Everything But the Kitchen Sink: An Early Autumn Q & A

 I really liked the way you showed how just doubling a design or turning half of it upside down makes pretty new designs. (Our July 12th issue) I never thought about doing that.  Are you going to do more designs like that?'

I'm happy that you liked the designs. I'm going to give you a few more today.  I'm planning to do an issue about different ways to "turn the corners" on designs so that you can make borders around a pattern or "frame" a piece of fabric.  One way does not suit every design, so I will show several.  But that will be some time in the future.  It takes time to make all the samples, and this is a busy time of the year with the holidays all the way through New Year's.  You might use our Search function (in the sidebar) to find past posts on needlework designs in the meantime.

"Frames"

I did make an interesting discovery while I was making a simple sample to show you about framing a space.  It surprised me.   I could not remember being told about it in any of my many needle arts books. What I was doing was showing how to do a simple two-color "frame" around an open space. I started my sample by making upright stitches over an even number of the little "bars" that make the openings of the squares in the canvas.  I got a nice little rectangle, but it was rather small. Next to it I did the same routine with one more bar, which made a perfect square.  Does that mean I will get a rectangle when I stitch over an even number of bars and a square only when I stitch over an odd number of bars?  I tried another, larger sample.  Sure enough, it worked just like before.   I could not remember ever seeing that fact in any of my many needlework books.  I even checked several with no luck.  It seems I had discovered a nice little "rule of thumb"!  I'm thinking of calling it "Annake's Rule"!

Here are the other samples I promised you.  Have fun!

Why doesn't everybody count the Equinox as the first day of Fall?

In the countries and states which are farthest north or are largely mountainous, Fall is already over by September 22nd and Winter has begun.   Other places decide when Fall starts depending upon when the leaves change color or when a particular crop is harvested.  Still others start Fall on the first full moon after the Equinox, which wasn't until October this year. When I was a child. my father and I gathered in pumpkins, some kinds of squash, and some kinds of seed corn by that full moon and it was magical.

Why are the flowers that you put at the end of the story of the equinox so raggedy looking?

A composite flower

Because they are composites.  They are one of the latest kinds of flowers to appear on Earth, along with orchids — which have some neat tricks of their own.  A composite is really two different kinds of flowers on the same stem.  The outer ones that you call raggedy are there to attract pollinators like bees and butterflies. They usually have light or bright color, while the centers are often dark.  They may have a fragrance and small amounts of nectar.  They don't produce seeds themselves;  that is done by the center flowers. The pollinator usually walks across the center of the flower to get to the other side. As it does so it picks up pollen which it tracks across the center of the next flower of the same kind, allowing it to be pollinated.  Then the center flower can make seeds for the next generation.  In this way it can spread over larger and larger areas of land.  The flower parts are really easy to see on a sunflower. 

I hope you don't mind my asking you a crazy question, but I keep feeling that I remember something about frogs in the Bible, but I’m not sure what it was. Do you know?

That isn't a crazy question at all.  Actually, there are several mentions, with differing translations depending on which version you have.  There are also mentions of them in the works of many other religions, from Jewish and Islamic to Olmec and Toltec writings in ancient South America.  Frogs feature in the literature of Egypt, China, and Japan, as well.  Since this made a lasting impression on you, I suspect it comes from the Book of EXODUS.  Start at EXODUS, 4, and read and I think you will find your frogs. What is said about them differs, however, depending on the particular version you have.  Good luck in your quest.

We sure got a lot of fun out of those frogs!  But now my kids want to know all about toads.  They made me a list to give you. 

• What is the biggest toad?
• What is the smallest toad?
• Where do they live?
• How are toads different from frogs?
• What do they eat?
• How long do they live?
• How do they defend themselves?
• Were there toads when there were dinosaurs?

I sure hope you have the answers!

That is a really good list of questions.  You have some smart youngsters.  I will answer the questions one at a time and hope that my answers are up to date, because new information comes in all the time.

Cane Toad

1.  The largest toads are the Cane Toads of tropical South America.  They can be more than 9 inches long and weigh more than 2 pounds.   They have invaded both Florida, where they are being hunted and killed because they are destroying native animals at a great rate, and the Southwest through Texas.  Introduced into Australia, they have invaded African and Asian countries, killing off native species.   The largest one ever known was kept as a pet and weighed 5 pounds, 13 ounces and was 1 foot,  3 inches long.
   

