Kokopelli

I'm late to the party....I only recently learned about Kokopelli.  I had admired a beautiful shirt my son was wearing.  The fabric had an unusual repeating design that my son said was the mythical Hopi music god, Kokopelli.  Of course I was off to the internet to find out more about this Hopi god. 

Kokopelli is the only anthropomorphic petroglyph to have a name, an identity and an established gender.  Depicted as a hunch-backed playing a flute, Kokopelli is a symbol of fertility, music, art, healer and story teller.  The images of Kokopelli are derived from ancient Anasazi glyphs found throughout the American southwest.  They appear on Hohokam pottery, but petroglyph carvings precede the Hohokam, dating back 3000years,

The god has always been a source of music, dancing and spreading joy to those around him.  He carries a bag of unborn babies which he gives to women wanting a baby, and he also carries seeds for planting.  He brings rain for successful harvests.  Traveling from village to village, playing his flute to announce his arrival, he trades old songs for new ones, and the nights are spent dancing. 

Due to Catholic missionaries influence, the image of Kokopelli was 'cleaned up' and the emasculated version has been adopted as a broader symbol.  Modern images of Kokopelli always show him with a flute and a bag, which makes him look hunched-back. 

Kokopelli history, photos of petroglyphs and art work can be found on the internet.  I discovered that his image is a popular decoration , especially on men and women's clothing, dishware, coffee mugs, bedding, pillows and towels.

Castles

Castles come in all sizes, shapes and forms.  They are spectacular structures, some remembered for historical reasons, some remembered from fairytale stories about castles and knights.  But the castles I find most astonishing are castles, also known as human towers.

I had never heard of them.  It never even crossed my mind that anyone would have considered such a feat as building a human tower.  Oh, the little circus pyramids with a few people standing on the shoulders of one another... ok, but a tower?  It just goes to show you how far some people will go to try and prove something. 

I learned about human towers while watching a PBS program about the forces of nature.  Gravity, being a force of nature, is a factor in building these cultural phenomenon, particular to Catalonia, which are called Castells.  The tradition originated at the end of the 18th century when rival groups of people began to construct different kinds of human towers.

A castle has three definite parts: pinya (base), tronc (trunk), and pom de dalt (crown).  All the accumulated weight rests on the horizontal base, which stabilizes and strengthens the erected structure- and also softens the fall of climbers if a break in the tower causes it to collapse.  The trunk is crowned by children, who are more agile and light-footed.  The youngsters are in charge of climbing to the top, raising an arm and saluting the public.

There can  be several levels of supporting structures, each being added in a precise order with an allotted station for everyone within the group.  Building the tower is accompanied by special music as the last climber crowns the tower and raises an arm in salute.  The job is not finished with the crowning.  It has to be brought down safely to be considered completed.

Towers of 8 story were built in the '80s, but in 1995 a 9 story castle was given the name Cathedral due to overcoming the great difficulty when built and successfully completed.  On April 11,2012, China attempted to build the tallest 9 story castle, but failed when it collapsed.  India is also very active in building castles. 

Originally they were only built on Sundays, but over time they have become so popular that they are constructed on any day of the week, at festivals and at competitions in other countries.  Its fascinating to watch the many attempts on YouTube, and even more so watching the videos on how the base is constructed.  Its truly a heart pounding experience to watch a very small child climb a tower, crown it, then scramble back down to safety.   

Marathons

I just did a marathon.  Not the running kind.  A television replay of the series, Downton Abby, which aired for 6 seasons from 2011-2016 on PBS.  It was a take off on the famous Up Stairs, Down Stairs, a story about how the landed gentry of England lived in contrast to the servants that catered to them. 

Downton Abby depicts the years between 1912 and 1925, years before and after the first world war.  Relationships, behavior and hierarchy delineated what was acceptable and what was not.  Conventions, rigid rules and traditions comprised the structure of society, but the ride of the working class changed the stability of the aristocracy. 

