Stonehenge, Easter Island and the Old Stone Mill. What do they all have in common besides being situated on islands? They're all mysterious stone structures that have generated all kinds of colorful legends. The first two date to ancient times, the third to Colonial or possibly even Viking times. In the old days, folks were fascinated by rock formations that were even remotely out of the ordinary, and their imaginations ran wild, weaving fantastic stories about how such formations used to be giants, animals or spirits. It is one such formation that inspired our story on this podcast, "The Legend of the Rollright Stones".

We present this tale without benefit of Zephyr, who's in Oregon attending Not Back to School Camp, an annual gathering for homeschoolers. We come to you from North Attleboro, south of Boston.

Our story selection was prompted by our recent visit to Newport, RI (our first time ever to go there, and it isn't often that we visit a place for the first time anymore), where we saw the nation's oldest synagogue, the nation's oldest lending library, and Fort Adams Park, site of the annual Newport Folk Festival, which has showcased such legendary talents as Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger (a co-founder of the event) and Joan Baez. Oh yes, and we also saw the Old Stone Mill, the third stone oddity mentioned above. Nobody knows who built it or when or why, but there has been speculation that Norsemen under Leif Erickson erected it when they allegedly dropped by a millennium ago – its style is similar to that of certain Scandinavian churches. Another popular theory is that it was built as a mill by Rhode Island colonial governor Benedict Arnold, great-grandfather of the more famous (and infamous) individual bearing that name. (Supporters of the Viking theory point out that even if Arnold did use it as a mill, that doesn't mean he built it, and it could have been much older.) Still another hypothesis is that it was a watchtower constructed or used by a Portuguese explorer around 1500. Hey, maybe all three are sort of true.

We breezed through Newport on our bicycles as part of a 10-day bike marathon, starting from Norton, MA, then proceeding to Plymouth, Cape Cod, southern MA, then Newport and back up to Norton. We covered more than 320 miles in all, spending the nights in a tent and buying food at produce stands. What a great way to see the country! As long as you don't run over any big rocks.

Happy Listening!

Dennis (Farmer, Villager), Kimberly (Narrator, Fairy, Villager) and Zephyr (Marcel Marceau impersonator)

Comments and folktale requests 206-426-0436.

P.S. Apologies for the audio quality of the past two podcasts. We've had major technical gremlins, which we've been struggling to put back into their cages. Hopefully, all will be peachy keen next time.

Links:

• BLOCKBUSTER Total Access click to activate coupon for $10 off your first month.
• SkypeOut Free calls online
• Read about Family on Bikes as they travel from Alaska to Argentina

"The Jester and the Straw Roof" is a trickster tale from India about a poor man who gets his due by exercising his wits - in effect, by playing a joke on someone rich and powerful, which is appropriate, since this individual is a joker by trade. But we trade the traditional concept of a court jester for the persona of Batman's nemesis The Joker, as interpreted by the late Heath Ledger, and ably imitated by our resident mimic Zephyr. We also are aided and abetted this week by our friend Cassia, since we come to you from her hometown in Massachusetts.

We talk about the tour that Dennis and Zephyr took of Valley Forge National Park, just north of Philadelphia. During the winter of 1777-78, Gen. George Washington and his men took a very different kind of tour of this property, a military stand to fight back the British invasion. It was a harsh winter and the troops worked under extreme hardships, often having inadequate clothing and little food.

Even Washington had it rough, sharing cramped quarters, with several members of his staff - although he certainly was better off than the troops. At least he was in a fine old house with servants and a comfortable bed; they on the other hand, slept in crude little log huts - or on the ground while they were constructing these!

We were able to see some very accurate replicas of these huts, and they looked anything but inviting, in any kind of weather. We also toured Gen. Washington's painstakingly restored house on the Schuylkill River, furnished just as it might have been when he was using it, down to the pens and papers on the desk.

We also mention the alternating days of bike touring that Kimberly and Dennis have been doing from Valley Forge to Bristol, CT, getting in as many as 65 miles a day - often on very hilly terrain. At least the soldiers never had do that!

Happy Listening,
Dennis (Maharajah), Kimberly (narrator), Zephyr (Jester/Joker) and Cassia (the wife)

Comments and folktale requests 206-426-0436.