Oak Toad

2.  The smallest known toad species is the Oak Toad.  It is found in backyards in the northeastern United States and Canada.  It is only 1.3 inches long. (That is about 33 mm, or 1 and 5/16 inches.) Scientists may eventually find even tinier ones.

3.  Toads live on all the continents except Antarctica.  With so much of it losing its icy covering because of a warming climate, we may find fossils there that tell they lived on that continent, too, millions of years ago.
 
4.   Toads have dry, often bumpy, skins, while frogs have moist ones.  Unlike frogs, toads do not have to live in or near water and some can be found in dry desert environments.  The only time most toads must be near water is when it is time to find a mate.  The males make a great deal of noise in hopes of attracting a female.  The female lays her eggs in the water.  The toads hatch as tadpoles, but they grow legs instead of tails and soon lose their gills. At that point they can leave the water until mating time comes the next year.  But some species do not produce tadpoles.  The eggs hatch and little "toadlets" emerge and go off to find something to eat.

 

Tadpoles

5.   The small ones eat insects, worms, snails, and small mammals like mice. Larger ones eat many of the same things, but also small snakes, larger small mammals, and eggs and baby birds of species that nest on or near the ground.

Golden Toad

6.  The greenish-blue and greenish-gray ones stay where there are plants growing close to the ground.   They stay close to or underneath them.   Others are brightly colored to advertise how poisonous they are.  And, as I said, they puff themselves up to look much larger than they actually are.

 

Yellow-bellied Toad

7.   Most species live 5 to 10 years, but there was one kept in captivity, fed and protected, that is said to have lived nearly 40 years.

8.   Yes,  they were around at the same times as dinosaurs.   A recent fossil was found from about 70 million years ago that was so large they have given it a scientific name that means "Devil Toad".

It was several times the size of today's species and would have weighed 10 pounds or more.  An artist's rendition of it shows a huge mouth.  Above the eyes were two horn-like bony structures.  It had sharp teeth. It was certainly large enough to have eaten dinosaur eggs and newly hatched baby dinosaurs.  It's skin was probably rough and bumpy across the back, with a pattern of brown lines.  Its skin was lighter and smoother on the underside.  What impressed me most was that its eyes were at the front of its head instead of on the sides, so that it was looking right at its prey, much like the newly found living giant frog we gave you the link to in the former article. For a look at one artist’s re-creation of the “Devil toad”, go to

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beelzebufo#/media/File:Beelzebufo_BW.jpg

Finally, a last minute question about the post that immediately precedes this one, which I’ll turn over to J.D., since he is responsible for all our illustration (as well as the research that led to the last section of that article):

You said Julie Manet Rouart was an artist, like her mother. Why didn’t you show any of her work?

Since we don’t monetize this blog (that is, we do not make any money from it’s publication), we have to depend on our own work or public domain sources for illustrations.

Sample Public domain notice (from Wikimedia)

As you may recall from the post in question, Julie lived until the year 1966 — which means her works are still copyrighted in most countries, and so NOT in the public domain.

—J.D.

I hope this has answered some of your questions. Enjoy!

 This post by Annake's Garden is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Bittersweet and Snow-in-Summer: The Autumnal Equinox

Bulletin:  The NWS confirms the  September Autumnal (Fall) Equinox arrives in Montrose, Colorado, USA on September 22, 2021, at 1:21 PM, MDT.

American bittersweet

I was born a few minutes after midnight on September 21st, in the midst of a violent  equinoctal storm.  Such storms are not unusual around the autumn equinox.  Since I was born within the 24 hours of the day of the equinox (you don’t need to know the year!), I always counted it as part of my birthday and have a special fondness for its folklore and celebrations. It is in many ways a bitter/sweet time as the days shorten and the nights grow cold. It is a time to look back and a time to look forward. Welcome to my favorite time of the year.

                                                  -  Annake

This equinox occurs in the autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, at the same time the Southern Hemisphere is welcoming Spring. See our post for March 17, 2021, "Spring Things", for a discussion of the Spring Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere.  A number of places have similar celebrations on both occasions.

During the Equinox, the sun passes what we call the "celestial equator".  This is an imaginary extension of Earth's equator out into space, through the sun, and beyond.  The equinox occurs precisely when the center of the Sun passes through that line from North to South.  It passes from South to North for the Spring (Vernal) Equinox.  The word equinox comes from the Latin word aequus, meaning equal. and the word nox, meaning night.  This indicates a time when day and night are of equal length, but that isn't what really happens.  

