Fragrant Water-lily

Fragrant Water-Lily, White Pond-Lily

Description...

Flowers smell sweet, are white to pink-ish, and they open at dawn and close at dusk.

Leaves look like giant green pack-mans on the water because they are flat, notched at the base, and float.

Where found...

Found in ponds, marshes, lake edges, slow waters.

Native to Eastern North America, introduced to all western states except Idaho, Wyoming, and New Mexico.

Uses...

Root tea good for:

Mouth sores, sore throat, dysentery, chronic diarrhea, bronchitis, urinary tract irritations, vaginal yeast infections. May be used as an eye wash or to diminish men's libido. Good for cancer.

Root and leaf poultices are good for:

Sores, boils, tumors, and rashes.

Chew stems for toothaches.

Book Report for: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian

I recently finished a book titled 'The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,' by Sherman Alexie.

This modern-day story is about a Native American teenage boy named Junior Spirit, who lives on an indian reservation in Washington. Alcohol plays a major part in this boy's life. It controls and ends many people's lives where he lives. There isn't much money, either. So the schools aren't very nice. What starts Junior's little adventure is when, on the first day of high school, Junior notices that the school is so old and run-down, he has to use the same book his mom used. This gets him feeling angry and unimportant. So, in his frustration, he throws the book at his teacher. Later, Junior's teacher gives him some advise. He tells Junior he should leave the reservation to have a better life, somewhere nicer. So, as a start, he transfers to a nicer school, a school where he gets a better education. There he is happier. But his home is still depressing. Many people on the reservation think of him as a traitor for going to school with white people. Even his best friend Rowdy ignores and is mean to him. This is the story of how Junior finds hope in his new school while trying to face the problems at home.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a good book. I enjoyed this book for many reasons, partly because I love reading diarys. But also because the characters had real-life problems (such as food disorders and drinking addictions) which made the story more realistic.

What I didn't like about this book was...

-How it ended. From what I remember, the end didn't seem to wrap itself up, like how I'd hoped it would.

-Some people might not like that it doesn't have an obvious conflict.

I strongly suggest this book to people who are interested in Native American Reservation culture, like reading diaries, or just need a good book to read. And I'd give it a three-and-a-half star rating.

Zoey Rockshindle, chapter 9: The Bird

Over the next couple of days, Mellisa, Zoey, and the Woodpecker had

a lot of fun together. They were confident that Zoey's parents were not

at all worrying about Zoey. In fact, Mr. and Mrs. Rockshindle were happy

Zoey was away for a while, because they figured:

"Well, we might as well not worry about her. It won't do any good. And

she sounded fine in her letter. She's probably having the time of her life."

Indeed, that was practical thinking. But risky, too. If Zoey were not a bird

that could fly away at any moment from danger, she might've gotten into

trouble with that bad, snobby attitude of her's.

Luckily she was safe with her friends in the park wandering about. Zoey spent

lots of her time sitting on the abandoned eggs. The weather lately had

been cloudy, but with no rain. It was a bit depressing, but with her friends,
Zoey was happy.

One morning, Zoey woke up to a cracking sound. At first, she thought it

was pecking, and was angry with the Woodpecker, because they had

made a deal for him not to peck on the tree she was in. But then she

recognized it as an eggshell being broken. She jumped up, and ran

over to the eggs. A little beak was trying to make it's way through

the shell. It poked and scratched, until finally, Zoey could see a
squirmy, wet little body struggling out of the shell.

"Wow!" Zoey cawed as it made it's way onto the ground.

"WOODY!" She screeched.

In a few minutes, the woodpecker swooped into the tree cave and plopped

down beside Zoey.

"Woody, go get some bugs. Quickly, please!"

The woodpecker raced out of the cave. In a second he returned with a

mouth full of bugs. But the baby bird just would'nt eat them!


"Oh, no," She said. She was beginning to understand.

"What?" Woody asked.

"It doesn't want bugs. Some baby birds have to be fed food
that's already partly digested." Zoey said. She gulped.

Woody looked grossed out. He said:

"I guess...we could try."

So, since Woody didn't seem as eager to do it, Zoey ate the worms,

then unwillingly put her open mouth above the hungry baby bird's mouth.
But it just didn't feel right. It wasn't only gross--Zoey didn't think
she was meant to regurgitate, being a crow. Didn't crows feed their
babies bugs? She couldn't remember.

"I don't think crows can throw up," Zoey told Woody. "They feed their
young bugs."

Zoey and Woody knew what they would have to do.

"We need Mellisa." Woody said.

Wish Rillzo Eco-Village

Just the other day, my family and I took a little trip to Wish Rillzo.
Here is how it went.

First, we drove for quite a while, until we got to a body of water.
There was a ferry boat sending people across (in their cars).
We waited for a few minutes, then drove on, too.
It took about half an hour for the ferry to take us all the
way to the other side of the water. When we got there, we drove

up a hill and around a few corners. I looked up from my book,
and saw we had arrived at a place called
Wish Rillzo Eco-village.

