Week 9 Storytelling: Strawberry Fields

Husband: You're impossible!

Wife: And you're unbelievable!

Once again the only two people on Earth were having a fight. They fought over everything. Who fetched water from the spring last? Who didn't go hunting this morning? Why didn't you feed the wolves? Why do you take all the blanket! There was always something new to fight about. This day seemed like any other day, except the argument ended differently.

Husband: I can't stand you! All you do is complain and point out everything that I do wrong!

Wife: You think you're easy to handle?! I always have to clean after you, and you never appreciate me! You just assume that I sit around the house all day!

Husband: Well it's because you do! I'm out hunting in the freezing cold or under the scorching sun while you sit in the house!

Wife: I maintain our house and protect it from wild animals! I tend to my garden which provides us with medicinal herbs and spices for our food! You just wander around in the forest and return empty-handed!

Husband: Here we go again! Point out all my flaws why don't you! I wish I could be lost in the forest so I wouldn't have to come home to YOU!

Wife: UGH! I'll make it easier for you! I'll wander in the forest! *stomps out of the house* This is the last you'll see of me!

Husband: GOOD RIDDANCE! *slams door*

For the first time in history, the husband and wife were about to be apart. The wife traveled into the forest for several miles, never looking back for a mere second. The husband stayed in the wooden house, fuming about the most recent quarrel. Each person believed that they could live without each other just fine. But after the first couple days, they both began to see their shortcomings.

(Back at the house)

Husband: My leg aches and burns. It looks swollen. It must be infected... I don't remember what herbs my wife used to rub on my wounds to heal them... I miss my wife. I wish she would come back to me.

(In the forest)

Wife: I'm so hungry. I can't catch a single rabbit to eat. I have no idea how my husband managed to catch six of these critters at a time. *stomach growls* I can't bear my hunger any longer. I miss my husband... I wish I knew my way home.

I could not bear it any longer. With the husband's infected leg, I knew he was not capable of walking far. However, I could direct the wife towards her husband. At that moment, I knew exactly what to do. The wife wandered aimlessly in the forest. Near her feet, I made a patch of strawberries grow. Bright, red strawberries which have never existed on Earth before caught her attention. The wife plucked a red berry and tasted their delicious sweetness. I made a trail of strawberries that ended at the front of her house. When she arrived at home, she couldn't have been happier to be reunited with her husband.

Wife: My dear husband! I am home! I apologize for my accusations... I realize that you do so much for me. Never leave my side again.

Husband: My sweet wife! You're home to me! It is I who must apologize for not appreciating your hard work. Never leave my side again!

Wife: Look! I brought this strange fruit for us to eat. Don't they look delicious?

Husband: They look strange... Are you sure they aren't poisonous?

Wife: Of course they're not poisonous. I ate a batch already, and I'm still alive.

Husband: Well you can't be too sure. I know you're the one to eat everything...

Wife: Are you calling me fat? Do I look like a hippo to you? Did I not starve enough in the forest?

Husband: I didn't call you fat. You just eat a lot. I mean you just ate a basket of potential poisonous fruit.

Wife: So now I'm stupid?

Husband: Gah, I didn't say that! But you might as well be!

Wife: You ALWAYS do this! How could you be so mean?! I try to be nice and understanding-

Husband: I always do this?! No it's YOU! Everything was fine until YOU had to mention some stupid berries-

Ah. Another argument ensued. All was well again.

The strawberry trail to home. Source.

Author's Note: I wrote this story based off of James Mooney's Myths of the Cherokee. In this story, it explained the origins of strawberries. I didn't stray too far off from the original story. The first man and woman on Earth were arguing which lead to the woman leaving the man. The man pleaded to God to help the woman return her way home. God then tried several types of fruits to lead the woman towards the man, but no fruit worked until God made the strawberry. She followed the strawberry path and picked fruits to give to her husband. They reunited, and all was well again. I gave the story more dialogue, and I tried telling the story from God's point of view. In the end, I had the couple arguing again just for some comedic relief.

Bibliography: Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney (1900)

Week 10 Reading Diary: Alakan Legends

For this week's reading, I decided to read through Myths and Legends of Alaska by Katharine Berry Judson (1911).

 Raven's Creation

 I liked this story because it reminded me of a creation story. Basically a man was born from a pea pond. The Raven came and introduced himself. He then made man a companion., a woman, and several animals out of clay.

Raven Creates the People

In this story, Raven thought that the Earth looked plain and bare. With that in mind, he made more animals and people out of clay. He noticed that the water was empty, so Raven made sea creatures such as fish and dolphins. In the end, the Earth was full of life from humans to animals to plants all thanks to Raven.

Skyland and the Sea

 Raven took the man to the Skyland which was filled with smaller people with fur. The Skyland had a better climate and all was joyful. It reminded me of heaven. Raven decided to make more animals for man and also taught man how to use tools. In this way, man could survive on Earth. I liked the combination of these three stories because it described the origins of man, animals, and plants. It appears to me that Raven is like a god to the Alaskan people. How odd that it was a black bird that created the world? One would think it would have been an angelic creature.

Native American Raven. Source.

Week 9 Reading Diary: Myths of the Cherokee Cont.

This is the second half of reading through Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney (1900).

Tobacco and Strawberries

 The story of tobacco really made me laugh because I interpreted it as a story where all the people and creatures were addicted to tobacco. The story began with one tobacco plant in all the land, and everyone needed tobacco to survive. Well eventually an evil goose stole the last tobacco plant. An elderly woman needed the tobacco plant to live, so all the creatures of the land attempted to retrieve the tobacco plant. However, each animal died in its attempt. Then came the hummingbird to the rescue. The tiny bird flew swiftly to the tobacco plant and returned it home. However, the old woman had fainted. Everyone thought she was dead until she took a sniff of the tobacco plant and jumped up yelling, "Tobacco!" I guess it really did save her life.