Monarch butterfly

For one thing, the sun is measured precisely from the time the outer edge appears just above the horizon.   But he edge of the sun can actually be seen before this time because Earth's atmosphere refracts the light.   Also the day isn't considered over until the sun has completely set and the edge has disappeared below the horizon, even though there can still be some light and color in the sky.  So there is always more sunlight by a few minutes than there is darkness.  The sun continues down the curvature of the Earth from North to South America.  The real miracle, I believe, is that our migratory birds and migrating butterflies like the Monarchs  follow this same line to find their way to their homes for the rest of their year,  many by ways we don't yet understand.

All this celestial movement causes remarkable effects at specific places on the globe at the time of the equinox.  Even  in very ancient times, people who studied the sky were aware of this and frequently included rituals showcasing the effects in their rituals. Some cultures built massive stone edifices to celebrate the celestial movements. The massive stone features of Stonehenge in England have a history stretching back 4,500 years and have featured ceremonies and worship by many diverse civilizations during that time.  We know that it acted to show features like the equinoxes and solstices, planting and harvesting seasons, and similar dates important to the people.  Only recently has it been discovered that it can be used to calculate a celestial occurrence which only happens every 47 years!   The most important viewing happens at dawn of the day following the equinox when crowds of people wait patiently in the dark, awaiting the rising of the sun. Later there are all kinds of celebration with many people dressed in colorful costumes representing both historical and mythological figures.

Sunrise at Stonehenge

At Chitzen Itza in Mexico,  an ancient monument whose name translates to "The Hitching Post of the Sun", has been a the center of a celebration at both the spring and autumn equinoxes for centuries. It is a popular tourist attraction for guests from around the world.  The high point of the ceremony comes when a stream of light that represents a great serpent slithers down the pyramid from top to bottom. (See our Spring equinox post.) The surrounding area provides opportunities to enjoy food, music, dancing and other delights.  Be advised, however, that many of the celebrations that we mention in this article will not be held this year because of the pandemic.  Plans are already being made for 2022 or 2023.

In ancient Greece the autumn equinox was associated with Persephone, the daughter of Zeus, who after spending the spring and summer with her parents on Earth, returned to her husband in the Underworld  at this time and lived with him for the rest of the year.  Pomegranates were one of her favorite foods and so became known as ‘The Fruit of the Underworld.’  They are still eaten to honor her even today. (I  used to ask for one instead of the traditional orange in the toe of my Christmas stocking.)  If you like, you can celebrate by eating a ripe pomegranate or drinking canned or bottled juice.

Viewing autumn foliage is a great passion here in the United States and Canada.  New England is famous for its colorful autumns.   Thousands of people visit the area for the annual "leaf peeping". Ontario, Canada even has an aerial tour to view red maple, yellow poplar, and white birch. Here in the Rocky Mountains we are very proud of our colorful aspens. Here is a picture of some of them.

But most people have the wrong idea about what causes the change of colors and when that actually happens.  Many people believe that the leaves change and/or drop off because of the autumn weather conditions. But the change actually started much earlier in the year.  Remember that the days have been gradually shorteing since the Summer solstice, the longest day of the year.  (See our post about the Summer solstice here.)   As the days shorten there is less and less sunlight to provide the energy for leaves to make food. Eventually there is not enough chlorophyll for the leaves to retain their green color and photosynthesis stops.   The leaves change color and most fall to the ground.  If there is a heavy frost too early in the season, as there was here last September,  many dead leaves may hang from the tree until new buds form the following spring.

Ways to Celebrate the Equinox with Children

 

• If there is still a Farmer's Market in your area, visit it and choose some varieties of produce that you don't see at the supermarket.  Look for fruits and vegetables that may be new to your family.
• Have fun getting ‘lost’ in a corn maze.
• Take the children to pick apples or choose a pumpkin to make pumpkin pie.  (It's all right if they don’t want to have their pumpkin cut up.)
• Get the children together and have them help you decorate the house in autumn colors symbols: cattails, branches with bright autumn leaves, cornstalks, autumn flowers (asters, sunflowers, chrysanthemums), maybe a scarecrow.
• Go on a nature walk.
• Show the children how to press colorful autumn leaves and use a guidebook to identify them.
• If you are near the ocean and the area is safe for children, go beach-combing for shells and "buried treasure".
• Visit a local zoo. Many have special programs this time of year.
• Rake leaves into a pile and let the children jump into it. Do some jumping yourself, it's good for you. Finish the cleanup.
• Visit a bookstore or library and look for books and storybooks that have autumn themes.
• Learn an autumn poem by someone like Robert Frost or James Whitcomb Riley. Or write a poem of your own.  There are also beautiful (and short) poems in haiku. Read some, write some.
• Have a family sing-along.
• Concoct your own original pumpkin treat.

