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In Memoriam
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What does Rendezvous mean to you?I don't get to go as much these days as I'd like, but rendezvous feeds my soul. I means leaving the world of TVs, phones, news, time, and worries. It means entering a world where everyone is a friend, some old, some new. At 'vous you don't have to "lock the door". Your kids can run off and if they're well behaved, no one minds, and you don't have to worry about where they are. It's a place to meet new friends and learn new things. It's fire and smoke. Staying up too late and waking up too early, and not minding too much. It's just fun. I first heard about Rendezvous from a story in the Lampasas paper about a 'voo y'all had up there in my hometown. Rendezvous! I had no idea they even existed! Wow! Like a time machine, or a movie set without the bother of the cameras! Sleepin' on the ground, cookin' on a fire, black powder rifles...a chance to LIVE a piece of history!! Drat, I hate I missed it! I GOTTA get to one of those!!!!! I tried like crazy to get hold of y'all, to no avail - couldn't track down a phone number. Then a friend invited us to Christmas at Old Fort Parker one year. One scene at the primitive camp there, just took my breath away. The old stockade fort was on the right, looking down a row of canvas marquis trader's tents and tipis, facing the sunset just below the treeline, late afternoon winter sunlight slanting across the scene, with the smoke from the blacksmith's forge drifting across the grassy path. Nothing from the modern world was in view. There were quite a few Comanches at the Fort for the powwow and some folks had brought their horses. One Native American guy in buckskins rode around the corner of a tent on his paint horse, with only a war bridle on the horse, long hair flowing in the breeze, walking his horse slowly up through the camp, looking at the trade goods just like it would have happened back then, and it was just magic. It still is, and always will be. I didn't have a camera that day, but I didn't need one. It's indelible in my memory - George Catlin couldn't have painted it better. Then after meeting some 'voo folks by accident/miracle and getting to know them outside of Rendezvous, the first doin's that I ever went to and actually camped at, was a Hanta Yowin gathering in the east Texas woods. There I found a sisterhood by choice, a bunch of strong, intelligent, talented ladies who could also gut and clean game! Women who support you in times of joy and sadness, ready to laugh or cry with you at a moment's notice - sometimes both at once! That bond was immediate and strong, and I was hooked for sure, then! Some women might have to be dragged screamin' and kickin' to get them to COME to a 'voo, but you're gonna have to drag me screamin' and kickin' to keep me AWAY from one! I love it and I've waited all my life to get here. I couldn't tell you what my favorite part of Rendezvous is. ~Maybe it's first getting there and rushing to hug old friends that share a common interest, and a common goodness - approaching life with generous hands and open hearts... ~Maybe it's the morning mist softly rising up from the creek and drifting through the camp at first light... ~Maybe it's the delicious aroma of bacon or biscuits or camp stew cooked over an open fire, and graciously shared with friends... ~Maybe it's the smell of wood smoke and braintan, a perfume sweeter than any you can buy in the store... ~Maybe it's seeing the graceful flow that a woman's long skirt gives to her walk, or the way buckskin fits a man's broad shoulders... ~Maybe it's the self-confidence and pride that comes with learning an ancient skill anew; even if that bead, that quill, that 'hawk, or that flintlock feels so natural in your hand that it's almost like "remembering" that skill instead... ~Maybe it's looking out across camp just after dark, seeing only the soft light of candle lanterns, the glow of a tipi lit from within, and warm campfires - beacons in the darkness, welcoming you home... ~Maybe it's enjoying a cup of good cheer and listening to a plaintive, haunting melody from the past, voices drifting in harmony with the touch of a hand on a guitar string... ~Maybe it's a cozy fire inside a tipi, wrapped up in a warm Whitney blanket, looking out at the stars through the smoke-hole as you begin to fall asleep... Maybe it's all of those things, and more than I could ever find the words to say. It fills my heart with love and beauty and laughter, a gift that money can never buy. And I thank you all for bringing it to my life. Rondevouz was a saving grace to me when Elby introduced me to it. I had always felt as if I had been born in the wrong time, that I did not belong in this life. All of this changed that fall day in Sequin over 12 years ago. All of that anxiety just melted away and I knew that I had found my home and my family. For me rendezvous means getting back to a simpler, more gratifying time. Today it ain't nothin to jump in the car and go somewhere, or turn on the stove for a fire. yesterday a person had to work for what he wanted, not like today, but really work, even for a simple meal and fire to cook it on. It was truly survival of the fittest. When I go to rendezvous (of course winter will only be my second) I get to meet people that know what friendship is really all about. Not like these aquaintances we talk to on a daily basis, but lasting memory filled friendship, with the thoughts that if a body needed a place to lay his head for a night, the lodge is open and the fire is warm. As for what I can do for rendezvous, I bring an open heart, an open mind, and an open hand. My lodge, tho small, is always open, the coffee will be hot, and the fire warm. Thank you to those who came first and gave us a long and glorious tradition to keep alive.
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