Fast!

Tomorrow my granddaughter begins conditioning for her coming of age ceremony. As her grandmother I will be responsible for guiding and assisting her in her transition to adulthood. I JUST this evening completed a truly beautiful and elaborate ceremonial dress for her, with a little help from many friends and relatives who harvested and processed natural materials used in the design. It's been a hectic but very cool process. I worked like a maniac for the past two weeks - 12+ hour days to assemble the dress. We've been processing abalone, pine nuts, bear grass, fern, buckskin . . . for years. It has been a really wonderful endeavor.

The actually ceremony will take place at a traditional village site for three days, beginning next Thursday and finishing up Sunday after intermittent dances that will last throughout the night. Tomorrow we begin preparing by moving her out of her regular home routine and in with her grandparents. She and I begin a modified fast - one meal a day, supplemented only with acorn water and huckleberry juice. I'm actually looking forward to getting my eating under control, although I know it will be challenging. Why? Well, I'll have to go through coffee withdrawals for one. For two, my eating is currently completely out of control. Knowing I won't eat until around 4 or 5 tomorrow, I prepared by stuffing my face to the point of feeling sick. Hubby cooked shrimp pizza and I ate twice as much as him, then chased it down with some ice cream. I was soooo full I couldn't even think of going to bed. So I've been cleaning house since midnight. I'm still stuffed! Hopefully by the time I'm done cleaning the kitchen I'll have digested enough food to be able to sleep. Hopefully.