Moon Festivals are popular in in China and Vietnam.  These are harvest celebrations.  They are not celebrated on the equinox itself but on the first Full Moon after the equinox. (This year that will be October first.)  Brightly-lit lanterns are a big part of the festival.  Vietnamese children wear colorful masks.  People celebrate by giving Moon Cakes to family and friends.  These are said to be delicious pastries with lotus-seed paste, sesame seeds, duck eggs or dried fruit inside. (Here in the USA it is a custom in several southern states to give Moon Pies in the same fashion.)  There is a somewhat similar holiday called Chuseok in Korea.  The Japanese like to visit beautiful  gardens jn the autumn.  Japanese Buddhists clean the graves of their ancestors and decorate them with flowers during the week of the equinox.  They honor the setting of the sun as they look to the West, where they believe  the land of the afterlife is located.

Zen garden in autumn

In this country, Native American celebrations of the autumn equinox are important.  Many of these are closed to the public, but some generously allow visitors. You can make a pilgrimage to the ancient observatory in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico.  You can watch how light passes through the spirals that the ancient Anasazi people carved on slabs of stone and watch make complex designs in rock art. Nighttime sky watching helps you see the constellations that the ancients saw and named.

Chaco Culture National Heritage Site

The Museum of Northern Arizona, at the base of the San Francisco Mountains, rests on land belonging collectively to many tribes. Each year they produce the Fall Heritage festival, featuring the art and craftwork of many tribes. This year it has been canceled because of the pandemic, but plans are being made for 2022 and 2023.  (You can find them online.)

The tribes in many parts of the country have harvest celebrations, featuring traditional foods, especially corn, which has a special significance.   Full moon celebrations honor the changes in daylight.  You may see honor paid to each of the directions because all have influences in weather, light, winds, and other features of life.  You will probably hear thanks given to the plants that provide food, medicine,  shelter,  and other necessities of life. All of these are ancient traditions.  The drums and chants are an extremely important and exciting part of any celebrations, as are the traditional dances, which have special meanings. If you ask questions seriously and politely, you will either get an answer or be told that that information is not disclosed outside the tribe. Remember that the indigenous peoples had vast civilizations on both the North and South American continents for thousands of years before other peoples came along. This is  a bittersweet time for them when ‘holidays’ like Columbus Day, and Thanksgiving often demean them  and propagate untruths about their cultures.  If you cannot go to them with an open mind and an open heart, don't go.  And parents, please do not dress your children as phony ‘Indians’ at Halloween. You are doing a disservice to both the children and the indigenous cultures.

A Message from Annake for Parents with Troubled Children

 I taught at all levels for fifty years on three different continents and observed children of all ages in many kinds of crisis.  I must say that I am extremely alarmed about the current state of mental health of children of all ages, but especially pre-teens and teenagers, since the advent of the pandemic.

There is a practice from Denmark called Kyggkogck, performed as the days shorten and darken. Families gather to discuss everything that happened in the past year, good and bad.  Good things are celebrated, and plans are made to avoid or ameliorate the bad things in the coming year. I highly recommend something similar to parents, perhaps somewhat modified, in this pandemic era.

Sit down as a family and discuss the good and bad things that happened to your family during the past season (or year).  Be honest.  Don't "sugar-coat" anything. Really listen to your children.  Sometimes it takes a lot of effort to find out what is really bothering them.  Take note of what they agree were good things so that you can build on them.  Plan together how to make things better in the future. It is helpful if parents show a united front even though they may not always agree.

One approach is to talk about things they would like to do or have done about their rooms, especially if those rooms are shared. (I once threatened to stretch barbed wire down the middle of my sons' room!)  Some children may need more privacy, or different times or parts of the house for doing things like practicing musical instruments.  Or one may just need more quiet than another.  Sometimes a partition  (but not barbed wire!) is the answer.  Even painting the sides of the room in two different colors may work.