Links: BLOCKBUSTER Total Access click to activate coupon for $10 off your first month. - Save $10
Learn more about Valley Forge

"Stone Soup" is not only a popular folk tale with variants in many cultures and countries, it's also become a proverbial expression of sorts -- not to mention the name of a popular magazine for children. In some versions of the tale, the cornucopian object might be a nail, a button, or even an axe. And in some versions there is only one miserly individual involved, as opposed to a whole village. But there is something particularly resonant about the image of getting nourishment from a stone, and even more so about being able to feed an entire community, even if it involves a little deception.

One reason for the story's endurance is that it can be interpreted in a number of ways. There's the concept, for instance, of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. There's the importance of pitching in to help your neighbors -- it takes a village to feed a village. There's the principle of making something from nothing, or at least being productive in difficult times. And of course there's the motif of applying psychology to encourage cooperation -- prompting people to contribute by appealing to their pride in creating a desirable outcome, rather than just telling them their efforts are needed (somewhat similar to Tom Sawyer's trick with the fence.) We come to you from the outskirts of Philadelphia, where we've returned to perform again at the Free Library of Philadelphia. Zephyr rejoins us after spending a couple of weeks in Winston-Salem, while Dennis and Kimberly report on their recent visit to Pennsylvania's capital city, Harrisburg, where they took a pleasant bike ride on a 20-mile loop that took them one of the finest nature preserves they've ever seen.

Happy Listening!
Dennis (Soldier, villagers), Kimberly (Narrator, Villagers), Zephyr (Villagers, including the Joker)

Comments and folktale requests 206-426-0436.

Links:

• SkypeOut
• Storyteller.net
• Bike Trails (Harrisburg Loop)
• The Laugh and Learn Ledger (The Importance of the Arts article)
• Act!vated Ustream - Watch August 12th.

"The Peacock and the Crane" is one of Aesop's fables, and (surprise) it has a little lesson to teach: namely that it's wiser to make good use of the skill you have than to boast or make a display of yourself. The peacock has long been a symbol of vanity and ostentatiousness, and it may have been Aesop who started that tradition. NBC seemed to have had something else in mind, however, when it adopted a peacock for its network logo during the early days of color programming.

We come to you, minus Zephyr, from West Virginia, where we are having a busy week during our summer library tour, helping youngsters "Catch the Reading Bug" (that's the theme of the summer reading program for many of the nation's libraries this year). Our first West Virginia performance was in Point Pleasant, so named because it is a pleasant point at which the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers come together.

Up until 42 years ago, the town was best known as the site of the first battle between Native Americans and European settlers, which occurred here in 1774. As usual, the Natives (led by Chief Cornstalk) got the worst end of it. There's an impressive mural of the battle painted on the wall that runs along the riverfront by the national park that commemorates the event.

Okay, that was the town's old claim to fame. But in November 1966 it was the site of the reputed appearance of a strange creature that came to be known as the Mothman. He stood about 8 feet tall and looked like a cross between a human and a moth. He may have been of extraterrestrial origin, or he may have just been the Reading Bug. Or he may have been someone's hyperactive imagination. We can't know for certain, because he did not strut around like a peacock, but hid in the dark like a moth. But whatever he was, he is now folklore, and that's where we come in. There is a life-size statue of him in downtown Point Pleasant, so you can form your own theories. And be thankful that it wasn't you who ran into him.

Happy Listening!
Dennis (Crane, Farmer) and Kimberly (Narrator, Peacock)

Comments and folktale requests 206-426-0436.

Links: The Coyote and Eagle can be found on the Out of the Bag audio collection. And here is a kachina activity sheet to print and color (.PDF)

Award winning storyteller Sean Buvala offers teleconferences and coaching for storytellers.

Reading bug PSA courtesy of the Collaborative Summer Library Program

In folk tales, as in cartoons, the laws of physics and biology often are violated without a second thought. Things get blown up, and then are fine; coyotes run off the edge of a cliff and hover in mid-air a moment before plunging; and mice have their tails cut off and then restored. As in the British story "The Cat and the Mouse", which is based on the cumulative list motif, similar to the nursery rhyme "The House That Jack Built". The best-known version of the story is itself told in rhyme by folklorist Joseph Jacobs, who included it in a volume of English stories published in 1890. And it was this version that was familiar to our winner in the Be A Character Contest, a young man from Indiana named Aiden. He requested this story, so we made him the mouse (Ouch! Sorry about that.) But of course we weren't content to copy someone else's version of the tale (tail) despite its appealing rhyming rhythmic lines. We devised, as usual, our own madcap, quasi-improvised retelling.

