My Mom and the Coyote

October 19th. My mom. Sunflowers. Fall colors. Smiles. Tigerlilies. Hugs. Bluebirds. Golf.

I played a round of golf by myself -- a few mom moments and a few tears.

It was a beautiful fall day on a quiet golf course...until this coyote came out of the woods, sniffed my ball (!), and walked down the fairway past me. Wow! I was in awe!

There are many coyotes in Native American stories in the southwest (which my mom loved). So I had to investigate and find some meaning in my lone golf course coyote crossing.

"Coyote--wanderer, glutton, lecher, thief, cheat, outlaw, clown, pragmatist, survivor. In the desert Southwest US, coyote the trickster still plays an important pragmatic and ceremonial role in the lives of Native American people. He never gives up, is always willing to say “yes” to anything, and never takes himself too seriously. In the traditional oral literature of Native Americans, mythological creatures like coyote do not represent animals. Instead, they represent the First People, members of a mythic race who first populated our world and lived before humans existed. The First People had tremendous powers and created all we know in the world, but they were--like us--capable of being brave or cowardly, conservative or innovative, wise or stupid. Native American coyote stories are told to audiences of young and old alike. They are sometimes told to explain cosmology, as instructional tales for the young, to illustrate history, to illuminate tragedy, and sometimes just for the sheer hilarity of telling and hearing a funny story. In all these guises, coyote stories are a mirror for our own lives, pointing out the petty foibles and the most magnificent strengths. In a more practical vein, coyotes are survivors, able to co-exist around the edges of most human habitats."

I miss you, mom!