#Wind's grandmother would be Wild's great aunt making Wind their cousin too.

[doctorcanon]

I cant sleep so modern!linked universe hc time.

- Rusl buys Twilight a dna/ancestry thing for his 20th birthday.

- having been adopted into the Ordon family since the age of 15, the gift doesn't go over well at first.

-However after some deep conversations, Rusl explains that he promised Twilight birth parents that he'd do this if anything happened to them.

- Still Twilight procrastinates and after some cajoling from midna, finally does it a year later for his 21st birthday.

- at his party, a small family dinner at the Ordon home with Zelda, Illia and Midna in attendance, he lays the envelope on the table and says "before I open this, I want you all to know that what ever I find in here that you are all my family and I love you all."

- the first thing in the envelope is his genetic information, some basic stuff he already knows, some stuff he doesn't and somethings Zelda remarks he should see a doctor about. Apparently he's actually 65% Karariko as Renado predicted.

- the second thing is copies of his mother and father's Service Papers. Both served in the military; one as a murse and other as an officer. Both died of burns and smoke inhalation after rescuing several of their fellow tenants when the apartment above theirs caught fire.

- the third thing is a list of public records. His father was originally from Hateno and an only child save for a half brother who died a few years later. His mother, from kakariko, had two much younger siblings. Sheik and Link.

- while there are some records of a custody battle Shiek and Link were separated in the system after the death of their mother. There is an obituary written by Twilights mother with a picture of her and her three children. There's no further information about Link or Sheik.

- Until one last little page slips out, A wedding announcement from 10 years ago. Announcing the joyful union of Malon Lon and Link Kokiri. He's seen this before.

- in fact, Twilight sees this exact newspaper clipping framed in his old boss's office. He visits at least twice a month. He even jokes with him the it was the only proof the guy could actually smile.

- The Lon Lon Family owns their aptly named Lon Lon ranch but he reports to Malon's husband directly when it came to the horses. Especially Epona. He just saw the man last week, for crying out loud!

- He has an uncle. And he's already known the man for 5 years now. They thought it was just a funny coincidence that they had the same name.

- Illia says its fate. Zelda assures him that this can't be an accident. Midna presses his cell phone into his hands. Rusl tells him that its his decision and that they'll respect whatever that may be.

- He calls first, of course. He only works at the ranch on weekends these days anyway. It would be weird to just show up to his shift and just go "hey, do you know im your nephew?"

- he asks if Mr Kokiri would like to talk some time under the guise of needing some advice. Under all the grump and sarcasm, Kokiri really is a saint and easily says yes, asking if Twilight is okay since he sounds stressed.

- the next day, Twilight stumbles into his boss's office with all the papers in his hands.

- "if you need advice about school, you've come to the wrong place, kid."

"No...uh sir this ain't about school. Yet. But uh...do you recognize this picture?"

- he sets down the obituary with its photo of his mother, grandmother, Sheik and Link somewhere in Karariko. Kokiri studies it but otherwise seems clueless. "No, sorry, I dont."

- "Well according to these papers," Twilight sets them on the desk and spreads them out so he can see. "This is my mom. And this is you. Her brother. I think...I think you're my uncle."

[hyungie-pdh]

It was the winter of 2016 and I was at my grandma’s house for winter break. My aunt lives just a quick walk over to the south, my younger cousin staying at his own grandma’s home. I’ll call him Charlie.

We had made plans to bring his dog, a tan-colored mutt, out with us past the barbed wire fence to find squirrels to shoot at. My grandma warned us about wolves and potential dangers of the northern woods during winter. Wolves were starving from the lack of food and I’m sure they would love to make a meal out my cousin and I.

I was 14 and my cousin was 11, but it was common for us to take a twenty-two rifle and explore the woods. Not without my grandma (his great-grandma) always giving us the same warning:

“Be aware of your surroundings, always.”

After army crawling under the barbed-wire and helping Charlie through the knee deep snow, I picked the gun up and we continued walking, his dog Teddy not too far in front of us. 

An hour of walking, we decided to sit against a tree that had fallen down in a tornado from the summer before, to catch out breath and give our limbs a rest from dragging our bodies through the snow. 

Teddy was very chill and laid back, so when he took off after the wind began picking up, it made us panic. Both of us were aware about the legends of the wendigo and to make matters worse, we were still on a reservation. We decided then it was time to head back, we began to call for the dog... But he never responded.

Charlie suggested he’d already be almost back at the house, he always ran off chasing after rabbits so it was uncommon that he wouldn’t find his way back to my aunt’s. 

The wind blew against our faces, bringing a dusting of snow to blind us as well. I remember Charlie clinging to my scarf, walking behind me so we wouldn’t get separated. 