The story of strawberries was cute. A husband and wife were in an argument and set off into their separate ways. The husband regretted the fight and wanted to be united with his wife immediately, but she kept walking away from him. God felt pity for the husband and decided to help reunite the husband and wife. He laid out all sorts of fruits in front of the wife so that He could direct you towards her husband, but she ignored the fruits. Then God laid out patches of bright, red strawberries. They were the first strawberries on Earth. The wife was quickly entranced by the color and sweetness of the fruit. She picked them and her mind was flooded with sweet memories of her husband. She gathered a whole basket of strawberries and returned to her husband so that they can eat the fruit together.

T

Strawberries. Source.

How the Deer got his Horns

This story wasn't too much of an attention grabber. The deer and a rabbit were in a competition to see who could run the fastest. The winner would wear the prized antlers. The rabbit, being known as a trickster, scavenge into the woods to become familiar with the path for tomorrow's race, but he was gone so long. The animals found out that the rabbit was making his own path by gnawing on the bushes, so the deer automatically won the antlers. To this day, male deer have antlers and rabbits gnaw on bushes.

 

Week 9 Reading Diary: Myths of the Cherokee

I decided to read through Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney (1900) for this weeks Native American unit.

The Rattlesnake's Vengeance

This story stood out to me because I couldn't believe that the husband gave up his wife to a tribe of rattlesnakes. In the story, a wife and her kids were playing around the house when a rattlesnake approached the children. Out of instinct, the mother killed the rattlesnake. I would have done the same. Her husband was out and about hunting when a tribe of rattlesnakes approached him. They cried to him that his wife had killed their chief rattlesnake. The hunter apologized, but in order to prove this, the hunter had to give the tribe his wife. And that's exactly what he did! He returned home and asked his wife to fetch water from the well. When she went to retrieve the water, the band of rattlesnakes bit her. The husband stayed with her until she died, but still what in the world! I guess legend says that there is a mutual understanding between the rattlesnakes and humans now. The Cherokee must sing a song before approaching any rattlesnake and the snake won't attack the human.

Rattlesnake. Source.

The Race Between the Crane and the Hummingbird

This story was pretty funny. A crane and a hummingbird race around the world in order to marry a woman that they're both in love with. The hummingbird was a fast fellow and very handsome whereas the crane was a hefty guy that was awkward looking. The woman thought the hummingbird would win with ease, but she didn't realize that the crane could fly all night. The hummingbird sped off at first but became really tired and took a break. The crane flew steadily and ate breakfast before each flight. The ended up winning the race, but the woman refused to marry him! So she stayed single.
 

Week 8 Tech Tip: Weather Gadget

When I was looking through other students' blogs, I noticed that a couple of students had weather gadgets embedded into their blog. So I decided to have the weather in my blog as well! It's pretty easy to do. I just found a weather sticker link which allowed me to enter my city and state. After copying and pasting the HTML code, the gadget appeared on my blog. Pretty simple!

Week 8 Learning Challenge: Attention Video

I was browsing through the learning challenges blog, and I found the Single-Tasking video. I thought Hmm, why not? I watched it, and it made so much sense! In the video, James Hamblin talks about how when anyone does an assignment on the internet, he/she isn't just working on that assignment. The usual case is to have multiple tabs open. Therefore, that person's attention is divided and in most cases, they become distracted with the other tabs. So Hamblin made tabless Thursdays where he doesn't use tabs. If you want to shift your attention to a new topic or subject, you have to close the window and open a new window. This eliminates distractions and makes you think about whether it's really worth leaving your task at hand. I'm going to start using Tabless Thursdays and see how it affects my productivity because currently I have seven tabs open, and it's taken me more than an hour to finish this post. That's ridiculous! I was distracted with YouTube videos and Groupme chats which are on the other tabs. Hopefully going tabless will help me focus my attention on homework.

There is truth to this. Source.

Week 8 Growth Mindset: Grow by Watching Others

For this week's growth mindset challenge, I decided to write about another person's growth throughout her journey and what it taught me.

One of my dear friends is a walking inspiration. We first met in our Fundamentals of Microbiology Lab in our junior year of college. As we became closer, I learned about all of her hardships. She was pregnant at 16 and is currently raising a beautiful five-year-old son. She's a full time student, microbiology major and pre-med, and also works at least 25 hours a week in over night shifts as an ER scribe. During her first two years of college, her stepfather passed away due to cancer. Shortly afterwards, her mother was diagnosed with cancer. This took a toll on her grades and her health as she dealt with the chronic stress. At age 22, she already has to deal with tremendous responsibilities: mortgages, loans, parent-teacher conferences, taking care of her mother, rent, etc. The list continues.

The most surprising part about my friend is how she has handled every situation. Instead of breaking down and allowing her problems consume her, she found a solution. Whether it was to work more hours to pay loans or cram for a test while she wrote doctor's charts, she always managed to succeed. I have no idea how she does it. I recall one week where she worked from 9pm to 7am, picked up her son from the house, drop him off at school at 8:00AM, and managed to make it our 8:30AM lab lecture. She didn't sleep. Through every dilemma she faced, she didn't find hopelessness, despair, or depression. Instead, she found strength, encouragement, and confidence. Whenever I'm stressed or believe that I can't do something, I think of my friend. She can do anything because she makes it possible. She wasn't afraid of challenges. She embraced them. There's something beautiful about that. Rare and beautiful.

To inspire a person is the greatest gift. Source.