TheBanyanTree: Give-away 3 - Prayer Ties

[auntie sash]

Same intro.  Another new story.
I am in the last week of wanagi yuhapi - Lakota "keeping of the soul"
ceremony.  There will be a give away on Sunday after I release the spirit
bundle and I realized that all of my offerings, so carefully selected for
their significance to my mother, would be random and meaningless without the
"back story".

So I decided to tell the back stories and attach them to the items on my
blanket.  And as I write out these little views of my mother, I want to
share them with you as well.

- sash
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Helen York Schmidt was the queen of crafts.  Not just a Sunday school
teacher,room mother, and den leader – she taught *others* how to teach
crafts to a generation of Cub Scouts, Brownies, Blue Birds, and Webelos.

Pipe cleaners, red felt, and Alene's Tacky Glue were her element and there
was nothing that couldn't be fancied up and transformed with découpage and
some googly eyes.

There was something sacred in those pompom reindeer refrigerator magnets and
daisy clothespin recipe holders.  With glitter and plastic beads, children
found that place where precision meets self expression and instructions and
samples yield to inspiration.  In short, they practiced bringing their
imagination, their minds, and their fingers all to focus.

May these little bits of fabric bring you to that united, focused place.  (And
if you feel the need for glitter, well, spirit will understand)

- sarahanne april 2008
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My mother had a great deal of trouble with me but I think she enjoyed it.
- Mark Twain