A Poem Lovely As A Tree - Celebrating Arbor Day!

THE MOMENT
by Hal Borland

This is the moment, that moment which may last for a day or a week, depending on the wind and weather. It is the same time when tree green trembles between wary bud and opening leaf, when a few hours of concentrated sunlight could almost change the face of the land. The canopy that will be summer shade and next autumn's vivid color is there on twig and branch, ready to unfurl. And even that statement is so local, so circumscribed by geography and weather, that it was out of date yesterday a hundred miles from here and probably will be out of date this morning somewhere within reach of a stoutly flung stone.

And that in itself is a measure of the delicate poise of the moment. A chilly wind can prolong it a little longer in one valley; across the hill in the next valley an afternoon of sunlight can mist a whole woodland with such green as we have not seen in a twelvemonth. The tracery of maple blossoms has been like the brushing stroke of a pastel crayon across the treetops in the lowlands, and the tiny bloom of spicebush has twinkled, stardust in the lower woodland. The osiers and the willows have been amber and ruby and then have ventured first leaves, among the most eager of all the trees and bushes, along the watercourses.

And the others are waiting, the birch, the breech, the ash and elm, and the maples especially. The oaks are later, cautious to fringe themselves with delicate pink and fugitive orange and then with green. But this is the moment when it is beginning to happen, one place and another, that breathless moment when new green leaves first open to the sun.

STORIES

Yes, I know I am rather late since today is Arbor Day, but why not celebrate our beautiful, life-giving trees all year long!

Arbor Day.org - The official site with everything to help you support and share this important day.
http://www.arborday.org/

A Hmong Folktale
 http://www.csuchico.edu/~cheinz/syllabi/asst001/fall97/5may-her.htm 

Spirit of Trees - Cristy West’s growing website offers curricular resources, essays, organizational links, poetry and folktales from some of our leading storytellers and scholars. Rest in the cool shade of its branches and let the spirit of the trees nourish your soul. http://www.spiritoftrees.org/

The Tree That Absorbed Tears - Adapted by Laura Simms http://www.laurasimms.com/TreeTears.html

The Mango Tree - Lao Folktale
http://hubpages.com/hub/Lao-Folktales--The-Mango-Tree

Trees for Life - “Award winning conservation charity dedicated to restoring the Caledonian Forest in the Highlands of Scotland.” From Alder to Yew, this site is offers an array of myths and folklore of the Caledonian Forest that will surely complement an Arbor Day storytelling program. http://www.treesforlife.org.uk/forest/mythfolk/index.html

The Tree Angel a Vietnam Legend – A lovely story for Arbor Day about how the banana tree was created. http://www.vietnamwebsite.net/myth/myth17.htm

The Story of the Coconut Tree -This is the story of a beautiful moon princess, but it is also a story about bamboo, a plant which was once believed to be sacred. http://www.topics-mag.com/folk-tales/folk-tale-disobedience-malay.htm

The Story of the Tree of Life - Tibetian folktale from Sacred Texts
http://www.sacred-texts.com/asia/tft/tft43.htm


CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS


From the Mango Tree and Other Folktales from Nepal - Classroom Guide http://www.sarahlamstein.com/MangoStudyGuide.pdf

How Many Leaves - A Book for Early Readers
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/plants/leaf/howmany/

Indiana Department of Natural Resources - Arbor Day http://www.in.gov/dnr/forestry/5319.htm#anchor719935

CRAFTS

Enchanted Learning - Lots of activities and crafts. Just click and go! http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/arborday/

Salt Leaf Magnets -  Quick, cute and easy. 
http://crafts.kaboose.com/leaf_magnets.html


MISCELLANEOUS

An Annotated Bibliography of Children's Literature with Environmental Themes http://teachers.net/archive/envirobks.html

Quotes for Gardeners http://www.gardendigest.com/trees2.htm

Karen Chace  © 2010

This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.

A Father's Day Story

Father's Day is fast approaching and naturally my thoughts turn to my own father who passed away in July of 2005. He was on many levels a complicated man and some things I will never understand, just quietly accept, but I do remember some of the good times we shared.

One of those good times took place when I was just a young girl. To fully appreciate what happened this day you should know that my father always took great pride in his appearance. His clothes were always neatly pressed and starched, thanks to my mother since I never saw him iron anything. During the 1960's many men still wore a shirt and tie when out with their families, even for something as mundane as an afternoon stroll at the local zoo.

I remember it was a warm, sunny day, most likely a Sunday afternoon as I was dressed in my "going to church" clothes and wearing my favorite black patent leather shoes. (Obviously, my shoe fetish began at an early age.) I was about five years old, still young enough for my mother to keep a firm grip on my tiny hand as we wound our way down the serpentine paths, stopping at each animal cage, I am sure. Yet, I only recall seeing the llamas, and with good reason!

We stopped at the enclosure holding those mysterious, exotic looking creatures; my older sister and I stood dutifully on either side of our mother. My father approached the metal chain link fence, the modern barrier between man and beast, and one llama slowly ambled over. Delighted, my sister and I began to pull up some of the grass growing between the cement walkway and the fence, carefully poking the blades through the fence, giggling as it gently nibbled it from our chubby, child-like fingers. As the llama ate, his great, puffy lips pursed comically as it chewed carefully and deliberately.

My father was also a great jokester and so he placed his face as close as he could up to the fence, directly in line with the llama, and slowly began to mimic its munching motions. Now remember, I mention my father was a snappy dresser and today was no exception, which made the scene even more ridiculous. Here was this handsome, wavy red-haired man, smartly dressed in a white starched shirt, perfectly knotted tie and sharply creased pants acting the part of a llama sloppily chewing his treat. Encouraged by our giggling his facial contortions became more and more exaggerated. He was having such a grand time entertaining us he didn't notice the llama moving closer to the fence until they were finally almost nose to nose.

To this day I swear I saw the llama steal a glance over to my sister and I before he deliberately turned once more to my father, opened his mouth and forcefully, and very indelicately, spewed all its contents into his face. That split second scene sent my mother, sister, and me into an immediate wave of belly laughter, that is until we realized dad wasn't laughing at all! My mother did her best to quiet us down while simultaneously digging into her purse to find something to wipe his face.

I don't remember anything else from that comical trip to the zoo, but I do remember that time does heal a broken ego. In later years we were all able to recount that day with my father and laugh about it together. Those llamas are long gone but the universe does have a wicked sense of humor. My sister moved a few years ago and one of her new neighbors raises those feisty animals. Every time I drive by, I am reminded of the llama that put my father in his place!

Please note, websites change at a rapid pace and weblinks may change or break without notice. I cannot be responsible for redirected or broken links.  At the time of this posting all links were in working order. Thank you for understanding.

 

Karen Chace 2008 ©

This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission, please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.