From the Mouths of Babes: Why Pets Have Such Short Lives

I’m a big fan of the James Herriot books and stories. You may be most familiar with All Creatures Great and Small — the book, the film, or the series. Herriot referred to them as his “little cat and dog stories”, but they are much more than that. They are glimpses into lives — Herriot’s own, and the lives of his clients and their owners. My favorite story has to be the one about why pets have such short lives. It goes a little something like this: a family needed to have their dog put to sleep. The dog, at … Continue reading →

Animal Folktales: Drakestail

This is a special story for me — when I was in sixth grade, I took part in a storytelling workshop at my local library. Of the kids at my library who participated, I was chosen to go and tell my story again at the main branch of the county library system. Of those storytellers, three were asked to go on local cable and tell their stories a third time. It was my first exposure to the magic of being a storyteller — and I have loved sharing stories ever since. This is the story I learned. Drakestail was a … Continue reading →

Animal Folktales: The Greedy Monkey

There are many variations of this folktale out there… but this is the version I remember. Stories tend to grow and change and evolve as they are told — that’s part of the wonder of the oral tradition. A hunter set out a simple trap: a glass bottle filled halfway with berries. Along came a slender, graceful crane and a shaggy, playful monkey. They saw the bottle of berries and both wanted some. “Let me use my long beak to get the berries,” Crane said. She reached into the bottle and carefully pinched a berry in the tip of her … Continue reading →

Have You Heard the One About the Boy and the Penguin?

Not too long ago my husband told me an outrageous story a co-worker had told him about a boy who smuggled a penguin out of an aquarium in his backpack. He swore up and down the story was true, and he believed it was, but I wasn’t falling for it. I told him I was going to check it out on Snopes and that’s exactly what I did. The result? It’s as I suspected. An urban legend. The Premise It’s told in different forms. The version Wayne told me was of a little boy who’d snuck off and had somehow … Continue reading →

The Dog Days of Summer: Why Dogs Take the Heat for the Heat

At the start of every month I consult lists scattered across the web to compile what I call my daily/weekly/monthly celebrations list. (Now you know why I’ve been writing about things like American Eagle Day, Adopt-a-Shelter Cat Month, and National Dog Bite Prevention Week.) Well, today starts what’s known as the Dog Days of Summer. Ever heard that expression? Ever wonder how it came to be called that? Me too. So I did a little more web-surfing to come up with the following: • The Dog Days of Summer refer to the warmest days of the season –and the “season” … Continue reading →

The Easter Bunny: One Giving Rabbit

Who is the Easter Bunny? We know he keeps good company with the likes of Santa Claus, and we know he brings baskets of goodies to kids at Easter. But do we really know why? Or how it was this generous bunny came to be? History: Why a Rabbit Who Lays Eggs? The notion of an Easter bunny predates Christianity. Symbolically, eggs, hares, and rabbits have all represented fertility in a variety of cultures. Somewhere along the way wires got crossed as traditions and beliefs merged and an egg-laying bunny was created. One who bore colored eggs no less. A … Continue reading →

Candlemas and Groundhog Day: Folkloric Origins

Before there was Candlemas, there was Imbolc, a pagan ceremony celebrating the halfway point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. Celtic beliefs held that during this time certain animals had special powers, such as forecasting the weather. Thus it was people took to watching to see whether snakes and badgers would emerge from their dens. If they did, and if they didn’t immediately return to their dens, it was believed spring would come soon. When Christianity became more popular, Imbolc transformed into Candlemas Day. Traditionally, Candlemas follows 40 days after Christmas, and is a celebration honoring the Virgin … Continue reading →

The Old Woman at the End of Time

Some Native American legends speak of a very old woman who lives at the End of the World. Because she is so very old, she moves very slowly. She spends day and night working at a gigantic loom, weaving an enormous blanket. On her campfire, she keeps a great pot of sweet berry soup bubbling away. Her only companion is a very old, very faithful dog. The dog lays with his chin on his paws and watches. Legends say that if the very old woman ever finishes her enormous blanket, the world will come to an end. The blanket the … Continue reading →

How the Stars Got Into the Sky

Have you heard the tales of the Native American trickster, Coyote? Sometimes Coyote is a helper and sometimes he is not, but he is always interesting. This is a tale of Coyote and how the stars got into the sky. A long time ago, when the world was young, there were no stars in the sky. The sky above was like a thick, blue blanket — the only light was the moon. A mystical man who could make things from fire thought it would be a very good idea to place shining balls of fire into the sky to make … Continue reading →

Rudolph: Fun Facts About Santa’s Red-Nosed Reindeer

“You know Dasher and Dancer, Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid, and Donner and Blitzen. But do you recall the most famous reindeer of all?” It’s precious few who haven’t heard of Rudolph. Every year new generations are introduced to the little red-nosed reindeer who wasn’t allowed to play in the reindeer games because of his nose. (Until, of course, one fateful foggy night that changed everything for him.) So where did this reindeer that is now so deeply entrenched in Christmas folklore come from? Rudolph was the creation of a man named Robert L. May. In 1939, May, who … Continue reading →