Just earlier I was lightening the mood and cracking jokes about the “wind demon” (too scared to say it’s real name) but they no longer seemed like jokes.

It felt like ages that we were walking through this blizzard and we didn’t seem any closer to the house and to be honest, I was beginning to panic. 

Fear really set in when there was a distant howl and we both instantly knew it was a timber wolf, a starving and blood-thirsty wolf that caught our sent from the wind.

I took my scarf off from around my neck, looping it tightly around Charlie’s waist, telling him to run as fast as he can while I follow behind him in case anything attacks from behind. 

The two of us  ran through the snow devils (tornadoes of snow) as the wind whipped us around, but urged us to run faster. But then Charlie stopped dead in his tracks, causing me to run into him. As I got to my feet I noticed his reason for halt.

A deep black wolf stood just yards in front of us, it’s panting could be overheard from the howling winds. It made no movement, everything around us was frozen and even the wind seemed to die down.

There was something off about the wolf, the way it’s fur seemed to be matted up everywhere and even pieces of it missing. I noticed the muscle on the chest pulsing out of the wild dog. But it wasn’t just the fur, even the feet seemed... Off.

One second, the wolf was standing there observing us, the next it was charging at Charlie and I, teeth baring. My instincts of survival kicked in, moving to the side of Charlie and lifting the barrel of the gun up to aim right at the almost demonic seeming wolf. 

The click of the safety turning off is what stopped the wolf in it’s track, raising itself on it’s hind legs to tower over me.

“Don’t shoot me.”

The voice that came out of the creature’s mouth was hoarse and there seemed to be a gargle in the back of it’s throat. 

Charlie and I watched as the black wolf’s form changed into one of a man, it’s stature growing and it’s arms being brought off to the side. The sight of it was horrifying as it took off and soon disappeared amongst the trees. 

My knees buckled and I collapsed onto them, sinking into the snow as Charlie just stood there still in shock.

It only took us fifteen minutes to make it back to our grandma’s house, not saying a word to each other about what we witnessed.

What could we say? What could I tell my grandma?

I witnessed a wolf turn into a man wearing it’s fur, and there’s no rational way of explaining that to my grandmother.

Even though I already think she knows about the skinwalkers in the woods surrounding her home.

[revlyncox]

Hats

A two-part homily and ritual for a multigenerational service honoring parents, guides, and mentors. This homily was delivered to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of York on June 18, 2017.

(Reading: “Generation to Generation” by Antoine de St-Exupéry)

Part One: Many Hats

Our readers shared some ideas from Antoine de St.-Exupéry about how adults can help young people as they grow. You might know this writer better as the author of The Little Prince. His idea was that learning about joy, wonder, history, and identity is like learning secret passwords. Coming to church is one way we exchange passwords. Another way of thinking about the way we learn the heritage of mind and heart, laughter and tears, musings and deeds is that we learn how to put on different hats.

Maybe you have thought about hats as a symbol for a role or an identity. A hat is a symbol for a way of being known in the world or a way of understanding our place in the world. We don’t always have real hats that go with our roles, but we can imagine.

Sometimes, I am a gardener, and I need a gardener’s hat. This is a hat that helps me to work in the sun without getting quite as sunburned, and helps keep bugs out of my hair. The hat also is a form of communication. It tells other people that I am a gardener.

Sometimes, I am a runner. I need a hat that protects my eyes from the sun but doesn’t get too sweaty or blow off in the wind. When other runners see this hat, they have a hint that we have something in common.

Sometimes, I am a baseball fan. When other fans see this hat, they can say, “How ‘bout dem O’s, hon?” We have something to talk about together.

Sometimes, I like to wear hats just to be silly. This silly hat is based on the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland.

Hats are also great for pretending. Bob K. let me borrow this construction hat so that we could tell the Greek myth about Persephone becoming Queen of the Underworld.

Everybody has different hats that they wear in their regular life, or as they learn something new, or as they imagine other ways of being. If we get really good at wearing one kind of hat, if we have skills that go with the role represented by the hat, we might get a chance to teach others about that role.

The hats I have remind me of the people who taught me something. My gardening hat reminds me of my grandfather, who was a farmer. He didn’t wear a hat like this, but I think of him when I am out pulling weeds. My running hat reminds me of my cousin, who helped me finish my first race. My Orioles hat reminds me of my uncles, who coach baseball. Silly hats might remind me of my dad, who loves to tell jokes.

People of all genders can teach us how to wear our hats, and expert hat-wearers of any gender can pass that knowledge on to the next generation. Parenting is one way that we can teach and learn about hats, but it’s not the only way. Grandparents, aunts and uncles, mentors, teachers, coaches, and role models are all part of the hat-wearing tradition. I think Father’s Day is a great day to honor the people who parent, guide, and mentor others. Some of those people are our fathers, stepfathers, foster fathers, grandfathers, and uncles. Some people do the work of fathering or the work of guiding or mentoring, but their nurturing is not named as fathering. Today, I want to say thank you to all the people who wear their hats well, and who are generous and gentle and faithful in the way they help young people learn to wear their hats.

