Savor Spring, Refresh Deeply

The vernal equinox signals a potent time to participate in a season of ceremony and ritual. Renewal is wrought now, in unexpected and beautiful ways.

This March BorderLore is one interpretive tool for the signs of rebirth that have emerged: Dirt in desert gardens that is turned and prepared; a spring game that is based in legend; reclaimed petroglyph panels that evoke an ancient paradise; grand bouquets that adorn Easter bonnets, and customs of Ukrainian Pascha that convey the dances and secrets of soulful traditions.

This edition invites us to plant our steps firmly in everyday life, and more fully seed our understanding of the region's nature, arts and culture:

We renew our bodies in the legends and athletic lure of the Tohono O'odham t�ka - robust games played by O'odham women in afternoon tournaments across the Nation these months. Learn more here.

Archaeology gives us processes to help interpret recovered artifacts of our ancestors' material culture. In this Arizona Archaeology and Heritage Awareness month, our conversation (here) is with Archaeology Southwest, a Tucson-based community of study.

With pruning season behind them, Mission Garden plants now flourish with spring growth. Check this update by Dena Cowan, Community Outreach coordinator for Friends of Tucson's Birthplace - Mission Garden.

We have a narrative of the Ukrainian Pascha tradition with its bountiful Pascal Baskets here. Photo montage of Southern Arizona Passover's haggadah from the Jewish History Museum is here.

Millinery artistry is alive in upcoming Easter parades as well as in churches. Learn more here about Tucson folk artist Toni Ham and her traditional, elaborate hat creations.

News: On April 5 we'll dance fully to the traditions of Poland and O'odham polkas, while tasting international breads from community cooks and viewing specialized folk arts by master artisans. Will you join us? Learn details of this Polkas and Bread event here. Tidbits culled from across the active national folklife community are here.

The cultural meanings of what BorderLore reports are as layered as the seasonal colors that envelope us. They warm our community with happy diversity, a good feeling much like the afternoon spring sun as it sifts pleasantly through our desert.

� 2014, Tucson Meet Yourself. All rights reserved. BorderLore is the monthly e-news magazine of Tucson Meet Yourself, bringing thoughtful documentation about regional folklore, folklife and all manners of artful ways (in language, food, dress, music, decoration, storytelling, history) that residents of these often-conflicted border lands produce and share.

Editor: Dr. Maribel Alvarez
Managing Editor: Monica Surfaro-Spigelman

Thank you for reading this newsletter. We welcome your feedback, commentary and any suggestions or ideas. Write to us at: info@tucsonmeetyourself.org

Previous issues of BorderLore Newsletter are archived here and here.

Thank you for reading Tucson Meet Yourself BorderLore Newsletter

March 2014 Stories:

Shaping Sticks, Traditions of Toka

Ancestors and Artifacts

Spring Blooms at Mission Garden

Pysanka Eggs (Paska Blessings)

Deliverance (Passover)

Adornment in African-American Tradition

Polkas and Bread

Tidbits