Princess Tiger Lily of the Black Rock Patrol - a random biography

“Okay troops, lets have roll call.

Little Bear,

Brown Bat,

Geronimo,

Princess Six Braids,

Princess Tiger Lily...

All are present and accounted for Chief White Eagle...

Let’s get these troops out of the hot sun...hut two, three, four...hut two, three, four....hut two, three, four...”

The hike begins and troops hike off into the sunset.

All members of the Black Rock Patrol are

ready and excited

for yet another hike with Chief White Eagle, also known as Grandpa Brown.

Hiking through the hot Lake Powell desert, the gorgeous Princess Tiger Lily anticipates another exhilarating adventure with the brave Chief.

Little did I realize when I was born in Pocatello, Idaho, at Bannock Regional Medical Center, on July 9, 1983, that I would one day be a beautiful, tan, Indian Princess of the illustrious Black Rock Patrol. Or maybe I did..

Weeks prior to my birth,

Weeks after school had gotten out,

My mom spent every free moment

Lying out in the Hot July Sun

Next to the cool pool at the University Racquet Club,

Becoming a deep golden brown.

I’m sure she did it all for me...In fact, I’m almost positive that her underlying goal was to subtly prepare me for my many hot treks across the Lake Powell wilderness with a brave Indian Chief.

The Black Rock Patrol has seen over 34 members. Not all at one time of course, but 10 to 15 here and there.

Many had gone before me...and many

many

many

many

more would follow after me.

But as a young child, I was convinced, by Chief White Eagle,

that I was the

most important

Princess in the universe.

Ever since the very first hike,

where we received our unique Indian names, I felt that I was the most important.

....In the beginning there was a little five year old

whose given name was not Princess Tiger Lily,

but rather some name chosen by the Chief

that a little five year old obviously didn’t like

(and which she now regretfully no longer remembers.)

This caused the patient Chief White Eagle

to allow the little Princess to pick her own name

...one which happened to be Tiger Lily

from the five year old’s favorite Disney film Peter Pan....

I learned the first of many lessons from this first experience with the Black Rock Patrol and

Chief White Eagle.

I know I didn’t think about these lessons at the time...

Why then, it was only child’s play;

“trekking” across what seemed like miles upon miles of uncharted territories,taming the wild lizards found on each adventure,

fighting imaginative enemies,

finding buried jelly bean treasures,

collecting beautiful black rocks for which we were named, and

presenting prized feathers to Chief White Eagle to place in his hat.

As a little child, it never crossed my mind that the lessons the

Great Chief White Eagle

taught me would have more to do with life than a simple hike.

BE READY

Before every hike, Chief White Eagle encouraged me to always be ready.

Ready for any eventuality that might happen on the hike of life.

In first grade, I learned this lesson the hard way.

I was late to school day

after day

after day.

Getting their business started was a crazy time in my parents’ lives.

Late nights and long hours

working down at the store,

remodeling,

pricing,

completing odds and ends,

eventually caused me to be continuously late to

Mrs. Higer’s first grade class at Washington Elementary.

One especially memorable time was when I was dropped off at school...

only to find that I was the

ONLY

student there that day.

The night before must have been an extremely tiring

one, working late,

for my own mother to drop me off at school on a holiday.

ROLL CALL

Every hike began with roll call.

Everyone had to be present and accounted for in order for the hike to begin.

Everything was a troop effort and so it was vital that everyone be there.

In the same way, everyone on the roll call of my life must be present for my life to be complete.

With

1 me

1 mom

1 dad

3 brothers

2 sisters

2 grandmas

2 grandpas

9 aunts

9 uncles and....

46 cousins

many good times have been and still are being experienced.

During these family-filled-non-stop-roll-call moments,

I found myself on my first plane ride

to Disney World Orlando, Florida...riding the Space Mountain Ride with my cousins

at Disney World, the home of Mickey Mouse, over and over and over again...

seeing Mickey Mouse and

wanting to dress up like him...

playing dress-up and having tea parties with

Grandma Hofman to the sounds of Broadway music...

helping Grandma learn her lines for the Broadway play, Hello Dolly

and then enjoying the show... experiencing, with my mother,

the thrilling show of Les Miserables on Broadway...walking the colorful streets

of LA pretending to be on Broadway with

Grandpa Brown...pulling

Grandpa Brown out of a cement hole at

the Army Training Course above Bartz field...going with my brothers and sisters to

Bartz and it’s snow laden hills to sled and learn the arts of skiing...

skiing for $5 at a $60 hill with my dad and mom during Christmas vacation...experiencing a bit of our Hofman

heritage eating Dutch pancakes on Dutch Christmas with Sinterklaas and Swarte Pete...

eating kidney beans and applesauce with Grandpa Hofman...

making homemade applesauce with my mom into the wee hours of the night...

toilet papering for the first time with my Grandma Hofman the night

of my twelfth birthday...

spending countless birthdays with relatives at

Lake Powell...banging heads and getting dead legs from falls into the water, off the wiener tube at

Lake Powell...and hiking into Bloomington Lake to jump into the ice water...

My family is the most important of all things in my life. So it is a must that everyone on the roll call is checked off and accounted for.

ENJOY YOUR SURROUNDINGS

On hikes, I learned about nature, about God, and about life;

Spending time at our cabin in Victor, Idaho,

Camping at Willow Flats,

Hiking to Navajo, Havasu, and Mooney Falls in Arizona,

Climbing up our “Masada” at Lake Powell,

Floating the Snake River near Jackson.

I look at the physical world differently now after having been with Chief White Eagle and having learned of his love for nature. I learned from him that God is the reason for everything. He is the CREATOR of all things. And I have a responsibility for taking care of his creations.

FOLLOWING THE LEADER

Chief

White

Eagle

Taught

Me

How

To

Follow

The

Leader

No

Matter

What

Or

Where

We

Were.

Leaders are given to us for a purpose.

On hikes, they lead us to our destination.

In life, they guide us and influence us, hopefully for the better.

What a perfect example of a leader was the Chief.

Action figures and super heroes come and go with time, but Chief White

Eagles stay

ever true and “super”

in the eyes of little children.

Ever since my first Black Rock Patrol hike,

being inducted into the Patrol, and receiving my Indian name,

my Grandpa has been one of my many heroes.

Through Chief White Eagle’s example, I have learned that it is important to follow the leaders and influences in my life, and to also remember that I am also a leader to others

Following Grandpa Brown on hikes,

Being followed by five younger siblings,

Following Grandma Hofman in singing,

Being a leader to fellow students,

Following mom and Grandma Brown in art,

Following friends, teachers and role models....

“Follow me boys,

follow me.

Pick ‘em up and put ‘em down

and follow me!”

REACHING THE JOURNEY’S END

Throughout my Life’s Hike,

Chief White Eagle’s subtle lessons have stayed clear and vivid in my mind.

It’s not possible for all little kids to experience a Chief White Eagle in their lives.

Hikes are not always

easy little walks through groomed paths

where everything is beautiful, lush and gorgeous.

Sometimes, it takes a little hard work,

perseverance,

and often times starting over,

to get to the final outcome such as a

pristine waterfall or mountain lake.

And so is the hike of life.

Throughout the adventure,

I’ll experience rugged paths and hardships,

ugly realities,

and many different types of people.

No doubt about it.

But through it all I will survive and eventually get to my ultimate goal, if I can remember the most important advice from the Great Chief White Eagle, that

the Browns

(and Hofmans, Smiths, Davidsons, and Adams)

of the

Black Rock Patrol

are Tough!