To Grandma's House

Sweat Lodge Begins*

"Xael hun, look in the back room for prayer tie cloths."

"Yes, ma'am."

Xael was glad her grandmother was OCD when it came to being organized. There was a medium-sized tote marked prayer ties. Xael sat it on the kitchen table.

"Found it Grams."

"Thanks hun."

"I'm off to sweep the back deck for the guys."

"Oh okay! There's a fire pit thingy out there too. Will you clean it out and set it up in the middle of the deck, there're some stones for it as well."

"Yes ma'am."

Xael grabbed the broom by the back door and swept the deck. Finding the patio fire pit, she placed the stones off to the side. Placing the pit on the stones, she headed for the woodpile. She loaded up the pit with wood, having a small pile of kindling on top.  Extra wood was placed off to the side. Feeling she had everything done, she went inside.

"Come help me chop veggies for the roast!"

"Mn."

As she set down, Shado came in the back door. The two ladies looked at him.

"We don't have stones for the lodge..."

Ms. Emma and Xael burst out laughing. The two laughed for almost 10 minutes.

"All right, All right!" Shado didn't think it was so funny.

Wiping tears from their eyes, the two ladies looked at him.

"I'll call one of the Elders down the road. That's where we usually get them from. Have a seat Adam." Ms. Emma asked Xael to get her the phone.

Xael grabbed her jacket on the way to the living room. Returning with the phone for her grandma. Ms. Emma dialed the number.

"Hey Gale! This is Emma. How are you?"

"I'm Good, how's Xael doing?"

"She's fine. Hey, you have stones for a lodge?"

"Sure do! The nephew brought some up last week."

"Oh good! I'll send someone up to get some. Thanks!"

"Oh, is it for the young men from the pow wow?"

"Yes, Sheriff Skylar is leading it."

"Oh awesome. Tell him I'll send him my bill."

The two laughed. Gale's bill meant deer meat for his freezer.

"Xael, hun..."

"Already know Grams."

"I'm going with you."  Shado was up and making his way towards her.  Xael looked at him. She knew it wasn't worth arguing over. Then her Grams jumped in to play secret 'wing-man.'

"Oh good! You still have a headache dear. Let him help, now off with you two!"

Xael headed for the door, Deputy Shado followed, but not before giving grandma a thumbs up and a huge smile of thanks. Walking onto the front porch, Xael whistled for her pups. They were running up to the house in less than a minute, free of blood and carnage.

"Let's go!"

Xael and Shado made their way to her Jeep. She opened the back passenger door for the pups to get in. Xael started up the jeep and slowly drove down the bumpy dirt road. Reaching the paved portion, she suddenly stopped.

Two female does ran across the road. Now they were off. It was only a 15 minute drive to reach the neighbor's house. As Xael pulled into the drive, Mr. Running Deer was waiting for them on his ATV. Xael followed him to the treeline, stopping to back up to it to make loading easier.

Mr. Running Deer killed the engine but didn't get off. He would let the young folks lift the stones. As the two got out of the Jeep, Xael walked over to Shado.

"Come on, I'll introduce you."

"Deputy Shado, Mr. Running Deer."

The two men shook hands. The Elder had the same smirk as her grandmother.

"You two were quite the pair for the couples dance!"

"Thanks Mr. Running Deer." Shado was smiling again, secretly happy that he had someone else on his side.

"Thanks for the stones!" Xael began loading them to divert from the conversation. The two got all the stones plus extras in less than 20 minutes. The Elder didn't wait around and went back to his house. Finishing up, they headed back to the cabin. Xael backed up to the small walkway that went around to the back. Getting out, she told Shado to wait while she grabbed the wheelbarrow.

Luckily everything fit for one trip and the tires were in good shape. Shado headed back to the lodge and she went into the house, the pups right behind her. After cleaning paws she went into the kitchen, the pups rested on the floor in front of the couch. Her grandma had waited until she got back to fix the veggies.

"All done?"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Good, let's get the veggies going." After about an hour, they had them all peeled and chopped. They would put them in the roaster pans an hour after the men headed back to the lodge.

Soon cars showed up with the rest of the participants. Skylar was outside waiting for them as he didn't want them all walking through the house. Xael had set bags out there for them on the back deck and covered the windows on the door. Her Grandmother also had her hook up the outside shower and place chairs around the fire ring for the guys. The men could get ready for the lodge on the deck and leave their clothes in the bags for when they returned.

Once they had gathered on the back deck. Skylar lit the fire pit and smudged everyone since they were already sitting in a circle. Afterwards he spent some time explaining how things would work and they started on their prayer ties. It was around 7pm when they headed back to the lodge. Everyone knew it would be a long and fairly late night, but they were fine with it.

The young men that gathered were grateful to take part in a lodge ceremony, and for many it was their first one. Other Elders that joined in the ceremony were there to assist the younger ones, help as fire keepers and pass stones.