I made it home safe and sound last night. Getting into Pemberton I enjoyed the sight of Ts’zil (Mt. Currie) and its beautiful sharpness silhouetted by the moonlight. Later I fell asleep with the almost-full moon shining through my window and the rez dogs barking in the distance, protecting their owners homes from bears and such.

Today I went outside and enjoyed some of the beauty this land has to offer. I love the soft fall winds. The sounds it makes, rustling in Raven’s feathers, blowing the leaves off their branches, and gently chiming wind chimes. I had to close my eyes for second, hearing all these things. Language that speaks to my soul. Then mom swearing at the míxalh (black bear). She makes her own compost so sometimes they sneak into the yard. There’s also apple trees, and cherry trees, which by looking at the droppings you can tell they’re enjoying those. I love how we live with the bears out here. I’ve never heard of any attacks here. I’ve always been taught to respect míxalh, and that they are our relatives.

I feel so nourished by everything. The love of my family. Watching a squirrel eating the popcorn dad brought out for them. Eating some tomatoes freshly picked from my mom’s garden. Knitting and watching House with my mom. We already have a few Halloween decorations up. My mom loves decorating for Halloween. They say the veil between our world and the other is thin this time of year. I’ve been especially attentive to my dreams and what they might mean because I know we can get visits and messages from loved ones passed. As the trees are letting go of their leaves, now we should think of what we might want to let go of, especially before the full moon tomorrow night. Full moons are always a good time for endings and beginnings.

I love the feeling of fall. You can feel change in the air. It isn’t just that it’s colder. It feels clearer somehow, fresh, and lightly windy. I believe the wind carries our ancestors. They speak to us, send us guidance and messages on the wind. The following poem I wrote a while back, thinking of the wind and how it makes me feel:

When the light leaves my body

it will live on the wind,

dance in your hair,

whisper in your ear,

and make you shiver.

I believe the wind carries many things. When your far from home, all you have to do is sing your people’s songs and they will hear you. It carries the birds in the sky to new levels, sending out our prayers. Sometimes it brings me back in time to when I was a little girl, laying in the grass on my own, but not feeling alone, picturing things in the clouds and in my future.

Kúkwstum̓ckacw, and Happy Fall!