We bring this podcast to you from Quincy, IL and Hannibal, MO, where we return to perform at libraries in both cities. And the libraries, we're happy to say, were not damaged by the recent flooding of the Mississippi River, though some parts of both cities definitely were soaked. So far, all systems are go for the annual Tom Sawyer Days held during the Independence Day weekend in Hannibal. And we're back to participate for the first time in several years.

We also tell you all about our recent encounter in Hawaii with Wally Amos, the famous cookie guru who now is heavily involved with promoting reading, particularly reading aloud to children. Not only does he read to kids himself, he is chair of the Read It Loud Foundation, which has a goal of enticing at least 5 million parents to read to their kids each day for at least 10 minutes. He donates 10 percent of the profits from his cookie stores in Kailua and Honolulu to this endeavor, and makes promotional appearances across the country to promote it -- including Savannah, GA., where Read It Loud! Savannah already has enjoyed considerable success. One of the activities of the program in Savannah is to donate a book to the parents of each child born in the community. It's never too early to start!

We salute Wally Amos and Read It Loud for the admirable work they do -- which, after all, is very much in line with the work we do ourselves.

Happy Listening (whatever your age),
Dennis (Narrator, Cow, Farmer's Wife, Butcher, Painter), Kimberly (Cat, Farmer, Baker), and Zephyr (Mouse)

Link: Folktales to Read Out Loud

"The Rough-Skinned Girl" is a Native American story told among some of the tribes in the Great Lakes region of the U.S. and Canada, particularly the Miq-Mak and Algonquin tribes. The title (Oochegeaska in Miq-Mak) also can be translated as "Burnt-Skinned Girl" or, as in a popular book, "The Rough-Face Girl". This is one of innumerable versions of the Cinderella motif found around the world; but in this case the similarity is more than coincidence. Natives apparently heard the popular French tale, as related by French trappers, and adapted it to their own culture.

We present the story with the aid of our guest star Mary, who's been a friend all her life (literally -- she attended Zephyr's first birthday party when we lived in San Francisco). She spent 10 days traveling with us under battle conditions, joining us in Reno as we were frantically trying to get our new show together, accompanying us on our 2000 mile dash to Arkansas, then aiding and abetting us during our show's first two performances in Hot Springs and Conway, AR. What a trooper.

But once the pressure was off, we managed to have some fun, absorbing the local color along historic Bath House Row in Hot Springs, where we also attended an open mic poetry reading at The Poets Loft, the longest running open mic poetry night in the world. Mary wasn't content merely to observe, but also got up and read one of her own poems, followed by her a cappella rendering of "Goodnight Irene" in Japanese. We also spent an evening at The Brauhaus listening to the music of our friends The Itinerant Locals. And in Little Rock we took Mary to the Clinton Library and Central High School, site of the landmark 1957 school integration conflict.

Now she's off to The Bay Area again, and we're off again on another summer tour. See you there!

Happy Listening!
Dennis (Father, Hunter), Kimberly (Sister, Hunter's Sister), Zephyr (Narrator, Sister) and Mary (Rough-Skinned Girl)

Comments and folktale requests 206-426-0436.

Aloha! That's a word that can mean “Hello”, “Goodbye”, or “I love you”. But in this case, it means yes,  we finally took our trip to Hawaii. We had a glorious week packed with activity on the island of Oahu, and we've devoted this podcast to telling you about some of the things we did, interlaced with some sounds we captured at the Polynesian Culture Center.

We spent a day at the Polynesian Culture Center, soaking in the sights, sounds and tastes (a luau was included in our package) of several Pacific Island cultures. We visited Pearl Harbor, where we stood on a platform that overlooks the USS Arizona, sunk in the water a few feet below the surface.We went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay coral reef, where we were face to face with exotic species of fish we'd never seen before – Zephyr even had a close encounter with a huge sea turtle. We also went swimming at Waikiki Beach and Kailua Beach, where Kimberly used to swim when she lived in Hawaii as a child. And in Kailua we met Wally Amos, the founder of the original Famous Amos cookie company, who now owns a cookie shop there, and also is active in promoting reading to children.

