teamwork

Another Deer Another Dollar – Day 332

Posted on by Lisa Weikel 2 Comments
Another Deer Encounter – Photo: L. Weikel

Another Deer Another Dollar    

After my session with a client today, I made a quick stop for a couple groceries. As I left the store, I decided to take the slightly more circuitous route home, which is actually my favorite way because it takes me alongside my beloved Tohickon. Almost always, when I take that route, I also give in to the temptation to stop and write for several minutes. Since it was drizzling out, I figured Karl wouldn’t want to walk, so the prospect of writing a page or two in my journal beckoned enticingly.

As I rounded the corner and approached a turnoff close to the creek, I encountered this sight: a man with his van door askew, seeming to herd a small deer into the front seat. I stopped a fair distance away, trying to get a better idea of what, exactly, I was seeing, and not wanting to add to the confusion by pulling up too close.

Photo: L. Weikel

I hadn’t been observing for more than minute when I realized the little one was definitely confused, and didn’t seem to be readily scampering off into the brush as the man was clearly trying to persuade it to do. It was hard to tell whether her sight was impaired, but it was clear she didn’t know which way to turn.

Dazed and Definitely Confused

At first, I rolled down my window and asked if I could help. His vehicle was a little over the center line and it was dangerously close to a corner where I know people often approach at a good, if oblivious, clip. The man welcomed my help, thinking maybe the two of us could herd her with more success. He said he’d just come upon her before I arrived and she’d almost walked right into the side of his van. He believed she’d recently been hit by a car – grazed, perhaps – but was probably going into shock.

Together, and with the rather aggressive and unexpected aid of another man who’d stopped behind my car, jumped out of his vehicle, and insisted upon yelling and waving his hands at her, trying to scare or bully her into getting off the road, we at least managed to steer her to the side of the road that had a deer trail leading off into the brush. She refused to get off the road, though.

Photo: L. Weikel

Rush Hour

When cars started piling up in both directions (remember, this is a country road; the trickier part was that it was right around 5:30 p.m.), the first man impulsively picked the deer up and placed her on the bank of weeds and brush just off the paved portion of the road.

Stunned, she just stood there, not more than two feet from the edge of the road. The drizzle had turned to a more steady rain by this time, and the four or five cars that had stopped in both directions had taken turns and moved along. Three or four stopped to ask if they could help. Most, sadly, barely put their foot near the brakes at all as they rounded the turn and came upon us.

Calling For Backup

As soon as he picked her up and placed her on the side of the road, the first man left. Another had parked his pickup on a triangular patch of land about a hundred feet away and came over to the deer and me. He suggested we call the police. Instead, I tried calling AARK, our local wildlife rehabilitation foundation, but of course they were closed for the day. No matter what we did, we could not get her to budge from where the first man had ‘deposited’ her. And neither one of us trusted that she wouldn’t immediately dart back into the road if we left her where she was.

Photo: L. Weikel

 

I called 911 and let them know our situation. About 15 minutes later, an officer arrived. In the meantime, the man, who introduced himself as John, and I stuck with her. As you can see from my photos, she let me get very close to her; in fact, I petted her head and neck, cooed and spoke softly to her the entire time, telling her that she needed to get further off the road and bed down. John said he’d heard a young deer had been wandering around the neighborhood the past few days; word was that the mother had been hit and killed and the youngster was lost without her.

When the policeman arrived, he was very sympathetic, but his options were limited. In fact, because she was not in the roadway at the moment, he could not technically do anything.  (If she had been in the road…the option was not a pretty one.)

Banged and Confused

Neither John nor I were comfortable leaving her so close to the road, nor did we want her to be ‘put down.’ Being up so close to her, it did look like she’d been hit – grazed or banged her head – because she had some blood coming out of her nostril. Not a lot. And there was a little on her foreleg, but she clearly had no broken bones.

I was reminded of my screech owl, Hootie, who’d flown into my driver side door one snowy January night and nearly knocked himself out. (A story for another day.) That experience had taught me that animals can be extremely resilient if given an opportunity to heal.

