Construction as a metaphor! We had some trouble with nailing this morning in certain spots of the wood. It turned out that it wasn’t nailing technique, but “bad” spots in the wood that were super hard. Once we knew they were bad, we adjusted our technique to work them in. Sometimes, you just have to deal with flaws in the life you get, and learn how to work around them.

I think that when you get in a groove nailing, you can hear musical notes resonating, almost a scale! Let those hammers sing!

Melissa

Another amazing day. I have not worked this hard…ever. My body aches in places I didn’t know it could. But we work on. This body has betrayed me before, but days like this make me realize I have reclaimed it. We all live on, in spite of the pain. I miss my boys but it’s kind of nice spending time with this baby in my body in my belly. Just as Gage gestated with the sounds of motorcycles from the first Changing Gears ride, this baby is lulled daily with the sounds of hammers and power saws.

Thanks for all of your wonderful comments. It is so nice to hear from my friends and family! I love you!

Audra

Warm greetings to all. This adventure is more than I ever imagined it would be – and I had pretty high expectations. All ten of the other women on our “team” are special, kind, warm, open…and just amazing!

We’ve had two full days of work so far, and have accomplished a lot. In addition, we’ve gone on car trips, walks, one fabulous hike, participated in a powerful smudging ceremony, had fabulous Blackfeet speakers, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Yes, we do sleep some too. : )

I’ve been feeling amazingly well and newly energized. This place and these people are helping to heal me. Thank you, fellow Amazon Heart princesses. You rock!

Chrissy

Wow! This adventure just gets better every day. Our building is starting to take shape and we all have learnt skills from hammering nails to using power saws. I just love working as part of the team with the other women and Charlie, our very patient Blackfeet teacher. As well as working, we also found time to attend a smudging ceremony and go to the Buffalo Jump. Tonight we listened to an inspirational and very interesting speaker Eloise Cobell. All the Blackfeet people we have met so far have made us feel very welcome and very special. I’m looking forward to getting the floor of the bunkhouse done tomorrow!

Cheryl

Well today was fabulous! We have been working so hard on the DeLaSalle Bunkhouse, it is so fulfilling, yet exhausting! We have been working in the Big Sky sunshine everyday. Our teacher is a Blackfoot named Charlie, he’s very patient and really knows his craft. Sometimes I will ask him a question about our work, and even though he looks amused, will answer with patience.

We went to the Buffalo Jump today. If you stand up there quietly and look out at the vast scenery before you, you can almost picture the Blackfeet hunters gathering up the Buffalo (for meat, skins, etc.) after herding them over the edge.

We met Eloise Cobell today. She spoke to us for quite a bit. I read about her several times over the years, what a voice for the Blackfeet people. She has been fighting to get back their land trusts and land rights from the government for years. I can’t believe I got to meet her in person.

Everyday has something new and exciting. I’ve made some very good friends here and I can’t wait to see what happens tomorrow!

Jeanie Z.