Small footprint, Big Impact

Fall/Winter Update ~ Living in the San Francisco Bay Area ~

I have been busy with many projects since my retirement from teaching this June, 2012.

Danza Ye'Ja Love Medicine Dream ~ I am working hard assisting Grampa Darryl Babe Wilson in keeping our Mother Earth from turning into second moon.

http://www.haydutsila.com/

 

Bangka Journeys ~ I have been sending prayer, thoughts and good works towards manifesting bangka journeys in the San Francisco Bay Waters, then into the future of perhaps being invited to the Coast Salish peoples' Canoe Journeys and even grander, in eventually building bangkas for longer voyages in our pacific, as the Pacific Voyagers have done.

http://bangkajourney.com/
http://paddletoswinomish.com/
http://pacificvoyagers.org/

Stitching Journeys ~ I have been learning Laga (backstrap weaving) from my Master Teacher, Jenny Bawer Young, Kalinga. Each row of thread brings me closer to myself. I am honored.

http://www.actaonline.org/blog/55


Ceremony ~ May we all, each day, have gratitude for each breath of air, each sip of water, each warm flicker of fire, each speck of earth, each tree that stands, rock and mountain that stands, bird that flies, cloud that passes, insect that crawls, fish that swim, snake that slithers, stars that twinkle, moon that shines, sun that rises, music that fills our ears, ancestors that guide... these are the journeys I take this year. I have traveled far and have further to go ~

Mid-Year Update, 2012

Although I planned to attend the Kapwa3 Conference with my family...

http://www.kapwahan.wix.com/kapwahan#!KAPWA%203/c1669

         

....it turns out my family needs me more on Turtle Island than back home in the Philippines... so I am postponing my travels for a time until the Travel Gods hand me a pass with a, "GO HOME," emblazoned on it.  Weaving and studying herbal medicine has been my passion this year & I am happy to announce my official ACTA Apprenticeship blog at:

http://www.actaonline.org/blog/55

My adventure into herbal medicine is a roundtrip ticket back to my youth! MABUHAY to the Oakland Hills, Twin Peaks, Mt. Tamalpais, Mt. Tuyshtak, the Santa Cruz Mountains, Mt. Shasta, the Cordilleras in the Philippines and the Sierra Nevadas, whose green forests and healing powers have soothed my soul. There are many people who have brought me back to my love of plants, especially my family, but I am ever so grateful that I am at this place in my life once again.

I am ecstatic that I am able to dance again!!! Whoo Hoo!! Dancing with Rara Tou Limen, under the theme of "Love, Life & Transformation," and the guidance of Urzulie Freda, was truly heartfelt... I have been seeing and feeling love from every direction!!!! Even Aja is letting me wear her turquoise heart ~ loving it!

http://www.raratoulimen.com/index.html

Another exciting update is that Leng Leng and I are truly on the path to our future of Water Dreams ~ we've been gifted a log for a canoe & you can read about that on her blog at:

http://bit.ly/bangkajourney

A special thanks to the Manang Diane Vendiola, her daughter Shelly and the entire Vendiola family, for embracing us when we went to Swinomish to assist with protecting Mother Earth during the "Paddle to Swinomish" Journey in 2011. Check them out at:

  http://paddletoswinomish.com/

And I am ever so grateful to assist Grampa Babe (Daryll Babe Wilson), Pit River Indian, in planting the seeds of the Dream of Danza Ye'ja into being for the healing of Mother Earth.

http://www.haydutsila.com/

May we all remember how to respect all beings ~ may our memories from our ancient path bring us to the beauty of creation that creation may continue in a positive good way ~ may all embrace their divinity and walk in a good way ~ a special thank you to my mom, my father, my grandparents and all my ancestors. Another thank you to my children, my grandchildren and all those generations into the future that depend on us for a good way of being that we will respect and love our Mother Earth for all that follow. To all my relations ~ I am thankful to be in this world with you ~ Obrigado! Arigato! Gracia! Salamat! Agyamanak! Meci! Mahalo! & finally, as I remember the Manongs always shouting, "MABUHAY!!!"

Weaving with Jenny

Through ACTA, the Alliance for California Traditional Arts, Jenny Bawer Young, my Master Teacher, is teaching me the traditional weaving of Kalinga, Philippines... I am so excited. It's so cool to learn this from the comfort of Jenny's home. There are so many benefits--wonderful sweet desserts after our sessions, fresh baked bread from her hubby & lots of laughs too! But my favorite is getting meals especially made by Bodhi and Jacoby, whose delicious surprise dessert was made with a SECRET sauce... I wonder if you can guess what it is!!!!

Joyous 33

joy manifesting her vision of joining the pacific voyagers (above) ~ joy's visit to sf bay with me @ treasure island ~ 2011 ~ prayers of safety, learning & saving our beautiful ocean ~ it's a joyous adventure!!!
One day after Whitney Houston's death, remembering Aja's triumphant walk down the runaway to "I'm Every Woman," I awoke to see that Joy Ancheta turned 33. She is a crew member on the Pacific Voyagers (click above link on the title) on their return trip to the South Pacific. I am honored that she is the sole Pin@y representative joining our Austronesian family revitalizing the canoe ways of our ancestors...

...so I was inspired to write a poem!!! ~

joyous 33

by holly calica, 2/12/2012

she sails

glides over waves

del pacifico

madre del mundo

she sails

riding one vaka

amongst many

Austronesia brothers

sisters

fathers mothers

ninos del mar

primos del amor, hermanos de tiburones

los delfines

y las ballenas

even with tears falling

still bailando con splashes everywhere

skyhopping and

sharing their love with us

despite the pollution caused

by us, by our modern technology

our carbonized lifestyles of destruction

yet

she sails

a birthday girl

following a dream

a pin@y with hula chants

tucked away

and the call of the ancestors

of my island

luring her west

reliving our past

bringing us forward into a future

with our breath filling her sails

to join the effort in

saving

our blue planet

our sister

a joyous one

makes the voyage for us