Sluggy's Pages!

Volume 3, Issue 2 - Spring Equinox 1998

Welcome to Sluggy's Pages. This is Shining Lakes Grove's kids' page. It comes out eight times per year with information and activities for the young folk and their parents. We encourage you to send us any seasonal stories, poems, art, games, or puzzles to include in this newsletter. Send submissions and ideas to: Mama Moon, Editor, 38 Neckel Street, Milan, MI 48160, (313) 439-0434

Lore Corner

The exact point of the Equinox this year was March 20, at 2:55 in the afternoon. It moves around, between the 20th and 23rd, from year to year.

On April 5th, we will turn our clocks later by an hour. That's called "Daylight Savings Time". It was created by the US Congress to enable the farmers to start work earlier, the students to study by daylight instead of electric, light, and so on. Remember: "Spring ahead, Fall back".

The Willow is one of the first trees to get its leaves in Spring. They are long and slender. The long yellow "male" catkins appear in Spring, and the green "female" catkins show up at about the same time, but on different trees. Willow wood is used for making fences, baskets and furniture because it is so flexible. The ancient Celts used this wood to weave the wickerwork buildings and walls for which they were famous. The bitter bark of the black willow is used to help fevers and headaches, since it contains salicylic acid, which is in aspirin.

Birch trees grow very tall, and higher up on the hillsides than any other tree but the Rowan. Its leaves are small, with ragged edges. The one we see most often is called a "paper birch" because of its soft white, peeling bark. People have used it instead of paper. You might ask the next birch tree for permission to take a slip of bark on which to write a wish and float it downstream. Native Americans used both the outer and inner bark on the birch to make their canoes, and the Woodland Indians also covered their longhouses with it. The birch is known as the tree of new beginnings, not just because it leafs out as early as April, but also because it is one of the first trees to grow on barren ground, helping to fertilize the land for the beech and oak that will come after.

According to the ancient Romans, March is the first month of the year. This makes good sense, because the earth is finishing with winter, and life begins to grow again. For them, this month is the beginning of the eternal cycle of life and death.

March is named after the Roman god Mars, the patron of Rome. The old Mars, Mamerius Veturius, was driven from the City on the day preceding the 1st day of the full moon, to make way for the new.

In Lithuania, the Spring holiday is called Velykos. At this time, offerings are made to the dead, to the goddess of the hearthfire, to Velinis, the god of the dead and to the animals, especially including the bees.

Ana's Playhouse

In spring, eggs are cheap because the hens are laying eggs again. Here are some neat things you can do with:

Hard-boiled eggs - Put peeled, cooked eggs in a bowl with a can of sliced beets and the liquid from them. Add half a can of water and half a can of vinegar. Refrigerate. In about 6 hours, you will have purple pickled eggs. Enjoy them and amuse your friends at lunch.

Egg shells - Draw a funny face on the larger bottom half of a broken eggshell. Put damp cotton in the shell. Add bird seed or grass seed, place on a sunny windowsill and wait. In a few days, your funny face will have grown green hair.
Or: Keep the shells from your Spring egg-dying efforts. Glue the broken pieces to a piece of paper for a neat mosaic. "Mosaic" is a style of design the ancient Romans had in their floors and on their walls, made from colorful broken tiles.

Egg cartons - Use the lid of an egg carton as the base of a boat. Put a small ball of dough or clay inside the lid to hold a paper sail taped to a straw.
Or: Use the egg carton cups to make animals. For a caterpillar, cut out a strip of 6 cups for the body. Paint them brown and black for a woolly bear, or green, or whatever your imagination suggests. You can make feelers out of pipe cleaners or strips of paper curled around a pencil. Sequins or paper hole-reinforcers will make eyes. For an ant, use three cups. Pipe cleaners or twist ties will make legs as well as feelers. Two cups will make a bunny, but this works better with styrofoam. Cut two ears from the lid and insert them into slits cut in the front cup. Paint a face, use string or pipe cleaner for whiskers, and a cotton ball for the tail.

Egg carton game - Glue the numbers 1-4 into the bottom of the cups of a whole egg carton. You will need to repeat each number three times. Mix them up. Take turns tossing a small ball into the carton from a few feet away. Keep score. How softly do you have to throw, for the ball not to bounce out?

"Vernal Equinox" Challenge

In the name of the first day of Spring, Mama Moon found 125 words with 4 letters or more, that could be made out of these letters. She knows that there are more. Have your parents help you to make your own list. Can you beat Mama Moon? Check our Web site for Mama Moon's list!!!

Coming Attractions

• Maple Sugaring - Sunday, March 22, meet in the parking lot of Chili's at Arborland on Washtenaw, at 2 PM. We'll go up to Snow's Sugarbush in Mason to see how syrup is made and enjoy some pancakes.
• Youth Activities Committee meeting, Monday April 6th at 7 PM, at the Bill Knapps on Carpenter Rd. Help to choose a new YAC coordinator! All parents and kid-friendly people are strongly encouraged to be there.
• Storytelling at Little Professor Books in the Westgate shopping plaza, off of Stadium, every evening from 7 - 8 PM, April 19-25. Hosted by Mama Moon. Featuring Mama Moon on Sunday the 19th and Wednesday the 22nd. Featuring Kami on Monday on Tuesday, the 20th and 21st.

