Crazy Horse and crazy llamas...

The past couple of days have been really packed! A few highlights:

—On Wednesday I spent the day in Spearfish, which is a really cool town in the Black Hills. I spent the morning responding to emails and making phone calls in this great coffee shop with decent coffee for $1. Yes, $1. And I shamelessly stayed there using their internet for 3 hours.

—I talked to writer/media producer Paul Higbee at the Opera House he and his wife helped restore, which is such a beautiful old building. Paul's involved in all sorts of projects, many of which have to do with preserving SD history, so the interview helped develop my 8th grade understanding of the Black Hills area, Native American culture, the gold rush, etc. Then I went to talk to Molly Moran, who was in my class at ND (we even had a few classes together through the exclusive yacht club known as the Honors Program). Molly now works as an RN at a local hospital 2 days a week and volunteers at the Spirit of the Hills Wildlife Sanctuary 5 days a week. The sanctuary takes in all kinds of animals that have been rescued from abusive situation--lions and tigers bred to be pets, designer dogs that people don't want any more, leopards drugged for erotic photo shoots--that sort of thing. Part of it is like a barnyard with dogs, cats, chickens, llamas, ponies, etc., and then there was the area with the big cats, where Molly and I conducted most of the interview. It went really well, except for a few times when the lions in the background roared continuously for about 3 minutes, and we had to stand there and wait it out. Oh, those lions. One of the best parts was after the interview, as we were walking back to the parking lot, I was holding a little dog named Whitey on his leash, and he broke free and starting chasing a couple of cats around the barnyard and into the llama pen. Molly and I ran after Whitey but stopped short at the pen, and he ran after the cats for about 30 seconds before he realized he had about 12 llamas galloping on his tail. He raced out of the llama pen and I caught him next to the parking lot, sitting and looking rather subdued after his near-death experience. Llet that be a llesson to you, Whitey.

—This morning, Julia, her roommate Julie and I got up at 5:30 and drove the Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park. Before I write anything here, a warning from Julia: "Buffalo are dangerous animals. They may look benign, but they can turn on a dime, and they'll gore you." Just wanted to get the word out on that. No bad buffalo experiences, though we had a close encounter with a wild burro, and we did see a few buffalo, along with lots of deer and antelope. Yes, this is the range! After our drive and a quick stop for bagels, I interviewed Julia (she is the ND Club president, after all...ok, plus it was just fun!) Some of you who read this blog know her, but are you aware that our Julia is not only an accomplished film and radio writer/producer, with regional Emmy and Edward R. Murrow awards to her credit (the Murrow is the most prestigious award in radio), but she also hosts a call-in show for SDPR, organizes a foreign film festival in Spearfish, and is an accomplished children's book author?! I tell you this because she would never brag, but in case you didn't already believe it, Jules is amazing!

—This afternoon, I interviewed an ND dad who works at the Crazy Horse Memorial, which is a colossal rock carving here in the Black Hills. It's nowhere near finished right now, but when it's done, it will be 631 feet high, and the four heads of Mt. Rushmore could all fit into Crazy Horse's profiled head. Before going, I was sort of feeling like, what's up with people in South Dakota and carving statues out of mountains? But I have to say, the Crazy Horse Memorial has a pretty incredible story. One that I will not tell in its entirety because I need to go to bed, but you can find more info at www.crazyhorse.org. Anyway, Crazy Horse himself was quite an impressive person: He led the Native Americans at Little Big Horn, where they defeated Custer in an effort to keep the rights to the land that was promised to them by the US Government. The Govt had had a change of heart with regard to their treaties once gold was discovered in the Black Hills. When CH went to speak with white generals at a subsequent meeting, one of the soldiers mocked him, saying, "Where is your land now?" And he responded, "My land is where my people lie buried." So the statue is CH on the back of his horse pointing out over the Black Hills, where his people lie buried. I don't know how this will sound when you read it, but it was really moving at the site. AND the best part was that my interviewee hooked me up with a tour of the mountaintop, so I got to go up to the CH's arm, right under his head, with a guy named Jim, who gave me a fantastic tour, with lots of personal insights. I recorded the whole thing and got some great photos, but I'm not sure how it will end up sounding, since there was lots of wind at the top, plus I couldn't wear headphones since I had to wear a hardhat. But I did my best, and even if the tape doesn't turn out, it was an incredible experience.

I know I keep saying I'll post some photos, and I promise I will, but it's been hard since internet access is tricky, and most of my time goes into planning this trip! But really, photos soon...I hope. I'm leaving the Black Hills tomorrow for Cody, WY, then Yellowstone and Montana, and I'm looking forward to the next part of the trip, but I'm really going to miss this area, and especially Julia and Julie, who were great hosts. Seriously--they even inspired me to try a few new recipes (when I have a kitchen again), and that is no small feat. Thanks, guys!