Now we're back at “home” (I.e., the Continental U.S.) and it's crunch time to get our new show ready for its premiere on June 11. We're now a two-person act onstage, since Zephyr recently retired, but you can still hear his voice on the podcasts.

Our apologies for the tardiness of this post. In addition to our trip, we've faced a mountain of technical difficulties lately.

Mahalo!

Barefoot Dennis, Flower-Haired Kimberly and Sunburned Zephyr

Comments and folktale requests 206-426-0436.

"The Donkey and the cucumbers", a simple little folktale from India, is somewhat similar to Aesop's fable about the fox and the crow, a warning that sometimes crowing too loudly will cause you to have to eat crow later. We enact it with the aid of our special guest star Cassia, who is visiting us for a few days from Massachusetts. Who ever heard of a red-haired donkey? But it was her real-life fondness for cucumbers (some might say an obsession with cucumbers) that prompted our selection of this story.

We come to you from the beautiful city of Seattle and vicinity, where we're presenting a series of performances for the King County Library System. Previously we were in Portland, where Zephyr and Cassia met up with some friends, and dropped in at Powells, the fabled bookstore that may be the world's largest.

And speaking of books (which Dennis keeps doing in this podcast) we had to put in a plug for a new book called "50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth". We know, there's already been a book by that title. But this one, by the same author (John Javna, assisted by his teenage son and daughter), is not just a revised edition of that bestseller, but a whole new volume that addresses the realities of the Twenty-First Century more effectively. We're recommending it not just because John's a friend of ours, but because it's an informative and important book.

Happy Listening!
Dennis (Washerman and Watchman), Kimberly (Narrator), Zephyr (Fox) and Cassia (Donkey)

Link: 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth: Completely New and Updated for the 21st Century

So how did you sleep last night? Did a lump in your bed cause you to toss and turn? If this is ever a problem, you should be grateful that you're not as delicate as the princess in "The Princess and the Pea", the story we present this week. This tale was written by the celebrated Danish author Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875), although he probably based it on a genuine folklore motif. First published in 1835, the story was immediately popular and has been translated, adapted, retold and mangled many times over the years. In 1959 the musical adaptation "Once Upon a Mattress" opened on Broadway and became a smash hit, further popularizing the tale. And more recently, a fractured version called "The Princess and the Bowling Ball" appeared in "The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales".
As usual, however, we do not fracture this story, though we may bruise it a bit. We always stay faithful to the original plot, while injecting and infecting it with our own colorful style and humor that will appeal to contemporary audiences. We enact this story with our special guest Sarah, one of our "adopted daughters" who's spending a week on the road with us. She's both a fellow homeschooler and a fellow RVer. And no, our story choice was not inspired by her own sleeping habits. She is not a princess, and in fact could probably sleep on a bowling ball.
With Sarah in tow, we're having a busy April performing in Northern California; we've been particularly in demand for National Library Week. We've been revisiting our roots in the San Francisco Bay Area, where we originated nearly 20 years ago. And where, once upon a time, Kimberly was in a production of "Once Upon A Mattress".

Happy Listening!
Dennis (Prince), Kimberly (Princess, Royal Attendant), Zephyr (King, Other Princesses) and Sarah (Queen, Other Princesses)
 

Aesop, according to tradition, was a Greek slave who flourished around 550 BC and told many fables, i.e. tales with a moral at the end. Many of these tales had animal characters, and many were actually much older than Aesop. In other words, if Aesop actually lived, or even if he didn't, he borrowed other stories in addition to possibly making up some of his own; additionally, it appears he wrote new stories long after his death, as many stories attributed to him were picked up from later generations and other cultures. We herewith present one of the stories he may have written during, before or after his lifetime, a simple fable about self-reliance that we, as you might notice, have embellished just a bit.

We thought this story appropriate for the moment, because it deals with vehicle problems of a sort, and we've just experienced vehicle problems of many sorts driving from Albuquerque to Las Vegas. We include a special guest, Zephyr's friend Koree, who is visiting us for a few days from Arizona. We include an account of our stay in the Glitz Capital of the world, where Zephyr attended a haunted attraction convention, and the prices are high enough to spook anyone.

Happy Listening!

