Ardis Journal

I am truly grateful on this Thanksgiving day.  I have no money, no family (maybe Tom, but I haven't heard from him since he left to fight), I have no farm, all our money was stolen, and I have no place to go.  I know those sound like things that it is counter to logic to be grateful for.  I'm not grateful that those challenges had to happen.  I AM grateful for those blessings that have come in the middle of these events.

Blake Calkin saved my life.  He opened his home to me.  He has fed, and clothed me.  I can't imagine what I would have done without his kindness.  I do try to cook and clean for him.  The cleaning I do pretty well, the cooking...well let's just say that I have a way to go to make food that is tasty.  Currently I'm doing well to create edible food.

There are Native American women that live in Calkington.  Some of them are married, some simply live with a man.  Moral values are quite different here in the west.  It has been interesting for me to learn tolerance.  I'm learning that tolerance means not judging others by the standards you hold.  I know that some of these unions are quite abusive.  I helped John, (Dr. Stone), care for a woman who had been badly battered.  She was pregnant as well.  After Dr. John fixed her up she went back to live with her abuser.  Like me, she has no where to go, and no way to go anywhere.  I honestly thought, there but for the grace of God, go I.

I don't want to dwell on that sad topic.

These ladies have helped me learn about plants that I can use in cooking, and in medicinal teas.  They also have helped me to learn how to create dyes for making lovely fabric.  I am impressed by their resourcefulness.

I hope the things that I taught them, how to keep your child clean and how that improves their health, how to care for yourself, including using a small branch from a tree to keep your teeth clean, will be a help to them.

It has continued to rain, rain, rain.  I've gotten so used to the constant drumming on the roof that when it stopped the other night for a short time it woke me up!  Many people have lost their homes, several their lives.  The town has been destroyed.  Blake is working with the others in the community to plan a new location.

I am grateful for the people that I have met in this place.  More and more they feel like family and less like strangers.  I will never forget how lovingly they came to me after I lost my family, including our wee babe.

I have much to be thankful for today.  It's a good day to count our blessings, and a good day to look ahead to the future.