Pukwudgie and proud of it

I like mountains.  In all my travels, a common theme is trying to go up  – I’ve been to the highest peaks in the world and in a month, I shall visit the highest peaks in North American (Denali here I come!) – one place I haven’t spent nearly enough time is the highest peak in my own state.

Mount Greylock, in my beloved Berkshires, is the highest natural point in Massachusetts, though at about 3,500 feet it’s not that high by mountain standards.  I’ve only been up it once, a visit commemorated in my profile pic in the About Me section of this very blog.  It is recently very much in the news as the recently announced home to Ilvermorny, the US school of wizarding and sister school to Hogwarts.

It makes sense, of course.  Ilvermorney was founded, so the story goes, in the 1600s by a young witch who had come to the New World in an effort to escape an abusive aunt.  She found the Puritan culture in those days not so conducive to a witching life, and hid in the Berkshires hills.  There she created a family with some orphaned wizards, a handsome muggle, and a temperamental magical creature, indebted to her for saving his life.  The Pukwudgie, a small gray faced beast with long ears, is prone to complaints and temper tantrums, but in a pinch, will always be there to protect, support, and celebrate.  Flattery will get you a long way with the Pukwudgie and loyalty is one of their most marked traits, though pointing it out will put them in a sour mood.

One of the four houses of Ilvermorny was named for the Pukwudgie.  Each house represents a part of the whole human (or witch) – The horned serpent, the mind; Wampus the body; Thunderbird, the soul; and for the Pukwudgie, the heart.   I went through the sorting process several times in an effort to be sorted into the house of Thunderbird.  This is the house of adventurers.  Each time though, I came back a Pukwudgie.

It is true I’m a small creature (thought hopefully not too gray faced).  I can be temperamental and I will absolutely like you more for a compliment.  Hopefully, I am seen as a loyal friend and helper, willing to jump in to share and support others on their journey.  I’ve got a little Thunderbird in me, and I can’t wait to start my next adventure (stay tuned to these pages), but for now, I’m going to embrace my inner Pukwudgie!

And I think another trip up Mount Greylock is in order before the summer ends and definitely before the Pottertourism begins.