Dennis (Farmer), Kimberly (Mule, Woman), Zephyr (Hercules, Man) and Koree (Woman)

Recommended Podcast: Dancing With Elephants
Link: Not Back To School Camp

In episode 75 we announced the "Be A Character" contest. Here are the details:

Be A Character

We will name a folktale character after you or one of your friends in episode 80. You can be the hero! Or choose to be the villain if you prefer. All who comment will be entered into a drawing. You may enter as many times as you like. Comments do need to be relevant to the podcast (no spam) and may be posted about any episode or the show in general.

To enter all you need to do is leave a comment or review at one of the following sites.

• iTunes
• Leave a comment here at our podcast site
• Do a short write up on your blog
• Podcast Alley
• DramaPod
• Podcast Pickle
• Any podcast directory site
• Or call us and leave a voice mail (206) 202-3976

Please leave a way that we can get back in touch with you. If you don't want to leave your email on a site just send us an email so if you win we can find out what your preferences are. Otherwise we'll just do what we want (insert evil laugh here). It is wise to send us an email just so we don't miss anything. We do not share email address with anyone.

We typically do a podcast every other week. But every now and then we are sneaky and throw in an extra one. We like to record them on Mondays and air them on Thursdays. So if we stick to a normal schedule you will have until May 19th to enter the contest.

The poor bat has an evil image that it doesn't deserve. Because it's active at night, and hides in dark places like caves, and has a rather sinister appearance, it has inspired fear for ages. And Dracula wasn't exactly a helpful public relations person, either. But in fact bats are quite harmless, unless they have rabies -- which would put any critter in a bad mood.
In Nigeria, folks long ago tried to explain the bat's reputation with a little story to account for its status among living things. In our version it's called, appropriately, "Why the Bat is an Outcast". It points out that bats don't appear to fit in with either birds or "animals" (i.e., mammals), though it has characteristics of both -- and by being reclusive, appears to be shunned by both. Scientists, of course, tell us that bats are indeed mammals, a sort of flying rat. But they're harder to keep as pets.

We encountered only one bat recently when we walked through the caves at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, and it was dead -- and encased inside a stalagmite! This was inside the Lower Cave, an optional tour that had us Indiana Jones-ing down a slope while hanging on a rope, descending three ladders, and then walking around with headlamps on our helmets. That's the real way to see a cave! Well, actually the real way to see a cave is in its natural lighting -- total darkness, which we also saw for about 5 minutes.

On our way to Carlsbad, we spent a day in Abilene, TX, where we stumbled upon the National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature (NCCIL) and talked to executive director Sarah Mulkey. She told us all about the Center's mission of exposing the public, and particularly children, to the original artwork of prominent children's book illustrators. The current exhibition features Gerald McDermott, who illustrated some of the stories that we've performed in the past -- and will be performing again.

Happy Listening,
Dennis (Bruce the Bat), Kimberly (Birds & Beasts) and Zephyr (Narrator) 

Here is the video to accompany podcast #74. Watch Kimberly zipline through the Trees at Banning Mills on YouTube.

The camera had to be strapped to the outside of our hand and could not be held or focused when we were on the zipline. But we think it still turned out pretty well. Hope you enjoy the ride!

Dreams play an important role in many tribal cultures, providing a revered source of advice, enlightenment and law. Our rendition "The Dreaming Tree", a considerably "trunk-ated" version of a folk mini-saga from Brazil, illustrates how seriously indigenous peoples take this nocturnal activity. It also makes use of the tree as a symbol of wisdom, a motif common to many folk traditions. And there's a reminder that even a good thing can be carried to dangerous excess.

This story about a potent tree seemed especially appropriate because we recently got a very good bird's eye view of some very nice trees, not to mention beautiful Snake Creek (which we just mentioned) at Historic Banning Mills, near Whitesburg, GA. It's called Historic Banning Mills because historically there were mills here (textile, paper, wood and others), and the ruins still stand. But now there's a rustic lodge up on the hill overlooking the creek, a serene location for a romantic getaway, a conference, or a wedding. At certain times of the year, the place is also abuzz with all manner of outdoor activities, including hiking, horseback riding, golf, skeet shooting (what did those poor skeets ever do to us?) and kayaking. And there's a very intriguing-looking ropes course on the grounds -- or rather in the trees. (If you don't know, a ropes course is a series of physical obstacles that involve climbing, designed to challenge your courage and tenacity and resourcefulness. If you don't know the ropes when you start, you'll learn before it's over.)

