We are pleased to participate in the A to Z Blog Challenge (http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/). The Story Crossroads theme for this year is Finding Resilience & Strength through Traditional Tales.
Army-Raising-
From Mexico
What a way to start! Can you imagine an army being raised against you? And only because a puma was in a bad mood. You were simply where you needed to be. Can someone be victorious against such random violence?
Want to know about pumas? They are the 4th largest of the Big Cats. They have quite the range across both North and South Americas (Alaska to Argentina – those are more “A”s for you).
What of crickets? Female crickets don’t chirp. This could be why this cricket is male in this story. Or simply works out. And, while crickets are different than grasshoppers, they are both edible in Mexico (or anywhere, really). The grasshoppers are known as chapulines and have been eaten as early as the mid-16th century.
50-word-or-less summary:
Puma stepped on Cricket. Puma upset as Cricket wished to be seen and not stepped on. Puma decided to challenge Cricket. Both are to raise armies and face each other. Puma recruited bears, foxes, skunks, and snakes. Puma’s army faced Cricket. Appeared alone. Cricket gathered insects including wasps. Puma’s army ran away.
Finding the Story:
Book “Whiskers, Tails & Wings: Animal Folktales from Mexico” with Story – here
Found on webpage “10 Fun Spanish Folk Tales for Kids” (#6 in listing) – here
Found on Readmio webpage “The Cougar and the Cricket” – here
Finding Resilience & Strength:
It could have been easy for Cricket to get depressed to the point of not defending himself or gathering anyone to face Puma. He could have accepted it all as fate. Yet, when it comes to resilience, one must seek support when needed. And…Cricket needed it.
Here’s an article called “Defeating Depression with Resilience” to explore mental health and strategies.
Please share thoughts in the comments. While you enjoy this blog, Story Crossroads has year-round offerings. See quick list of programs here.
As for our past A to Z Challenges…
While you enjoy this blog, Story Crossroads has been resilient and strong during these past years and looks forward to the next hybrid summit & festival on May 8-11, 2023. We would be honored for you to join us. Explore the schedule and register here: http://www.storycrossroads.org/Festival
Thanks to funding from National Endowment for the Arts; National Endowment for the Humanities; Western States Arts Federation; Utah Division of Arts and Museums/Utah Legislature; Utah Humanities; City of Murray; Zoo, Arts & Parks (ZAP) of Salt Lake County; Salt Lake City Arts Council; Ashton Family Foundation; and people like you.
I like the way you tie the story to real facts and references and then connected it to modern issues. Well done. As a fellow storyteller, I’m looking forward to the rest of your posts.
Always wonderful to have you along, Harvey! Connecting everything together is more satisfying…though the story alone could express all that we wish to share.
And army of insects is definitely terrifying! 🙂
Welcome back to the challenge!
The Multicolored Diary