Tim's Riddles

1. I'm very small, no bigger than your finger tip. Yet inside me does a giant forest hide. What am I?

2. I'm a little chatterbox, chat chat chat. I'm a little nutcracker, crack, crack, crack. I carry a broom with me, but do I sweep up all my shells? What am I?

Answers at the bottom.

Ana's Story

(from Mama Moon)

Long ago there was no land, only the Great Mother Water and the Great Father Fire. When they kissed, all life began and the land pushed out of the water to stay dry and green. The land, sea, and sky filled with every kind of plant, tree, animal, fish and bird. It was a happy time.

One day things began to change. It got colder and colder. Great Father Fire seemed farther away and much weaker. Great Mother Water began to freeze and could only move very slowly. Ice and snow covered most of the land. The plants died and the animals fled. It was a very sad time.

Father Fire and Mother Water did not have enough strength to make another whole, green world again, but they stretched and strained and, with their best efforts, they managed one tiny touch. From that one tiny touch of love a daughter was born and they named her Ana. Ana was filled with their love. That love gave her perfect wisdom and understanding. Ana knew she was born to save the land.

First she asked her Father how to save the land and he told her to take a sharp shell and slash the bark of the Great Tree, releasing all its life-healing force. Then she asked her mother to take her to the Great Tree. Although the Great Mother Water feared the Great Tree's power and worried about Ana's safety, she took her under the ground to the Tree's huge taproot.

Ana follow that root up and up until she stood before the Great Tree. She could feel in throb with life and its might frightened her. Still, Ana would not waver. She knew what she must do! Ana raised her arm and with all her might she struck the Great Tree! A torrent of energy gushed from the Tree sweeping Ana along in its path and battering her tender flesh. Ana almost drowned in the deluge before she remembered her love. Quietly she shared her love with this flowing mass. She merges her spirit with it and gentled and directed its path into what is today our Huron River. It was a happy time, again. The plants and trees grew again, and the animals returned.

People came and saw the beauty of this land and settled and felt Ana's love. They, too, loved the land. Later people came who did not understand that the land is alive and they poisoned Ana's land and Ana's river, but now we have come to this land. Ana knows we love her and we love the land. She is now the Mother of our land. As every good mother does, she loves and cares for us.

the end

Family Traditions for Beltaine

If you can wake up in time for dawn, it's worth seeing the Morris dancers. They are up early to wake the earth and dance in the Spring on May 1st. You can find them in "the Arb", Nichols Arboretum. The exact time of dawn is printed in the newspaper, and the wrought iron gate on Geddes Road will take you right down the path to see the dancers. See you there!

Mama Moon likes to take her family to the Botanical Gardens off of Dixboro Rd. to see all the flowers in bloom. Weather permitting, we then have our first picnic of the season, at Island Park, right in the middle of our River-Mother.

This is a good day to find a sunny spot by the river or a quiet spot in the woods which will be *your* spot all summer long. Notice all the details you can, about the life there - plants and animals. That was you can share and celebrate the changes all through the growing season. And who knows? If you are very still and quiet, you might find a fairy-friend hidden in the leaves.

Bring a friend a May Basket! Find a pretty basket, fill it with flowers and a special sweet or two, and leave it at their door. Ring the bell and run away! That's the best kind of trick to play.

My bunny went Hop, hop, hop!
And I don't know
what was the matter with him.
But something was the matter with him,
Because he wouldn't stop stop stop.
Stop, bunny, stop!
I think you want me to pet you.

By Gareth, age 5.

Answers to Tim's Riddles

1. an acorn
2. a squirrel

Answers to "Vernal Equinox" Challenge

Mama Moon's List of Words Made From VERNAL EQUINOX

aerie, alien, aloe, alone, anion, annex, annul, anon, auxin, axel
earl, earn, eave, elan, enliven, ennui, equal, equine, even, ever, evil
inner, inure, iron
lair, lane, lave, lean, learn, leave, leaven, leer, leone, lever, liar, lien, lieu, line, linear, liner, lion, liquor, lira, live, liven, liver, loan, loin, lone, lore, love, lover, lunar, lure
nail, naive, nave, navel, near, neon, nerve, neuron, never, nine, none, noun, novel
oral, oriel, oval, oven, over, oxen
quail, queen, queer, quiver, quire, quoin
rain, rail, rave, ravel, raven, ravine, real, reel, rein, relax, renal, reveal, revile, revue, rival, rivel, riven, roan, rove, rune, runnel, run-on
ulna, uneven, union, unique, unnerve, unreal, urea, urinal, urine
vain, vane, vaquero, veal, veil, vial, vile, viol, viral
xenon

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