Winona

From the time she was a young pup, Winona was pulled into a rich tapestry of family life. Parents and grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles; infants and children and adult and elderly. It felt like everyone that she knew in her entire life was all part of a single family, and there was always a sibling or a parent or an uncle to turn to. Winona adored it, falling right in with her extended family in the complex cliff-side group of dwellings where they all worked and lived. It was more than just their family of course - a few dozen families all lived within the stone, or in small dwellings or burrows at the foot of the cliff. Most of the latter cultivated various types of cotton and yucca - plants by which Winona's family made their name as weavers. Whether sitting around a fire in the evenings, or gossiping with friends and relatives during noonday reprieves, Winona can scarce recall a time in her childhood not spent with a spindle or carding brush in her paws.

Winona became quite good at weaving delicate patterns, her skills growing quickly with practice. It also became apparent that, while she was a decent weaver, her true calling was teaching, and bringing others together to join in on various activities. When the weaving halls became overly crowded, and the older artisans frustrated by all the chattering, Winona would lead merry bands roaming about the cliff-side dwellings, daring each other to gravity-defying stunts. One day's errant adventure with an enormous sheet of fresh-woven cotton, a missed step, and Winona found herself losing balance and toppling over the side. Her heart nearly stopped, but as the cloth billowed out above her and slowed her fall, the rush of the wind, the thrill of adrenaline, and the tumbling vista of the desert spread out below had her laughing giddily the whole way down. What trouble she got into was swiftly forgotten in her eager desire to try that again, and how she might include others as well.

Experimenting with new types of cloth and weave, Winona quickly developed newer (and safer) means to experience the thrill of flight (or "falling with style", as some of her feathered friends mockingly called it). It took several demonstrations to win the trust of a few of her most daredevil companions. She eventually won a few over, and the rest soon followed, until the elders were at a loss for what to do about a sky full of whooping, laughing cubs.

Over the years, Winona has continued to draw together groups, eager to teach and share knowledge between herself and others. Whether it's weaving, gliding, painting, or a host of other skills that she's swapped, traded, and picked up over the years, Winona is always happy to lead a class, discussion, or jam session. She has remained an avid aviator, and as more and more continue to flock to the skies over the desert, her mind turned to how to ensure everyone could participate safely. Newly opened, Winona's Clear Skies school of flight aims to make sure that anyone who wants to can experience flight, without the danger of tripping and falling off of their cliff-side home.