As part of today’s service, we are going to make origami hats. You’ll see some instructions on the insert in your order of service. This is a famous origami design, meant to look like a samurai helmet. We don’t have paper big enough for hats we’ll be able to wear, but maybe once you learn how to make one you can make a bigger one at home. The hats we’ll make today are symbolic.

Let’s practice now. If you don’t want to make a hat, we’ve got a few pre-made. If you need a new piece of origami paper, please let an usher know. I imagine some of you will want to make more than one helmet. Let’s make sure everyone has at least one piece of origami paper first. We can do some more folding after the service.

Start by folding the paper to make a triangle, with the colored side out … (further instructions)

Now hold onto your hats! We’ll come back to these later in the service.

Part Two: Grandpa’s Hat

My farming grandfather didn’t usually wear a straw hat when he was out in the fields. Most of the time in the summer, he wore a baseball cap that he got for free from the feed store. He wore it when he left the house early in the morning to milk the cows. He wore it when he was driving the tractor. He wore it when he was mending the fences. He wore it when he went back to milk the cows again in the evening. In the winter, sometimes he wore a wool hat with flaps over the ears for the walk to the barn, then he switched it out for the baseball cap.

My grandfather didn’t mind silence. He could be alone all day sometimes. If one of my uncles were helping or one of the grandchildren were watching, he might say a few words of observation or instruction. The most he ever spoke was to the semi-wild house cats who kept mice out of the hayloft.

When he came back in the house in the evening, he took his hat off, he took his boots off, he washed his hands thoroughly, and he washed his face. At dinner, he sat quietly and ate bread and butter while my grandmother narrated the current events of their social world. He listened to her talk about the illnesses, the successes, the phone calls, the letters, the babies, and the Dairy Board newsletter. He kept his hat off when he went to listen to the radio or watch the television.

When my grandfather was wearing his hat, he was a doer. He had work to do, responsibilities to meet, and the uncertainties of weather, plants, and animals to contend with. He could give directions and make observations so that the second and third generation coming up behind him would know something about this world when they needed to know it. He led by example more than by word, but he was teaching his family all the time about how to wear a farming hat.

Once he took his hat off, my grandfather switched from being a doer to being a listener. By listening to my grandmother, he appreciated what she did to hold the family and the community together. By listening wordlessly to his children and grandchildren, he communicated acceptance. By listening to the baseball game or the news, he stayed connected to the world off the farm, a place that seemed like another universe.

He was teaching in these hatless hours, too. He taught us that we all have different hats in our lives, and we can trade them at different times of day. He taught us that even someone who is in charge of important things lets other people lead sometimes. He showed us patience. Maybe he had an invisible hat that said “Granddad” in the evenings.

I’ve had lots of good role models in my life, people of all genders. I’ve been lucky that, on Father’s Day, it’s easy for me to think of happy memories of my Dad and my Granddad. It’s easy for me to name a bunch of men and nonbinary people I know who are doing a great job at parenting. For all of the blessings of parenting and coaching and teaching, we celebrate and give thanks.

For some people, Father’s Day brings up sadness about parents or grandparents or role models who aren’t around anymore, or for parenting that could have been better. My hope for you is that there was someone, no matter what their official title, who set a good example of being responsible and thoughtful in their role, someone who took the time to transmit the passwords to you. My hope for you is that you will learn something or that you have learned something that you can give to someone else. If you know some passwords, you can get ready to transmit them to the next generation. You can help someone get ready for the hat they are growing into. For all of the people who have guided and affirmed others, whether their nurturing has been acknowledged or not, we give thanks. For the opportunities that are before us to be that person for someone else, we celebrate.

So be it. Blessed be. Amen.

Part Three: The Ritual of the Hats

Someone taught you to wear one or more hats with pride. Someone helped you understand the meaning of your hats, and the skills that go with them. Hold in your mind and heart the name of a mentor, role model, coach, or Dad-figure who has or had a positive impact on your life. Maybe that person is your father, or someone in your life whose fathering you admire. Maybe that person guided you in another way. Silently give thanks for their influence.

On your origami hat, write the name of or draw something about the person you are holding in your mind and heart. If you can’t think of anyone, write something you know that you can teach to someone else. How will you act as a positive influence?

You are welcome to take your origami hat home with you. Alternately, you can bring your hat forward as the music plays. We’ll collect these positive memories and hopes.

For all of these Dads, Grandparents, coaches, teachers, and role models; for all the ways that humans transmit the passwords from generation to generation, we give thanks.