Zipping Through the Treetops

But the piece de resistance is what they call the Canopy Tour, a guided walk through the treetops on bridges too narrow even for ballerinas (though Kimberly did a pretty decent impression of one) and even, in some cases, a single cable. But oh yes, we almost forgot. There are also four ziplines, which are cables stretched from trees and/or towers on which the truly daring and/or truly insane soar at speeds up to 60 m.p.h. at altitudes of up to 220 feet. And you don't even need a pilot's license. It was the most exhilaratingly terrifying experience we've had in ages, and we can't wait to do it again -- this time with Zephyr, who was off in Massachusetts at the time.

The Inns at Historic Banning Mills, and the Canopy Tour, are family owned and operated, by some right friendly folks. We highly recommend this place. (Note: When you visit their website, we recommend the multimedia tour, which uses an exquisite arrangement of a haunting Civil War-flavored waltz to provide a perfect mood for the slide show.)

Read Across America

In celebration of Dr. Seuss's Birthday and Read Across America week, we are bringing you this special podcast on a Saturday, even though Thursday is our typical air date. Find out what we are reading as we drive across America. How are you celebrating? You are invited to call in and share what is on your reading list(206) 202-3976.

Happy Listening!
Dennis (Jaguar Man and Grandpa), Kimberly (Narrator) and Zephyr (Fernando and Pedro)

Recommended Podcasts: Brazilianisms and RVNavigator
Read a longer version of this story The Sleep Tree

"Don't Ever Look at a Mermaid" is a story from England and vicinity, about a mermaid's infatuation with a mortal man; and like last week's story, it entails humans, or in this case, humanoids, assuming animal form. The mermaid motif, which is particularly common in Europe but also crops up in other cultures around the world (including Native American), may have inspired Hans Christian Andersen to write "The Little Mermaid" -- which in turn inspired Disney, as so many stories have, to put the same title on a very different story. In this version, the mermaid seems to represent temptation, which, like the mermaid herself, never completely goes away but reappears every so often.

We bring you this story from icy, storm-ravaged Arkansas, where we're visiting friends and relatives (not necessarily in that order). But we're recapping some of our adventures in sunny Florida, specifically the two
occasions when we donned snorkels. The first was at Biscayne National Park near Key Biscayne, the only national park that is almost completely underwater. We saw some coral, a few fish, a couple of lobsters (uncooked, of course) and the largest seahorse we've ever witnessed.

The second time, we were at Crystal River, where we bathed with a few manatees who, like the humans who marvel at them, vacation in The Sunshine State at this time of year. Having learned our lesson from Key Biscayne, we rented wetsuits along with our kayak. The water was crystal-river clear, and we were able to get within a few feet of
these incredible beasts, who generally stayed quite still on the bottom but occasionally swam right by us. We can understand how sailors might have mistaken them for boulders, but mermaids??

As you may have noticed, this is a bonus podcast, wedged into our biweekly schedule because there's been just so much material to cover lately!

Happy listening,
Dennis (Hans), Kimberly (Mermaid, Wife, Dog) and Zephyr (Narrator)

"The Castle in the Lake" from Tibet is a tale about a poor herdsman who undertakes a quest to change his fortunes. Like many other stories from many other cultures, he does so by submerging himself into a body of water. And the story also includes an animal transformation motif and a concealed identity motif, rather similar to "Lohengrin" and "East of the Sun and West of the Moon".

We bring it to you from Everglades National Park in Florida, where we took a bicycle tour to snuggle up to those notorious Florida gators in their natural habitat. How many do you suppose we counted on a 15-mile trek on our Treks?

We also spent some time in Homestead, where we caught a Mardi Gras parade in the city's old town section, a parade that included an outstanding (or outmarching) band and some wild animals -- including an alligator!

And what would a homestead be without an outhouse? Hopefully the outhouses they had in homesteading days stayed stationary, unlike the ones we saw, which were on wheels and used in races. It was the 14th annual chili cook-off and outhouse race (is there a connection there?), and it was quite a memorable event that included some artistically designed and decorated outhouses.

