she spent much of her life living among and teaching Native Americans. She happened to be a wealth of information on the Southwest. Ever since she has been an enthusiastic fan of my writing.
Along with my daughter’s beau, Cookie Phil, we met the following day outside the entrance to the Museum of the American Indian. This seemed a fitting destination for someone with Cyndy’s background. It was my third such visit and as in the past, a rewarding but sobering experience. If you have never been, the architecture is amazing and the integration of native plants into the surrounding grounds helps put the visitor in the proper mood. Together we wandered from one tribal display to the next covering native cultures in both North and South America. A seeming similarity we noticed was the importance of the cardinal directions: North, South, East and West. Also the importance of assigning a color to each. At the same time the colors assigned by one culture was never the same as the colors assigned by the next.
Another similarity we found across all cultures was how nature necessarily played an integral part in the lives of all Native Americans - as a result of their dependence on nature, gratitude for the sustenance and healing that nature provided was woven into every culture. It is a lesson we would do well to imitate. We had lunch in the museum cafeteria, munching on traditional corn and bean salads, bison products and fried bread. We ended out tour by wandering through the sad history of Indian treaties, broken, one and all. I came away somewhat depressed but buoyed by a particular phrase I read on one of the walls. It went something like this, “Our elders are gone, but their breath remains. We breath their breath. They are still with us (Note, this is paraphrasing)
We said goodbye to Cyndy who had to prepare herself for her ceremony, after which we proceeded to the Smithsonian’s FUTURES exhibit in the Arts and Industries Building a short distance away. There, a healthy helping of imagination and hope for the future revived our sagging spirits. We experienced a brief glimpse into past World’s Fairs followed by an eclectic collection of exhibits on artificial intelligence, space sail spaceships, harvesting water from the air, hyperloop rapid transit, biodegradable burial capsules, futuristic farm machinery, the amazing electric vertical takeoff and landing car, and my personal favorite, an eye activated video game (no hands required)
The next day we picked up Cyndy and traveled back into the past by driving north to Gettysburg on the 159th anniversary of the titanic battle of Gettysburg. I was honored to be invited to read a chapter from my as yet unpublished novel, LINCOLN’S HIRELINGS. The chapter I read on what was then July 3rd was fittingly, GETTYSBURG - DAY THREE. Although I might have wished for a larger audience those who attended were attentive and appreciative and I must tell you simply having the opportunity was the thrill of a lifetime.
Driving back home the following day we helped out with our church’s Welcome tent at Waynesboro’s Fourth of July Jubilee. The tent is our community outreach to provide visitors free water and shelter from the sun or inclement weather as well as water and dog treats to our four- footed friends. That evening, utterly exhausted, we collapsed, too worn out to go see the local fireworks. Instead, we sat in out hottub and watched sparkling glimmers through the trees.
The following day, I received the surprise of my life (Quite literally). My cousin, Sue Sack, sent me information gathered by another cousin detailing ancestral documentation of which I was completely unaware. You must understand with a Polish name like Poniske, I have been correcting people all my life. No, it’s an e at the end not an i. No, there is only one n not two. Imagine my surprise to find that I descend from a line of PONINSKIs!!! I learned that we are now able to trace back to the 1300s, that we have princes and princesses in our line, That we have a family coat of arms (See the accompanying illustration), a family castle in the Ukraine (ruined by the Russians, naturally), and a family motto - “Talis vita.” Jenny and I laughed so hard when we learned its translation “SUCH IS LIFE!”
Ah, what the hell - such is life. Be well, my friends.