Flying High at Wingsprings

I spent much of the past few days at Wingsprings, near Martin, SD. This is the home, still being constructed, of my friend Craig Howe, a brilliant architect and scholar, and a proud Lakota. Photographs that I posted on Facebook about my visit don’t really tell the story. You can learn more about Craig’s vision for Wingsprings here.

Good fortune brought a number of us together at Craig’s on the same weekend, all united by respect for native cultures and knowledge and communities; by respect for the environment; by respect for one another and the varieties of work to which we are devoted; and by dry, relentless wit that had me laughing more than I have in a long time.

I was so stimulated by the landscape and by companionship, especially in regard to my novel-in-progress, that I had trouble sleeping at night. When I’d venture out of my “cabin” during the dark hours, all the world was black but for the sea of stars. Yesterday morning, I was up at 3:56am, and there was already a ribbon of light on the eastern horizon, such a sliver, yet enough to brighten everything so I didn’t need my flashlight to move about. Before long, the birdsong began, and the singing of coyotes.

I’m grateful to Craig, and to Ruth, and to Harvey, and to Jordan, and all of the rest of you that I met. What a pleasure and a privilege to be with you.