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by Dennis, Kimberly and Zephyr GozaTheatrical Folktales and Travel Stories from somewhere on the road ~ from our family to yours! A new show every Thursday.
Recent podcasts
Johnny Appleseed
20/09/2007
He roamed the country barefoot sleeping under the stars, in clothes he made from sacks, with a cooking pan on his head. Everywhere he went, he planted apple seeds, gave things away, took care of animals, and made friends. He was John Chapman (1774-1845), better known as Johnny Appleseed, a legend in his own time, and still a legend today.
Despite living a life of philanthropy, simplicity and voluntary poverty, Chapman left behind an estate of apple nurseries worth millions -- and he would have been even richer if he hadn't been so careless in his bookkeeping. We recount some of the tales told about him, most of which were in fact true.
Another man who became a living legend was author Mark Twain, whose footsteps we have traced around the country over the years. Recently we were back in one of his old haunts, Hartford, Connecticut, where he had a colorful and fabulously elaborate mansion built in which he and his family lived for some 17 years while he wrote his masterpieces. You can tour the bedrooms, the dining rooms, the drawing room and the billiard room, which have been restored in painstakingly authentic detail.
Happy Listening!
Dennis (Johnny the seedy), Kimberly (Mom) and Zephyr (boy and snake)
The Legend of Scargo Lake
06/09/2007
Lake Scargo in Dennis, MA (on Cape Cod) is the home of a colorful Native American legend about how the Lake came to be -- one of many such Native tales about the origins of natural phenomena and landmarks. Princess Scargo, daughter of chief Sagem of the Bobuset tribe, is presented with four little fish by a suitor, and the rest is the stuff of legend. Today, you can find descendants of these silvery fish (no, not silverfish) in Scargo Lake. And you can get a good look at the Lake, and the surrounding territoryterritorty, by climbing Scargo Tower in East Dennis. Not a terribly high structure, but it's located atop the highest point on the Cape, so the view is pretty impressive.
But we got a look at an even more impressive tower, which affords an even more impressive view: Pilgrim Monument, the 252-ft. monolith in Provincetown, right on the tip of the Cape. The tower commemorates the arrival of the Pilgrims in November 1620, when they hammered out the groundbreaking Mayflower Compact. The cornerstone was laid in 1907 by Pres. Theodore Roosevelt for this controversially designed structure modeled after the Torre del Mangia in Siena, Italy, and construction was completed in 1910.
We biked to Provincetown from Nickerson State Park, a distance of about 35 miles, and stayed at a campground just outside town in our teeny tiny tents. Then we used our bikes to explore this colorful little seaside resort with lots of historic buildings, the largest percentage of Portuguese population in the country, and also the largest percentage gay population. Although the year-round census is only 3500, it explodes to 50,000 during the summer.
There are three resident theatres in this town that was once the home of playwrights Tennessee Williams and Eugene O'Neil, as well as novelist Norman Mailer.
Happy Listening!
Dennis (Chief), Kimberly (princess) and Zephyr ("Hulk")
The Little Red Hen
30/08/2007
âThe Little Red Henâ is an English fable based upon repetition, like many of the other stories weâve done. In this case, the barnyard animals learn the importance of industriousness â that only those who share the labors also share the rewards.
We chose this story in part because Zephyr came back to us with streaks of red in his hair â from Not Back to School Camp in Oregon. He attended a weeklong session there at the end of last summer as well, and had a great time and met some great new friends that heâs been in touch with since then. Not Back to School Camp is an opportunity for homeschooled teenagers from across the country to get together and exchange experiences, talents, creative projects and annoying habits. Thereâs even a prom just like a regular school (Not. Well, there is really a prom, but we can't vouch for the rest.)
While he was away, mom and dad caught a ferry from Cape Cod to Marthaâs Vineyard, an island about 20 miles offshore thatâs long been a favorite vacation resort for politicians (including, of course, the Kennedys) and other celebrities. In the seventies, MV residents started a petition to have the island become our 51st state â but as of now, itâs still officially part of Massachusetts.