And then there was a truly unique homestead in Homestead, the Coral Castle. It was constructed by Latvian immigrant Edward Leedskalnin from about 1920-1940, though he continued to modify it until his death in 1951. Though Ed was physically very small, he built this imposing complex by himself from granite blocks weighing several tons. Nobody knows exactly how -- one might call it (and many have) the Florida Stonehenge. He certainly was a brilliant technician, and also very good at fashioning tools from scrap metal. you'd be amazed how comfortable it can be to sit on a chair made of coral!

Happy Listening!
Dennis (Herdsman), Kimberly (Narrator & Woman) and Zephyr (Servant, King, Chief's Son)

Saving Spring - a folktale

"Saving Spring", a Scandinavian folktale, is one of numerous stories from around the world dealing with the cycle of the seasons -- such as, for example, the Greek myth of Demeter and Persephone. "Naturally", since this particular tale comes from Scandinavia -- a region that consists of Denmark, Norway and Sweden (sometimes Finland and Iceland are lumped with them as well) -- should revolve around a harsh winter, which is something they get a lot of in those parts.

But we're not getting it in the parts where we currently are. This podcast was recorded at Port Canaveral, Florida, where the cruise ships leave from and come back to -- including the Disney line and the Carnival Line. We could watch these enormous vessels depart in the afternoon, floating by so close that we could just about touch them with a fishing pole.

Families On The Road

We were there for the third sort-of-annual sort-of-rally of Families on the Road (FOTR), an online community of families who live on the road full-time. And the folks who came to this one truly fit the bill. And there were oodles of them, too -- at least 15 families, making this by far the best-attended event yet of this kind. And we of course made use of as many extra voices as we could round up to be guest stars on this podcast. When you got talent like this, you gotta use 'em!

We crammed about 25 people into one RV to record this episode. Below are some of the families we interviewed (in no particular order):

• The Davis Family (Stephanie and Kayla)
• The Evans Family (Kati, Auvi and Conner)
• The Elliot Family (Sue and Savannah)
• The Whitcomb Family (Tim, Sue, Tyler and Natalie)
• The Miller Family (Lara and Joey)
• The Smythe Family (Deb and Jonathon)

CAST in order of appearance

Announcer ..... Abby Bennett
Narrators ...... Zoe Evans, Dennis Goza, Kimberly Goza, Cindy Whitcomb
Mayor .......... Tim Whitcomb
Oscar ..... Zephyr Goza
Greta ..... Auvi Evans
Wolf ..... Conner Evans
Animals and Crowd .... an RV full of FOTR
Guard #1 and #4 ..... Tyler Whitcomb
Guard #2 ..... Gayle Bennett
Guard #3..... Cindy Whitcomb
Winter ..... Chris Elliot
Spring .... Sue Elliot

Happy Listening!
Dennis, Kimberly & Zephyr

"The Fisherman and His Wife" is an old story that comes from the British Isles, among many other places, and in many other forms. (Notice how it's always something like "The Fisherman and his Wife" instead of "The Wife and Her Fisherman"? There's no doubt that sexism abounds in folklore.) It's a cautionary tale about greed and keeping up with the Joneses, one of those stories about an enchanted animal that grants wishes. Bet you've encountered one of those at some time.

We get some very capable help this time around from Zephyr's friend Cassia, making another appearance as guest performer. She's visiting us from Massachusetts, spending five days with us at Fort Wilderness, the Disney campground adjacent to Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL. She and Zephyr are spending a day exploring each of the four theme parks, and they give us a report on the two they've hit so far-- namely, Animal Kingdom and Epcot. (Next on the agenda are Magic Kingdom and Disney Hollywood Studios, formerly known as Disney MGM.)

And this podcast was recorded on National Appreciate a Dragon Day, so if there's a friendly dragon in your neighborhood, give it a hug for us.
Happy Listening!

Dennis (Narrator), Kimberly (Fish/Dragon), Zephyr (Husband) and Cassia (Wife)
 
Podcast Recommendation: Nina Kimberly The Merciless

"The Frog Prince" from Germany is one of the many tales collected by The Brothers Grimm; it deals with the importance of keeping your word and also cautions that appearances can be deceiving. We go with the original version, which unlike the more popularly known version, does not involve kissing the frog. We just didn't have the mouthwash handy.

We begin 2008 from Orlando FL., where we spent most of December. We did, however, take a brief jaunt to St. Augustine, the oldest city in America, and home of Castillo de San Marcos, a 300-year-old fort. (It's not 400 years old, as we mistakenly state in the podcast, but the city itself is OVER 400 years old.)