Mixing ages can bring other problems. I know of a family with two girls just about a year apart in age and a third three years younger.  The two oldest shared a room and the youngest had a small room of her own.  There was constant friction between the two older girls. Moving the youngest girl in with the oldest one and giving the middle girl a room of her own made everyone happier.  You may have to try several different solutions, and it is good to have a rule that each person's belongings are to be left strictly alone.
                                                                                                                    
Bless you if you have none of these problems or have solved them all. Keep trying if you have not. Autumn tends to be a melancholy time for any number of reasons, so that is something to deal with and watch for. If you are a person reading this who lives alone, you can practice Kyggkogck on your own, but it can be wrenching and it is much better to have a friend, relative, or counselor with you when you do.

 

I want to leave you with some of the beautiful flowers that brighten the season.  By this time of year,  many of the flowers are Composites like asters,  daisies,  chrysanthemums and sunflowers.  These are really two flowers blended into one. One of them provides the showy petals that attract bees, butterflies, even bats.  The other half are pollinated by these visitors and produce the central seeds.  Botanists believe these flowers, along with orchids, are relatively new-comers to the plant world.  They have certainly beautified the place.   We will leave you with a bouquet of our favorites.

Best Wishes and Good Luck,

Clockwise from top left: sunflowers, daisies, asters, chrysanthemuns

 

This post by Annake's Garden is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Spring Things

Like this crocus, we are Resilient!

Dear Readers,
Well, 2020 was quite a year — and, as far as we are concerned, that is all the comment that it deserves.

As 2021 began, with promise of better things soon to come, we decided NOT to do one of our anniversary issues; instead, we planned something light and upbeat as we waited to see how the new year unfolded.

Unfortunately, the problems of 2020 were not ready to turn loose of us just yet: before we could publish, we were hit with a series of unfortunate events, including climate and weather events, ongoing drought in our area, ongoing economic fallout from the pandemic, unforeseen breakages and repair issues, and health problems that result from our advancing ages — all even more complicated by continued restrictions caused by the Covid pandemic.

We really ARE very much a collaborative effort: when one of our people is out of commission, we can’t publish this blog; and, during the last six weeks, EVERYBODY was out at one time or another. The good news is that WE ARE FINALLY BACK; the better news is that, even when we could not give you a finished product, those who were able were busy stockpiling ideas, research, parts and pieces for new posts which are now in the pipeline ready to finish up and publish over the next several months. We’ve done a lot of jiggling and juggling, changed emphasis or direction on some of our topics, and rearranged almost everything to get a steady flow of new material ready to go.

So, to start us back up, we begin with a little celebration of Spring, and of Spring celebrations. Enjoy, and stay tuned …

J.D., Annake’s Garden Gnome

Here in the United States, Spring 2021 officially begins at 5:30 AM Eastern Standard Time, on March 20th. This is the beginning of the Spring Equinox, the astronomical beginning of Spring.  The word "equinox" is made up of two Latin words meaning "equal" and "night".  The actual clock time for the beginning of spring depends on how far you are above the Equator (an imaginary line which divides the Northern Hemisphere from the Southern Hemisphere. The word hemisphere refers to the halves of the globe above and below the Equator.  Spring begins when the sun heads north from the Equator into the northern sky. If you were anywhere along the Equator at that time, the sun would pass right over your head on its journey,

Mountain sunrise, photo by J.J.

We use a number of words with the "equ" beginning.  For example, "equals", "equivalent", "equality", "equidistant",  "equilibrium'  and "equity".  The word "equinox" implies that the day and night are exactly the same length on that date. There are small variations, depending on how far you are from the Equator, but this is the date when the day and night at least come the closest to being equal.  The Spring Equinox is also called the Vernal Equinox ("Vernalis", a late Latin word meaning  "of the Spring".)  The Equinoxes are the only times when the sun rises due east and sets due west.

Remember that when it is the beginning of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere, it is the beginning of Autumn (from a Latin word referring to harvest time) and is called the Autumnal Equinox in the Southern Hemisphere, below the Equator. I was born on the Autumnal Equinox in the United States in September. I like to treat myself to a little gift like chocolates or a new straw hat on the Spring Equinox — kind of a half-birthday present.

