Wednesday: Millet Day
Morning
Morning Verse
Morning has come, night is away
We rise with the sun to welcome the day
To Earth I come
To greet the sun
To greet the moon
The stones that rest
The plants that grow
And animals that run
To greet all people in this world
Love greets me in all I do
And I and you and the world are one.
Drawing
The Secret of Children’s Drawings
Translated by Genie Sakaguchi
“Whether a picture is quickly drawn in passing or drawn with great effort, whether a child carefully seeks for the right color or just grabs the first pencil that comes to hand — if one is asking about the ‘meaning’ of children’s drawing, one thing is certain: Children express their opes, wishes, dreams, visions, and expectations in their drawings — and also their anxieties, fears, hurts, and worries. Their drawings depict their actual experienced reality — an experience of the present with a connection to the past and the future.”
Story
Song
My Lady Spring
My Lady Spring, my Lady Spring
She wears a primrose crown
And all the little buds and twigs are clinging to her gown
The sun shines when she laughs at all
And when she weeps the raindrops fall
My Lady Spring, my Lady Spring
Millet Recipe
Not everyone is familiar with millet, but this unusual little seed is an ancient, gluten-free nutritional powerhouse. One cup of cooked millet contains six grams of protein, two grams of dietary fiber, and a wealth of minerals and essential vitamins. We encourage you to give this nutty, golden grain a try!
Ingredients:
2 c dry millet
4 c water
2 vegetable bouillon cubes (or replace water and bouillon with 4 c vegetable broth)
2 tbsp Earth Balance or butter
Toppings:
Sunflower seeds
Golden sprinkles
Gomashio
Butter
Butter
Tamari or soy sauce
Chickpeas*
Instructions:
Boil the water and stir in bouillon to prepare the broth.
Sauteé the millet in the Earth Balance or butter in a medium-sized pot over medium-low heat until fragrant and lightly browned. Add the broth and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
Once boiling, stir and place a tight-fitting lid on the pot. Reduce heat to low and allow to simmer, covered, for 15-20 minutes. It’s okay to lift the lid every once in awhile to check on the millet, but don’t check it too often.
When most of the liquid is absorbed, turn off the heat and allow millet to sit with the lid on for ten minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve with your choice of toppings.
*Bonus Recipe: Cedar Rose Chickpeas
Ingredients:
1 can chickpeas / garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp Earth balance or butter
Dash of tamari
2-3 tbsp nutritional yeast
Pinch of dried thyme
Instructions:
Put the chickpeas in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add all other ingredients and stir often until chickpeas are heated throughout. Serve as a topping for millet (also great as a side dish).
Afternoon
Evening Wind
Adapted from Wilma Ellersiek
Blow the evening wind so mild
Rest my little flower child
Lu lu lu lu lu, lu lu lu lu lu
Flowers Grow
Words by Monica Stone
This verse can be accompanied by gentle therapeutic touch to help your child come to a state of rest and wellbeing.
The flowers, they grow on your ten little toes
With forefinger and thumb, gently caress and massage each toe
All the way up to your little nose
Gently draw finger down the length of child’s nose
The petals, they softly brush your cheek
Gently brush each cheek with back of your hand
As you lay down and fall fast asleep
Gently run fingers along child’s brow
The Windmill
If I could have a windmill, a windmill, a windmill
If I could have a windmill, I know what I would do.
I'd have it pump some water, some water, some water
I'd have it pump some water, up from the river below.
And then I'd have a duck pond, a duck pond, a duck pond
And then I'd have a duck pond, for ducks and geese to swim.
The ducks would make their wings flap, their wings flap, their wings flap
The ducks would make their wings flap, and they would say "Quack! Quack!"
The geese would stretch their long necks, their long necks, their long necks
The geese would stretch their long necks, and they would answer "S-S-S-S-S!"
If I could have a windmill, a windmill, a windmill
If I could have a windmill, I know what I would do
Printmaking Activity
Let’s make prints with veggies!
Save your veggie scraps and turn them into stamps. Cut the base off a celery stalk to make beautiful flower prints, make a clover print using the base of a pepper, save your apple cores and cut them in half to make star prints, or create your own fun shapes with potatoes!
Once you’ve collected your stamps, dip them into paint and make fun prints on a piece of paper.