Kay Olan: Welcoming Grandfathers and the water they bring

This is the time of year when people in the Northeast become excited about the return of warmer weather and longer daylight hours. The robins and the geese are returning from their winter get-away vacation spots down south. Gardeners are looking longingly through seed catalogues and making their selections. Farmers are waiting patiently for the last of the snow to melt, so they can prepare their fields for planting. Female horses, cows and the other four-leggeds are growing larger with new life. The first shoots of crocus and hyacinth are peeking up and winking at us. Sweet water, the sap from the sugar maple, is running and we rejoice in the knowledge that all of the other trees will soon follow and each will wake up in turn. The people are feeling re-energized and hopeful. There is birth, growth and renewal. The cycle of life continues as it should and as was planned.

It is also the season when our Grandfathers, the Thunder Beings, come back to visit us. They will stay with us through late spring, summer and early fall until they leave again for the winter months. When they call to us with their loud, deep, rumbling voices to announce their arrival, we celebrate. We stop everything, look for our sacred Indian tobacco and our pipes (and other prayer tools) and go outside to welcome them. We smoke our pipes and send our greetings, thankfulness and love to the Grandfathers. We extend to the Grandfathers our most sincere greetings to let them know that we are happy to see them and that we are honored by their desire to visit us. We express our great appreciation to them for they bring the rain that replenishes the water in the rivers, lakes, ponds, streams and oceans. Those waters provide a home for the fish and water animals. The rain that falls bathes and refreshes Mother Earth. The rain and lightning purify the air. The rain revitalizes the plants and trees. The water quenches our thirst, helps the animals to live and the plants to grow. What a wonderful gift. Our grandfathers are so generous.