Photo: L. Weikel

Into the Thicket

Once I realized we humans were just hemming and hawing, I decided to do something. I climbed up the rain-slicked, slight embankment so I was right beside her (hoping she wouldn’t get scared and dart out toward John and the policeman), picked her up, and started guiding her deeper into the thicket. I was delighted to see the vast amounts of poison ivy all around my sandaled feet. At one point, she balked and suddenly backed up, squeezing between my legs. The weeds and pricker bushes were positioned such that I had to carefully pick my way around them and circle back to get behind her once again and start all over.

All this time, John, the policeman, and another person who’d pulled up (I believe John’s daughter-in-law, from their conversation) were chatting and, I assume, watching me act as an erstwhile deerpoke-cum-whisperer. After a few more mutually clumsy thrusts and lunges deeper into the brush, she calmly looked up at me, bent her forelegs and knelt in front of me. She then gently settled herself into a bedding position and assured me she’d stay for the night.

It was raining softly. I was a bit chilled. But she was at least somewhat protected from the harshest of the elements. We all agreed that we’d done what we could, and it was up to her and Mother Nature to see if she would survive.

Yet another deer encounter…hopefully this one has a good ending as well.

 

Resting peacefully – Photos: L. Weikel

(T-779)

Retreat! – Day Sixty Four

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Photo: Prime.peta.org

Retreat!

“Prairie Dog medicine teaches that strength and inspiration can be found by retreating into the stillness that quiets the mind. The strength of this medicine is also knowing when and how to replenish your life force. Prairie Dog medicine people tend to seek self-empowerment in silence and inactivity, where they can access dreams and visions without the intrusions of worldly chaos. When they reenter the world, they are profound and powerful anchors of calm resolve amid life’s storms.” (Medicine Cards, p. 225)

 

On the first day of January, I chose Prairie Dog not only on my day, but also as an indicator of the essential theme for my 2019.

But instead of having Raven underneath, as I did last year, Beaver showed up.

I have to admit, I was surprised. It was (and still is) feeling like this year is going to have a distinctly different flavor than 2018. So, given my assumptions about last year’s Prairie Dog and how they played out, I wasn’t expecting to pick it again this year.

In fact, it’s almost amusing. As I was walking along our dirt road two weeks ago, passing the entrance to the state park near our home, enjoying the unseasonably balmy weather of that first day of the year, I distinctly remember thinking to myself that I’ve let go of the idea of writing a sequel. At least for now, anyway.

There’d been at least three distinct moments last year when I’d set aside time and immersed myself in my old journals, taking a deep dive into the thoughts and feelings surrounding that time in our lives that feels so important for me to share as the next step in our grand adventure. Each of those entry points into manifesting my intention, however, seemed to be derailed by something momentous occurring within our family that demanded my absolute attention.

My Assumption Wasn’t in the Cards

What I’d assumed that Prairie Dog was bringing me just wasn’t in the cards. That doesn’t mean, however, that PD had been a pick that made no sense. Quite the contrary. I was forced to withdraw from a lot of engagement with the outside world in order to address the stuff that needed attention here at home. And I needed to take care of myself, so I didn’t blow out.

I believe the Raven underneath reflected some major magic and healing that Karl experienced, which translated into coloring my entire world simply because our lives are that inextricably linked. I think I can safely say that neither of us saw it coming. I know I can say the ripple effects will certainly extend well into the future.

And so, here I am. I’m not assuming the Prairie Dog that showed up for this year has anything to do with my writing. And let’s face it: taking on this 1111 Devotion has changed my relationship to my writing profoundly, even if my posts, on average, are pretty short. Writing every day for public consumption is weird. And I’m not sure if or how it’s going to influence whether I tell the next chapter of my story in the form of a book. We’ll see.

Prairie Dog’s Literal Message

“Prairie Dog…calls me

     when it’s time to rest,

When it’s time to honor

     the internal quest.

I go into retreat

     so I may see,

A way to replenish

     The potential in me.”

As I mentioned yesterday, it’s pretty obvious that Prairie Dog could be giving me a very clear and literal  message that I am to lead more retreats this year. (Speaking of which, I need to tell you about a really cool one I’ll be co-leading in May. But I’ll give that its own post.)