Melodramatic emphasis on weddings and deaths (discord and intrigue in between), elaborate rituals of dining with glittering silver and glistening wine glasses, appropriate attire for men and a stunning array of women's fashion, helped build the theme of Downton Abby.  Written by Julian Fellowes, Downton Abby is not an historical film, but much of the filming was done with an eye to authenticity.  It was amusing when the script introduced 'modern ' conveniences like the telephone and radio, but even during my childhood, those conveniences were still relatively new to our daily lives.

My family had one of he few telephones in town.  Back in those days, it was common for families with a phone to receive calls from people out of the area, or in another state, trying to reach a neighbor with important news. Someone would run to fetch the neighbor and to come as fast as possible.  We also used the phone as a news service. When the town fire whistle sounded at any time other than its usual Friday 12 O'clock test time, we knew there was a fire in town and we used the phone to ask a telephone operator where it was.

Until the invention of automatic toasters, forgetting to turn the slice of bread so it would toast on the other side, always burned the bread and smoked up the place.  One of our earliest radios had a huge horn that funneled the sound.  Then radios became more box like with dials and a built in sound system.  Radios along with newspapers kept us informed of world events.  Today, radios are so common, its hard to imagine an auto without one.

King Cobra

The other evening during the National News broadcast, a reporter told of an escaped King Cobra in Needville, Texas.  The 23 year old owner, who holds all the proper permits allowing him to keep venomous snakes, discovered it was missing about 7 in the morning.  He told authorities that he takes care to securely lock all the cages, and he doesn't know how the Cobra escaped. 

The venom from a single bite could kill an elephant, or 20 men.  A Dr. toxicologist in Houston, Texas was notified and an intense search for the Cobra began.  During the search, a Sheriff's  deputy shot and killed a  snake that turned out to be a Cottonmouth.  After 9 hours of searching, the Cobra was found and captured by a snake wrangler.

When this story aired, several of us started telling our own snake stories.  I do not like these slithery critters and make every effort never to come in contact with one.  At one point I would not even touch a magazine page if there was a picture of a snake on it.  When I was in high school, Biology was my favorite subject and I thought of becoming a Biology teacher, but I could never get pass the fact that I would have to be more knowledgeable about snakes....even having to touch one.

Years passed with my avoidance of same until I moved to Texas.  Then I came to the realization that I had to overcome my fear, at least to the point of not panicking at the sight of one.  Eventually I did reach a point where I only reacted with a moment of fright if I unexpectedly came across one.

At that time my parents and I lived in houses on either side of a long driveway.  On my parents side of the driveway were huge, ancient Oak trees.  On my side of the driveway were huge Pecan trees.  There was a footpath leading from my kitchen porch, crossing the driveway, to my parents kitchen porch.  The path was shaded by a long, upper branch of an Oak tree. 

From time to time we knew that snakes were in the trees after bird eggs when we heard birds screeching and flitting about as squirrels squawked.  One day we a snake that had staked out territory along the branch right above the pathway,  We could see it move in and out of a hollow hole in a side branch, but generally stretched out along the branch above the path. 

I had heard of snakes falling on people and I didn't like the idea of it possibly falling on me as I walked the pathway.  I telephoned the city hall where all the town officials had offices and asked for someone to come and shoot it.  They explained that it was illegal to shoot a gun within city limits, but they would see what they could do.  The next day one of the men that worked in the water department came with his gun and said he had been chosen to shoot the snake because he was known to be the best shot. 

He could see the head of the snake and said it would be a very difficult shot, but he'd try.  We all gathered around and were very quiet as he walked around to get the best view.  He said it would have to be shot on the first try because the snake would move back into the hole and he'd not get another chance.  When he finally aimed the gun, he just held the position for what seemed a long, long time.  We all held our breath, not daring to breath a sound.. Suddenly, there was an ear splitting gunshot and we saw the snake fall to the ground.  Afterward the shooter told us it had been an almost impossible shot, and that he was just lucky.  We knew he was being modest, but in truth, it was an exceptional accomplishment!