By mid-March, it is easy to see that the days are getting longer. Some people mistakenly believe that this begins with the Equinox, but it really began in December with the shortest day and longest night of the year — the Winter Solstice. The very next day the days began growing longer, and will do so until the Summer Solstice — the longest day and shortest night of the year— in June,  starting on the way to the Autumnal Equinox.

There are numerous holidays and special occasions in the Spring. This year I expect that most of us will enjoy those virtually or not at all, from Saint Patrick's Day to Arbor Day.  But times will get better and we will participate again. In the meantime, there are things we can do for ourselves and for others and we can learn about spring customs in other places. If you have access to the Travel Channel, you may see pictures or films of some of these.

Saint Patrick was a real person, although he didn't drive the snakes out of Ireland, because there weren't any there to begin with.  Born in England, he was captured by slave traders as a teenager and taken to Ireland, where he served as a shepherd. He escaped and returned to England, where he trained for the priesthood. Then he returned to Ireland, where he was very successful in organizing the early Church.  He is associated with shamrocks and is supposed to have used them to teach people about the Trinity. He may well have done just that. Many people of his time (the 5th Century AD) could neither read nor write and were taught to understand and remember things by association with familiar objects.  (In a previous post, we showed a shamrock embroidery pattern. Look for it here.)

The Golden Serpent of the Sun

One of the most interesting celebrations connected to the Spring Equinox is held at Chichen Itza's Great Pyramid in Mexico, built by the Maya people. The steps of the great pyramid at the Altar of Kukulkan were built in 365 segments representing the days of the year. The Mayan people were very advanced in the science of astronomy.  On the equinox, at dawn and at sundown, a golden serpent appears to slither down the pyramid and eventually into a stone serpent's head at the base. The The Golden Serpent of the Sun is proclaimed to have arrived.  This is a World Heritage site, preserved for all mankind, and has now been elevated to one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

Cherry blossoms in Senate Park

Many spring celebrations involve flowers, especially fruit tree blossoms. The most dramatic ones are held in Japan, where the cherry blossoms represent a time of renewal and an opportunity for improvement.  People band together over food and music to reunite with old friends and meet new ones.  The trees are illuminated so the celebrations can go on into the night. Similar cherry blossom celebrations occur in South Korea. The cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C. are also a great tourist attraction.

I had to chuckle about Baba Marta's Day, celebrated in Belgium at the spring equinox.  According to custom,  Baba (Grandma) Marta was a waspish old lady who was almost always frowning or making faces at her two brothers. But when she DID smile, the sun came out!  People wear red-and-white yarn tassels to express their desire for good health and the coming of spring, then hang the tassels on the fruit trees when they begin to bloom.  Well, I'm not a Grandma, but I will certainly try to smile more often!)

Children celebrate Holi

Another colorful Spring holiday is Holi, celebrated in India and in other places where there are Hindu communities.  The Festival of Color begins with an evening of singing and dancing.  People light bonfires to celebrate the end of winter and the triumph of good over evil.  The following day they come together to throw water and perfumed colored powders on one another. Everyone becomes very colorful and the water washes away the residue.

Another "wet" celebration is the Songkran Water Festival in Thailand, which follows closely after the Spring equinox.  This is their traditional New Year's celebration.  It is a time to clean the house, reflect on the past year, and pay your respects to family, neighbors, and the elderly.  People bring food to the Buddhist monks and clean the statues of Buddha.  Young people wash their elders' hands with scented water to achieve good luck and prosperity.  In some places there are massive water fights, now embellished with water balloons and "super soakers". But perhaps the happiest water fighters are the elephants. They are dressed up and have their skins painted in patterns of vivid colors.  They draw water into their trunks and seem to have great fun squirting it on people.

Effigies in bonfire

A colorful parade happens in Valencia, Spain. It started out long ago as a procession honoring St. Joseph, but it has changed mightily. First there is an art contest to make decorated human figures out of papier mache, cloth, wood and wax. The best 350 are placed on floats for the parade.  The idea has become popular to use the parade to protest or satirize things that the float-makers don't like. Today most of the float figures may be caricatures of politicians and celebrities— not necessarily flattering ones. The parade happens on March 18th.  On the following night, the figures from the floats are destroyed in a massive bonfire.  

We hope these "Spring Things" will give you ideas for your own celebrations — snow or not —  and make this a more hopeful and pleasant time for you this year.

Best wishes,  

Daffodil, official flower of March

 This post by Annake's Gardenis licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.