Greetings to all Folks near and far from Northern Nevada. I hope your days are full of sunshine and laughter.

We have been having thunder and lightning and a little rain here and there for several days now. The thunderhead clouds build up over the mountains that surround our valley then they move in over us in early to late afternoon and the thunder begins. Sometimes it is quite boiterous and accompanied by loud cracks of lightning then the rains come down. We have not had too much rain, except for one day it came down quite heavy.
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Check out the following links for some great upcoming events and news:

The Folklore Society:
http://www.folklore-society.com/

The Texas Folklore Society:
http://www.texasfolkloresociety.org/

American Folklore Theatre:
http://www.folkloretheatre.com/

Western States Folklore Society:
http://www.westernfolklore.org/
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Here are a few old folks tales for you to enjoy from Aesop:

THE PEASANT AND THE APPLE TREE

A peasant had an apple tree growing in his garden, which bore no fruit, but merely served to provide a shelter from the heat for the sparrows and grasshoppers which sat and chirped in its branches. Disappointed at its barrenness he determined to cut it down, and went and fetched his ax for the purpose. But when the sparrows and the grasshoppers saw what he was about to do, they begged him to spare it, and said to him, "If you destroy the tree we shall have to seek shelter elsewhere, and you will no longer have our merry chirping to enliven your work in the garden."
He, however, refused to listen to them, and set to work with a will to cut through the trunk. A few strokes showed that it was hollow inside and contained a swarm of bees and a large store of honey. Delighted with his find he threw down his ax, saying, "The old tree is worth keeping after all."

Moral: Utility is most men's test of worth.


THE MICE AND THE WEASELS

There was war between the mice and the weasels, in which the mice always got the worst of it, numbers of them being killed and eaten by the weasels. So they called a council of war, in which an old mouse got up and said, "It's no wonder we are always beaten, for we have no generals to plan our battles and direct our movements in the field." Acting on his advice, they chose the biggest mice to be their leaders, and these, in order to be distinguished from the rank and file, provided themselves with helmets bearing large plumes of straw. They then led out the mice to battle, confident of victory; but they were defeated as usual, and were soon scampering as fast as they could to their holes. All made their way to safety without difficulty except the leaders, who were so hampered by the badges of their rank that they could not get into their holes, and fell easy victims to their pursuers.

Moral: Greatness carries its own penalties


THE OLD HOUND

A hound who had served his master well for years, and had run down many a quarry in his time, began to lose his strength and speed owing to age. One day, when out hunting, his master started a powerful wild boar and set the hound at him. The latter seized the beast by the ear, but his teeth were gone and he could not retain his hold; so the boar escaped. His master began to scold him severely, but the hound interrupted him with these words, "My will is as strong as ever, master, but my body is old and feeble. You ought to honor me for what I have been instead of abusing me for what I am."
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Till next time Folks, may your home be filled with laughter and may it ring from floor to rafter.

Blessings and Walk in Harmony and Beauty,
Phyllis
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Here's the latest article from the Folklore site at BellaOnline.com.

Forever A Song
Back before the days of computers, television, telephones and all these wonders of modern science and technology, the family homes of the common folk were filled with song.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art5590.asp

Please visit folklore.bellaonline.com for even more great content about Folklore.

To participate in free, fun online discussions, this site has a community forum all about Folklore located here -

http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=131

I hope to hear from you sometime soon, either in the forum or in response to this email message. I thrive on your feedback!

Have fun passing this message along to family and friends, because we all love free knowledge!

Phyllis Doyle Burns, Folklore Editor
http://folklore.bellaonline.com

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