Beaver’s Contribution to the Message

Truthfully, given the presence of Beaver underneath this year’s pick, it looks like that could very well be where these critters are leading me. That’s because, beyond the above quote about going ‘into retreat,’ Beaver is all about teamwork and building something with others.

Indeed, a salient paragraph of Beaver is as follows:

“To understand Beaver medicine, you might take a look at the power of working and attaining a sense of achievement. In building a dream, teamwork is necessary. To accomplish a goal with others involves working with the group mind. Group mind constitutes harmony of the highest order, without individual egos getting in the way. Each partner in the project honors the talents and abilities of the others, and knows how to complete the piece of the puzzle that belongs to them. In working well with others, a sense of community is achieved and unity ensues.”

The fascinating thing about this is that this will be the first year I’ve run a retreat with a partner, a co-presenter. And it will be held in a completely different setting than any retreat I’ve run prior to this, with lots of other people involved, and even a different core audience. So there will most definitely be ‘group mind’ at work on a lot of different levels.

Back to Waiting

Now, whether this is how Prairie Dog/Beaver works out in the long run, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Which brings me back to my theme yesterday: waiting.

Is this the year of an active or passive Prairie Dog? Guess I’ll find out.

Either way, it seems obvious I will need to take extra care of myself, since “…Just as Native American warriors knew when to charge forward and when to become invisible, the Marmot tribe knows how and when to retreat. The Prairie Dog runs for the tunnels when a predator is on its trail; in the winter (ahem), it conserves energy by hibernating during the scare time of the cold moons.”

I think I’ll go hunker down now.

Wikipedia.com

(T-1047)

Trusting the Leap – Day Nineteen

Posted on by Lisa Weikel 4 Comments

 

Trusting the Leap

I’m having a hard time coming up with something to write about tonight. Nothing is jumping out at me; I had a long day, I’m tired, and I didn’t experience any major “Ahas!” regarding this morning’s ‘pick.’

Technically, my full pick this morning was Black Panther/Beaver. Although I always love when I choose Black Panther – since its title attribute in the Medicine Cards© is “Embracing the Unknown,” I always enter my day when I choose it with a sense of anticipation and a bit of mystery – I can’t say as though I noticed it applying to the way my day unfolded.

Beaver’s title attribute is “Builder,” and my usual default sense of Beaver when it’s underneath is that it somehow has something to do with working with others, or ‘teamwork.’

Applying My Cards to My Dilemma

And now I will admit to something:

It is only now as I am writing this post that I am sensing the application of my card pick.

My receipt of Black Panther was the cards telling me that I needed to “leap empty-handed into the void with implicit trust” in writing tonight’s post. I just had to dive in. And as soon as I wrote that first sentence, I felt like I might be onto something. Just admitting that I had no subject was a subject!

That’s when I thought to consider what I’d chosen on my day – at least it might give me a jumping off point.  So, while it may have been more accurately described as an empty-headed leap into the void with implicit trust, here I am, embracing my Black Panther.

And the Beaver underneath? Well, that sort of just falls into place for me now and underscores that Black Panther is appearing in reference to my 1111 Devotion . Beaver’s placement underneath is you. Why? Because we are a team. We are a community. By taking the time and according me the honor of choosing to spend a few precious minutes with me each day (or whenever you can), you are respecting my Act of Power. You are respecting my dedication to this crazy devotional practice. And honestly? Knowing that you (and yes, your single self is absolutely precious to me) are going to read this has spurred me on to put one sentence after another and follow through.

Sometimes They Make Sense Only Later

It’s also another way for me to show how the Medicine Cards©work for me. They do not always make sense to me as I read them at the outset of my day. Some days I honestly have no clue as to how my pick will apply. Some days I can honestly say I never figure it out.

But then there are days like today, when the meaning or application has not had an opportunity to manifest until the sun has long since set and I am starting to grow sleepy.

The cool thing (for me), though, is that I still feel the magic. I’m delighted that my choice of cards this morning taught me something this evening. They came to my aid by informing me that sometimes we just have to leap into the void, even if we are empty-handed (or empty-headed), with implicit trust – in order to keep building on our commitment to the ‘team.’

So again – thank you for being there for me.

recinet.ca

(T-1092)