Tales of Three Mother Blankets

Last night I returned home from leading a yoga retreat in the coastal Pueblo of Yelapa, Mexico, a 45 minute boat ride from Puerto Vallarta. Before catching an evening flight north to Seattle, I spent the day walking around Puert0 Vallarta. The city was bustling with excitement in anticipation of the big day.

Mother blanket in Mexico
Today, December 12th in Puerto Vallarta, it is the last and culminating day of the festive celebration of Nuestra Senora De Guadalupe/our Lady of Guadalupe. Over 500 years ago she appeared in a vision as the mother of God with the message of love and inclusion for all. Some say she is a
re-emerged manifestation of the Aztec ‘mother goddess’ Tonantzin. This vision and subsequent embrace of Mary within the Catholic Church came at a time of great violence against the indigenous peoples. Nuestra senora Guadalupes message was welcomed and received as sanctuary and her presence in millions of Catholics is celebrated with parades, reverence and reflection all over the world . No matter our current day view of the Catholic Church, the message of our Lady of Guadalupe, the great mother, is a universal one of Peace, unity, and love.

Mother blanket in Missouri
In the late 1800’s my great great grandmother came to the USA from Ireland as an orphan to live in a church in Saint Joseph Missouri where her uncle was bishop. Her father had died while trying to craft a new life preparing for the arrival of his family from Ireland. Her mother had passed while waiting. The women of the church made three crazy quilts to gift, Mary Katherine Hennessy  as a young bride. One of those quilts hangs in ‘Little Dog’ and reminds me of the love and embrace of these women of the church, surrogate mothers to my ancestor. .In the staid Victorian era woman sewed beauty and love into these ‘crazy quilts’  out of ‘scraps’. I believe they were making a conscious or unconscious statement that: all are welcome.

Mother blanket in me and my sister
For twenty years my sister and I have been ‘estranged’ which is odd and sad because we are in so many ways similar and even live within a mile of each other in Seattle. This last Spring, through thick and thin, we essentially without intention created a scenario by which we HAD to learn to get along. The two of us were going to be accompanying our adventurous elderly parents on an summer journey up north in Canada. Through the spring and early summer i our neighborhood of Lake City, We walked and talked and talked and walked, so as to weave our connection with care. To mitigate some of the shock of having to be in such close proximity for 10 days we planned to sleep in separate tents. But fate would have it that the float plane ‘tiny‘ per person weight limit caused us to have leave behind MOST of our stuff behind, including one tent. Sharing one tent brought warmth and connection and a fair bit of crazy laughter! We are still walking into the fall...watching how Mother Nature weaves her beauty in our hearts and in our neighborhood.

May you find the blankets that embrace you!

Annie Stocker, December 2019

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Two Dog Tales

Enjoy these highlights from the Two Dog e-newsletter and other writings contributed by and about Two Doggers over the years. It's a story archive that tells the tale of the Two Dog community: its teachers, students, neighbors and friends.

Lovin' Lake City

Annie Stocker, Two Dog studio owner, has lived in Lake City since 1986 and feels a warm kinship with the ever-emerging neighborhood. Two Dog students bump into each other at local restaurants, the Lake City Farmers Market, the local hardware store, post office, parks and restaurants. More and more people now make Lake City their permanent home in which to grow their families and friendships. Two Dog is proud to be a part of the growth of this healthy, thriving community. Come explore!