Okay, this is my second attempt at writing a post about our 2019 trip to Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Hopefully, it’ll go better than the first attempt, which turned into a laundry list of things that went horribly, horribly wrong (actually, nothing really went THAT wrong – nobody got hurt during any of our misadventures, which really makes them more kind of inconveniences, rather than the catastrophes they felt like at the time).
That first attempt, in all honesty, was really bumming me out, although I guess I’m probably not the only person on the planet who tends to concentrate on the bad stuff rather than the good. This time however, I’m listening to the most perfect piece of music ever written (Beethoven’s 9th Symphony), performed in Berlin, on Christmas Day 1989, by an orchestra of international musicians from the east and the west, conducted by Leonard Bernstein, just after the fall of the Berlin Wall as I type. If ever there was music to help me think of the good stuff, this is it (as it turns out, there was plenty of good stuff).
The Berlin Celebration Concert (you’re welcome! And for once in your life, read the comments – you’ll be glad you did.)
I bought a new trailer for the trip and, despite some problems, it worked out great! After we got all of our gear out of it, we were able to hook up two refrigerators inside the trailer, and put up shelves for storing supplies, and we were able to basically operate out of the trailer for the entire week! We powered it using my little Honda generator, and we had virtually no problems (or at least none worth mentioning) except for the brain damage I repeatedly incurred due to my inability to remember how low the ceiling is in the trailer. Next year, I’ll remember to put on Dave’s hard hat!
Using the new trailer actually saved us about $1,200, and should save us that much every year, since we won’t need to rent an apartment or cabin for the week.
More good news, I’m pretty sure I’ve figured out how to get hot water in the trailer, so no more heating water on the grill to do dishes!
But the trailer wasn’t the only thing that went well: the entire group really pitched in and worked hard to help each other through what was in all honesty, one of the most physically and emotionally demanding trips we’ve ever had. Everyone, from our oldest member (85?) to our youngest (5), went above and beyond to keep things moving, to support each other, and to get the job done (well, as done as it ever gets anyway).
Everybody except me, that is. After 15 years of making this trip, I finally reached my breaking point. I can’t remember whether it was Wednesday or Thursday night when I’d had all I could take and just told everyone, “I quit. You guys are on your own.” It’s not something I’m proud of, but I think it worked out well in the end.
See, part of the problem with being sort of “in charge” of something like this for a long time is that you start thinking that you’re necessary, and no one is “necessary”. It isn’t up to me to make this trip a success. I’m just a cog in “the mills of God”, and not a particularly important one at that.
That was made abundantly clear when things didn’t stop getting done, when things didn’t fall apart, when my failure to cope had no noticeable affect whatsoever. It was really quite a relief to be reminded of my own insignificance. The wheels in that old mill just kept grinding along.
But enough about me. Like I said, it was a tough trip on everybody. It was unseasonably cold (down in the 30’s on at least one night), so the camping was kinda brutal, especially for those unused to roughing it (or at least that rough). But everyone did the best they could, and when they reached their limit, someone else stepped in to take some of their load.
I don’t know that we’ve ever had a group work that hard to support each other before. It was a beautiful thing.
But wait, there’s more! The final, and most catastrophic, breakdown of my truck, left me stranded alone, in the middle of nowhere, in the pitch-black night. It’s amazing how many stars you can see out there, away from all the lights. Once I finally got hold of a tow truck, I just climbed up in the back of my poor truck, popped a warm Diet Coke, lit a smoke, and just enjoyed God’s light show (I mean, what else was I gonna do?).
Anyway, thanks to the problem being a little more catastrophic than I had thought (although how catastrophic can anything really be that can be fixed with money?), I ended up having to stay another week.
The night before the rest of the group left, the Oglalla Lakota College had its graduation powwow. There was a guy there selling 6-week-old Labrador Retriever puppies for $100 each. I was really tempted, because Jess loves puppies (and yeah, I do too). Then Dave asked the guy if he’d do two-for-one, and the guy said yes, so we took the last two.
This trip was really one for breaking our standing “no taking dogs home” rule. In my defense, I was going to be stuck there another week with no wheels, so I considered her an “emotional support puppy”. I don’t know what Dave’s defense is, but after I got home, Dave brought his puppy up, and it was really cool to see them playing together.
The Davis’ also adopted a dog, or rather the dog adopted them. There was this big dog, I’m pretty sure it was partly/mostly a Belgian Malinois, had been left at the lodge by someone a couple months earlier. Spencer and Connie’s boys played with him some (I think they named him George), and one morning woke up to find him inside the tent, sleeping with them.
After that, there was zero chance of them leaving without George. They were doomed.
So our group left, and I was briefly on my own, just me and Siouxsie Sioux (any Banshees fans out there?). It was either that afternoon or the next, that Andy Clark’s group showed up. It was their first time out, so they were kind of on the wrong side of the learning curve, but I got to watch them dive right in. They adopted me as kind of an honorary member of their group, and my trailer came in handy for them as well.
They also had a lot of teenagers who were happy to play with Siouxsie, and so she may turn out to be the only dog we have that’s been properly socialized. All-in-all, it turned out to be a win-win-win.
Anyway, I guess that’s about it. If you think you might be interested in joining us next year, the post previous to this one has the details. I won’t promise you it’ll be comfortable, but I can honestly say that it’s a great experience with a lot of great people, and we spend way more time laughing and loving than we do crying and whining.
Seriously, if you’re interested, give me a holler.