Well it is now going on six weeks and I am still gluten and dairy free. It has been quite and eye opening time. I have my ups and downs. This weekend I tried to cook bread. Understand I am not a cook, I like it fast and easy. So after four loafs of complete failures that not even the dog would eat (he eats everything) I finally go one loaf a bread that worked so today I had my first sandwich in 6 weeks. It was great.  My husband who does cook and bake wasn't home at the time a friend had an emergency and he was helping. After each failure I would call him he would says thing like did the yeast foam. What do you mean yeast foam. I was about ready to tear out my hair. my kitchen looked like a bomb of flour had exploded in it and my dog well he is a black and white mutt but on Sunday he looked like a dalmation. He had so much flour on him.
Today I have decided to look around for a support group. At lunch today one of the women said her brother was gluten free and she's giving him my information so I can talk with him.
I called the hospital in town who have diabetes(sp) groups and others and talked to them and they are looking into it. If that doesn't work then I will contact the health food store. It just helps if you have someone to talk to that's in the same boat as you and doesn't look at you like you have two heads.
Any one else out there who understands?

I have recently been placed on a Gluten and Dairy Free diet. It has become very interesting time for me. I was placed on this diet on the 14 of March '07, 8 days ago. Since then I have began to lose weight and best is that I am feeling so much better. I use to wake up in the morning with an aweful pain in my stomach and I would go to bed at night bloated and just feeling bad. I was told it would take 3 weeks to feel results but man I am surprized to feel so good so soon.

 

My journey with the Drum

It began when I got a hand drum from Tao's drums. It had a bear on it with bear paw prints. I would set on the front porch and play it. But for me a drum alone is alright but it seemed to be missing something. At that time my husband decided to make a drum, so he ordered all the parts and put a couple of hand drums together and a large Pow Wow size drum. He gave the pow wow size drum to our Sundance Chief so they could have a drum. During this time I was helping an Elder and when he would do a ceremony if the people asking for the ceremony didn't provide a singer he had no one to do it. So I decide to learn the songs so I could help if no one else could do it. Then one day a friend came by and said there's a tree down over in Illinois that would make a nice drum, so off they went. They came back with ½ the tree. He then made a large one sided drum, and several of our friends helped him string it. What a nice sound it made. We were at a gathering and my husband had brought the drum to be blessed and he was asked to play on it but he said I only make them I don't play them. The person blessing the drum said you need to play on it. So he did and he was hooked and decided to become the keeper of that drum, or rather the drum decided it. I knew that it would make a big difference in his life. Our Elder said it sure would be nice if I had someone to play a big drum and sing for my ceremonies. So my husband began collecting songs and learning them. We believe a song must be given to you before you can use it. He knows has over 400 songs.

Traditionally women do not play on a large drum unless given permission by medicine to do so. But I felt the need to play on the drum. The person who blessed the drum told me that I could play on the drum since I was a veteran/warrior, but I didn't feel it was the right time to do that. I did stand and sing and learn the songs.

I went to a conference; some one had a drum circle going so I took my hand drum and attended. During that circle I picked up a Djemba and I loved it. I soon found a teacher and bought myself a Djemba. I attended a couple of drum retreats and just loved it. During the beginning I never could hear the multiple rhythms so in free style circles I felt afraid to join in thinking I might blow the rhythm. But one day while attending a class I it just happened, now I hear the multitude of rhythms in everything. The clicking of the turn signal, I can hear the other beats to add to it. I just enjoy my hand drum and the polyrhythm of the African beats.

Our drum which had about 10 members was drumming for ceremony and then some demonstrations about the drum. We were asked to drum for a local groups pow wow. We didn't really know that many Pow Wow songs but we would try it. Soon more people were asking us to play. So we need to learn more songs. One day at a Pow Wow the host drum was Mother Earth Beat Drum out of West Virginia; this drum is an all women drum. I could tell they were looking at us and wondering what our reaction would be to a women's drum. I looked at my husband and said, "I believe now is the time for me to set at the drum" he smile and nodded his head. I took a chair and you could feel the energy at the women's drum relax. We had so much fun that day. We have drummed with that group several times since then.

This year Mother Earth Beat hosted "Feast of the East" Honoring Women drummers. It was awesome there were about 18 drums there, one was all men, three mixed, and the rest were all women. It was at this gathering that our drum took another turn and my husbanded announced after talking with Elders and praying about it that the drum now is a family drum and women can play on it. So all of us at the gathering set at the drum.

The other events of my journey with the drum is I asked to join  Mother Earth Beat Drum and was allowed to become a Guest Member. You have to be a guest for a while and see how you act, learn the songs, attend events that type of things. For me it is an honor to be a part of this group.

The link to their website is:

http://www.motherearthbeat.net/