Back in Orlando, Zephyr made a couple of pilgrimages to Universal Orlando, where he made observations and took notes to assist him in his own theme park planning ambitions. You can hear some of his feedback about the park on this podcast.

We wish you the happiest of new years all year long and then some!

Happy Listening!

Dennis (Narrator, King), Kimberly (Princess) and Zephyr (Frog Prince)

Since there are evergreen trees everywhere this time of year, even here in sweltering Florida (if they're store-bought), we thought it appropriate to present "Why the Evergreen Tree is Ever Green", a fable that probably originated in Canada and illustrates the rewards of being kind to others in need -- an important thing to remember all year long, though it receives special attention at this time of year.

It's our holiday podcast from Orlando, Florida, where the weather hasn't been exactly North Pole-ish lately, so we decided to seek chillier climes on the inside. Namely, at "Ice" the special exhibit of magnificent ice sculptures on display at the Gaylord Palms Hotel Convention Center through Jan. 3. This exhibit is now in its fourth consecutive year (at holiday time, only, of course) and is carved from 400-lb. blocks of ice -- some frozen quickly to give it a milky hue, some frozen slowly to make it clear, and some colored with food dye and sculpted into delectable shapes to make Hansel and Gretel salivate. There are deer, there are polar bears, there's a train, there's Santa's sleigh, and of course the obligatory nativity scene. All of it kept at a refreshing 9 degrees Fahrenheit. But we were issued parkas to keep us not quite frozen solid. One of the most fun things about the exhibit is a big slide that kids of all ages can slide down -- and like everything else in the place, it's constructed entirely of ice.

The sculptures are created every year by artisans (a fancy word for wizards, it appears) brought over from China, where such ice festivals are a really big deal -- and have been since at least 400 years ago, when the tradition began with lanterns made of ice in Harbin.

And, in keeping with the holiday spirit of charitable giving, part of the proceeds from this event go to Give Kids the World Village, a resort for kids afflicted with life-threatening illness.

May you have a Cheery Christmas, a Happy Hannukah, a Quality Kwanzaa, a Cool Yule, a Fabulous First, and an all-around unforgettable 2008!

Happy Listening,
Dennis (Narrator, Oak Tree, Old Man winter), Kimberly (Bird, Fir Tree) and Zephyr (Birch Tree, Jack Frost)

 

It's Jack Sparrow getting into trouble big time. No, we don't mean Johnny Depp (although Zephyr gives a big nod to him in his performance of the character); the folks at Disney have a habit of borrowing from older sources, and it's quite likely that the name Jack Sparrow came from this African-American tale related by noted author Joel Chandler Harris. A simple fable about the dangers of gossiping and meddling in other peoples' affairs, this story is included among Harris' writings about the fictional character Uncle Remus, a sort of African-American version of Aesop. An accomplished folklorist who heard these charming animal yarns from slaves when he was a teenager working on a plantation, Harris has come under fire in more recent times for the racist overtones in his heavy usage of southern black dialect and also for the very name Uncle Remus -- "uncle" was a demeaning term sometimes applied to slaves by their owners. But hey, he lived in racist times; and in view of that, his tone was perhaps far less insulting than it might have been.

Harris was born in 1848 in Eatonton, GA., which we just happened to pass through on a Sunday morning in December, so we couldn't pass up the Uncle Remus Museum, with its statue of Brother Rabbit ("Br'er" Rabbit) in the yard. The museum, which features mementos from the life, times and work of Harris, is housed in a building comprised of two former slave cabins joined together. (You can see the seams on the sides.) It's on the property once occupied by the family of Joseph Sidney Turner, the "Little Boy" in the "Tales of Uncle Remus".

We also dropped in at the Laurel and Hardy Museum in the hometown of Norvell "Oliver" Hardy, Harlem, GA. This town is so proud of its celebrated native son that the water tower sports a picture of him and his skinny partner, Stanley Jefferson -- who gave himself the shorter name of Stan Laurel so it would fit on signs better. This pair of comedy titans made over 100 films together of varying lengths over a period of about 30 years, and were also the best of friends. And they had a major influence on virtually every comic performer to come afterward -- including, no doubt, us.

Happy listening,
Dennis (Narrator and Fox), Kimberly (Rabbit) and Zephyr (Jack Sparrow, natch)