HOW DO THEY DO THAT?

Yesterday morning, as we were preparing our blog post about so many different topics, I had to clear off the breakfast table for a picture (couldn’t let you see how we REALLY live!). In the process, two little Tupperware cups disappeared! Suzy uses five of them as she sets up our morning and evening pills. In the process, three end up with pills in them and the other two are emptied. When she couldn’t find them, the hunt began.

Where there had been five, now there were three!

We searched the house from top to bottom. I got so desperate I even dug through the day’s garbage bag. No Tupperware cups.

Was I surprised? Yes and no. I hate it when things like that happen, but they always do. I often can’t find the pen I always keep in my pocket. When I lay down my hammer, it immediately goes across the room and climbs under something. A week ago, Suzy was looking for a document she had written important notes on. It showed up two days ago after the need was over.

In the past I always blamed gremlins. Or poltergeist. Then I knew it had to be leprechauns. Now that we are so attuned to the American Southwest, we are certain that it’s the work of Kokopelli. Old Kokopelli first appeared in native American art as early as AD 750 to AD 850. Hohokam pottery pieces from that era clearly show Kokopelli at work.

Who is Kokopelli? In various native cultures, he is a fertility deity, both for humans and animals, and is often similarly connected with agriculture.. He is usually depicted in petroglyphs and on pottery, as a humpbacked flute player. In the early days he was clearly male, but in today’s versions he appears androgynous. It is believed that the flute he plays originally was something else, perhaps a blowgun, perhaps another item. To find out more about this, you can Google Kokopelli and follow a link to the Wikipedia website.

Among the Hopi, Kokopelli carries unborn children on his back, distributing them to women (for this reason, young girls often fear him). He’d better not come to this park for that purpose! Another part of legend is that Kokopelli is a practical joker, a trickster. That’s what leads us to believe he’s behind the disappearance of the Tupperware cups, Suzy’s document, and my hammer!

The world’s largest Kokopelli is said to be in Camp Verde, standing in front of a Starbuck’s coffee shop. I borrowed this picture from the Wikipedia article.

As for ourselves, we have welcomed Kokopelli to our home. This fellow stands out front, about four feet tall.

He adorns our back porch and a shelf in the casita.

It was the day after we brought this pot into the house that the Tupperware cups disappeared.

Oh, the Tupperware cups? They magically appeared just this morning, neatly tucked into Suzy’s crocheting basket, under a nearly completed baby blanket for our two-months-from-now great grandchild.

What’s lost has been found this day, in … Our Life on Wheels!