We spent two days biking around the island, and stayed at a campground with our tiny tent. (There was nothing tiny about the camping rates, nor anything else on the island.) In the town of Oak Bluffs, we saw the Flying Horses, the oldest continuously operating carousel in the U.S., having been built in 1876. And we thought WEâD been going around in circles for a long time!
Happy Listening!
Dennis (Narrator), Kimberly (Hen) and Zephyr (Goose, Duck, Lamb)
The Hippopotamus and the Tortoise
23/08/2007
Like the familiar tales of âRumpelstiltskinâ and âLohengrinâ, the Nigerian animal yarn called âThe Hippopotamus and the Tortoiseâ deals with a character (the hippo) whose name is a secret, and another character (the Tortoise) who successfully guesses it. The consequences of the successful guess vary from story to story, but in this case, it results in the hippo and his descendants finding a new habitat to inhabit.
We recorded this story with guest stars Joey (age 13) and Jenny (age 11), who are our nephew and niece respectively; and Ellie (age undetermined) whoâs our âadopted daughterâ.
We were in Sacramento for our second cross-country flight in less than a month, this time for the Homeschool Association of California Conference.
And what a great conference it was! We presented a well-attended performance in addition to workshops on writing, sign language, physical comedy, mask making and reflections on our 15-year odyssey across America. Our programs were met with enthusiastic response, and we also had a good time attending other presentations. There were a fire twirling demonstration, a rocketry demonstration (you know how cool kids think it is to see things blow up), a skygazing session with large telescopes set up in the courtyard, a swing dance class, a dance for the teens, and a jam session for aspiring musicians, among other activities. We very much hope to return next year!
Our apologies to Libby, Hannah, Melia, and Molly, who did some great work on the FIRST version of this podcast, which we recorded with them before they all left the conference. And then, due to technical difficultiesâ
Happy Listening,
Dennis (the Hip Hippo) and Kimberly (the Narrator) with Ellie (Tortoise), Joey (Monkey) and Jenny (Hippolyta)
The Foolish Friend
14/08/2007
There's nothing wrong with trusting your friends, as long as you don't entrust them with responsibilities they can't handle. A certain king learns that lesson the hard way when he sticks his neck out a bit too far in "The Foolish Friend", a folktale from India.
But rather than just tell what happens from beginning to end, we start after the big blunder and do some detective work to piece together what happened. Yes it's "CSI Bombay", our retelling of the story modeled after the hit TV series "CSI Las Vegas", which Zephyr is obsessed with these days. (CSI stands for "Crime Scene Investigation").
We're coming to you from Nickerson State Park out on Cape Cod, where we're taking advantage of one of our favorite biking trails. The campground has rebuilt and regrouped after the disastrous fire that destroyed the historic headquarters building the last time we stayed here.
We just left the historic city of Salem, where we had a return engagement at the library. But we've enjoyed many other visits to this colorful town as well, a town where history seems to seep out of every crack in the pavement and clapboards.
The city is best known for something that actually happened a few miles up the road: the infamous witch trials of 1692 actually took place in Salem Village, or what is now Danvers. Nonetheless, it is the city of Salem that has become associated with the ugly episode in the public ,mind, and Salem has returned the favor by erecting a monument to the victims, and by establishing many tourist attractions commemorating the tragic events.
We have the fondest memories of being in town two years ago for Halloween (a holiday for which this town pulls out all the stops); and thanks to Zephyr's passion for "haunted house" attractions, all three of us were hired by Witch Village to help handle the onslaught of revelers. Zephyr scared the wits out of people in a "haunted house". Kimberly helped hold down the fort at the information booth. And Dennis escorted candlelight ghost walks, exploring some of the reputedly REAL haunts of Salem. When work was done well after midnight, we'd hop on our bicycles and ride to our campground on Winter Island -- in the snow one night!
It doesn't take a forensic investigation to realize that delving into the mysteries of Salem's past can be a very memorable experience.
Happy Listening!
Dennis (Investigator), Kimberly (Queen and Darwin), and Zephyr (Investigator)
