When I was growing up on Limekiln Lake, it seemed to take forever for the area to burst with the new growth of spring.
The yellowed grasses in our yard and the buds on our trees seemed to be dormant even as warmer May days approached.
When I was nine years old I found a giant book of Iroquois legends to read each night as I laid in bed.
I became interested in the notions they had for the changes of season. Each myth offered an explanation as to why and how the earth changed.
I loved the thought that there were small helpers who lived unseen in the earth, who helped to bring forth the new growth.
“For in the springtime these Little People of the Light hid in sheltered places. They listened to the complaints of the seeds that lay covered in the ground, and they whispered to the earth until the seeds burst their pods and sent their shoots upward to the light.
“Then the little people wandered over the fields and through the woods, bidding all growing things to look upon the sun.”
After reading the story of the Little People I began to wonder about seed growth as well. As a school science project, we had planted seeds in Dixie cups and placed them on the windowsill.
Each morning I went straight in to see if my seeds had pushed any green shoots up through the black damp soil.
I wondered how the Little People would deal with having to break into the school at night to do their work. The sly little beings would need some sort of crack or hole to sneak through to whisper to the seeds.
And how would they react to my favorite jokes that were printed on the side of the cup? Where do cows go on Saturday Night? To the mooo-vies! or What kind of dog has no tail? A hot dog!
If they liked my joke cup, they might help the seeds grow into a plant taller than those of my schoolmates.
I carefully dribbled a bit of water into my brightly colored cup and took a peek inside, but there was no sign of green at all. I guessed that those little people could not find a way into the school.
Then, one morning when I peered over the edge of the cup, I found that a small curl of green had popped up from my dirt.
I looked outside and saw that the buds on the trees had started to pop and the grasses were getting new green blades.
I guess the Little People just waited till the time was right to wake up even my seeds.
Mitch Lee, Adirondack native & storyteller, lives at Inlet. ltmitch3rdny@aol.com