We got out of the car and met a few people. We found our friends
that we had planned to meet there. We explored, and saw they
had a trampoline, chickens, bee hives with bees, community
houses, gardens...
...It was a dream come true. I new right away that I wanted to
live there.

Then I met a man named Nils. He stepped out of his car and
introduced himself. We told him our names. Then we found
out he was a Bee Man, and he was about to go "check on some
bees." Now, I've always had a kind of connection toward bees.
When I was much younger and we lived in a trailer on a mountain
for a while, a swarm of bees came to hang out nearby.
I watched, then stuck my hands right next to them.
They crawled all over my arms and I didn't get stung once.
I loved it.
And the two times in my life I've been stung, I didn't hate
bees afterward.
So when this man said he took care of the bees, I liked the
sound of that. I asked him if I could help him, and he said yes.
So he put me in a real bee suit and lead me to the bees.

For hours we did things for the bees, scrapping off beeswax,
giving them sugar, cutting off male brood and feeding it to
the chickens, watching the queen bee, and having fun.
It was an absolutely amazing experience and I learned a lot.

Also, while I was at the awesome Eco-Village, I helped build
some of a house, brought in chicken eggs,
(like I do where we live right now) played soccer,
Found a "secret" passageway, and I hope
next time I'll get a chance to jump on the trampoline.

I really, really want to live there, and my parents are seriously
considering it.

In my opinion, bikes are the greatest things that were ever invented

by humans. I think there are many reasons why they are better than

cars. Here are a few.

Bikes...

-Are healthier for the Earth, since we don't have to dig up and use oil

to power them.
-Are healthier for the environment since they do not pollute.

-Are healthier for people, since exercise is very good for our bodies.

-Are lighter.

-Are smaller.

-Have sharper turns.
-Allow your body to absorb more vitamin D, since you're not in shade.
-Can go on trails and sidewalks.
-Are a lot less expensive.

-Are easy to operate.

-Are, to many people, more fun.

Lately, my family has been biking a lot more than driving. I've set a

personal record and haven't gone in a car for nine days.

This is our beautiful horse, Rusty. He is (as you can see) chestnut brown with a streak of white running down his forehead. He's 17 years old.

Zoey Rockshindle, chapter 6: The letter

The next day, Cecillia and Cody hired a search crue online to find Zoey.
A while later sixteen or so men arrived at the great mansion where the
Rockshindles lived. They were dressed in slick black suits, wore serious
expressions, and came in a van that had blue exhaust. The first man walked up the
concrete steps and knocked on the door. Cecillia came out to meet them. She was wairing brown pants with a leather belt, and had a peach-colored long-sleeved turtle-neck blouse. She had clearly been crying. Her face was flushed and her eyes
were red. But she was happy to see the men, and led them inside.

So, in the house they went, following Mrs. Rockshindle into an office where
Mr. Rockshindle sat working on a computer. He looked pale and skinny.
When he heard them coming, he turned and told them all
that had happened. It seemed he had been rehearsing what he said to the men.

"An old woman came to our house to see Zoey, then left without an explanation.
Zoey remained upstairs, possible crawling out the window, while we called her down for dinner. Then a crow flew down from her room. We didn't know how it got inside, because Zoey always keeps her windows shut. Maybe while Zoey escaped, it flew in. We've been so worried. It's been, like, a day since we saw Zoey."

The men nodded and set to work.

By the time sunset came, they had spread all over the county. They assumed, or rather
hoped, that Zoey hadn't made it out of town. Lucky for them, she hadn't. The only
problem was that she had been turned into a bird.

Zoey and Mellisa had thought up a plan the night before. It wasn't brilliant, just
a simple way to convince Cody and Cecillia that Zoey was safe.

First, Mellisa waited for the men to leave. Then she walked up to Cecillia and
Cody's house and rang the dootbell. Then she ran off.

This time Cody answered. He looked around, and, seeing nobody, was about to leave but then he spotted the envolope lying on the WELCOME mat. Cody opened the envelope and read the letter inside. By the time he was done, his frown had turned to a big smile. He walked inside and showed Cecillia the letter. She read it out loud:

"Dear Mom and Dad,
I'm sorry to leave without telling you where I was going.
Let me explain why I did.
The kind old lady who came to my room that day was a my good
friend Eva's grandmother. She was there to tell me that it was
Eva's birthday. She said she had been on a walk,
seen our house, and realized they had missed our house when
they sent out invitations. She understood you guys wouldn't
let me go, so she lied and said it was urgent. (But don't be
mad at her, please.) I also figured you guys wouldn't let me go,
so I snuck out the window. I don't know why, but a crow flew
in after I crawled out. Please don't worry about me, I just
need some time alone. I love you guys!

-Zoey

(p.s. : I might go to a summer camp in a few days.)"

Cecillia looked up from reading. She smiled.
Secretly she had always wanted Zoey to have an adventure.