Drought of ideas

         *  In my second reading session with Ceremony, I came across an interesting little poem that was somehow linked to Tayo. The poem tells what I think is part of a tale, but I am not sure if the tale will have an ending or if it really is a tale. But I digress. The poem tells of two sisters, Reed Woman who spends all day playing and bathing in a river, and Corn Woman who works all day in the crop fields. Corn Woman becomes furious with Reed Woman and scolds her for doing nothing but playing in the river, and Reed Woman goes away. However, Reed Woman was responsible for the rain in the summertime, so when she goes away and stops playing in the river, she takes the rain away with her and all the plants dry up and die, leaving the people and animals hungry and parched.

            The story may be interesting, but what does it have to do with Tayo? Well, during his time in the war, the weather must have been really rainy because, when he was praying, he only prayed for dry air and an end to the rain. He was even irritated by it enough to damn it. When he came back from the war, there was a drought in his homeland for the past six years. Coincidence or not, Tayo believed he was to blame for the absence of rain in his homeland for so long, leaving his animals at home with a decreasing supply of fresh food. They could have had a worse situation, however; they could have had to feel everything that Tayo had to feel when he returned from the war.