"I am NOT a Kook!"

Last edited Sun Apr 21, 2024, 03:17 PM - Edit history (2)

Yesterday I did a stint at the Healthy Kids Fair, where parents bring their children to learn about practices like yoga, exercise, the importance of vegetables in the diet, what's really in processed foods, etc. There were judo and karate teachers with tables and so there were little pint-sized "black belts" running around. Dance studios, hula hoops, bubble blowing machines, you name it, it was there. Many grandparents bring their grandchildren, probably giving their parents a little time off.

I had a table under three beautifully blooming cherry trees and was representing school and community gardens. My visuals were a display about monarch butterflies and planting butterfly "weed," (asclepias tuberosa) and also information on gardening projects children enjoy, like sunflower tents (see pic below).

I had this book on display, as well as seed:



The activity was that we had vegetable seeds (zucchini, cucumber, beets, carrot) plus pepper transplants they could make and take with them to grow inside and later put outdoors in May. The child would choose the vegetable they wanted to plant and I would guide them through it. When they got to the end, I would say, "Now I'll make you a label," which I made using a large-size popsicle stick.

A little girl was sitting next to me as I made her cucumber label and her parents were seated across the table. I wrote "Cuke" and the date. Saying, "Now I will make you a label..." and as she followed my actions, (abbreviating "cucumber to "cuke" ) she looked up at me indignantly and said, "I am not a kook!"

We all burst out laughing and I said, "The label is for the cucumber, not you!"