An Issue From the Zucchini archives!


THE ZUCCHINI CLUBHOUSE NEWSLETTER
...the official newsletter from The Zucchini Brothers!
www.zucchinibrothers.com

SPRING '04


Greetings from ZucchiniLand! And welcome to this archived edition of our Zucchini Clubhouse Newsletter, a quarterly publication filled with interesting facts, news from ZucchiniLand, stories, educational tidbits, projects, and much more! Please feel free to print this out and share with as many people as you want!

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NEW & EXCITING ZUCCHINI PROJECTS

Our radio show, "the Zucchini Brothers...Live! at the Clubhouse", is now online at our site! You can hear it any time, free, by clicking here. Listen to or download the current show and archived episodes!

The show is now also on XM SATELLITE RADIO! It airs Sunday mornings at 10am EST (7am PST). And Monday and Wednesday evenings at 8:30pm PST (11:30pm EST).

Check it out! It's a half-hour of the zany Zucchinis and our nutty cast of characters...full of educational tidbits, great music for the big and small, and just plain fun!

Our new CD is still in the works. Things were going swell until our tape machine popped a spring and sent the tape flying all over the clubhouse studio! Looks like we'll have to start over again. We plan to do it even better this time! We'll keep you posted.

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STEVE'S CORNER

Folks, we've got a mystery on our hands ...and I'm down on my hands and knees on the Zucchini Clubhouse floor trying to solve it: One of my brothers has tracked in fresh mud from the yard outside our clubhouse. (Spring has arrived and with the melting of the snow we are blessed with MUD!) Now, I don't mind a little tracked-in mud now and then, but if I'm the 'Clubhouse Cleaner' there's only so much I can tolerate, which brings me to...

STEVE'S SPRING WORD OF THE DAY:

Tolerate
Definition: (verb) To put up with and respect others' beliefs and practices without sharing them.
Synonyms or words that mean the same thing are: allow, endure, permit or deal with.


If I can just figure out which one of my brothers' sneakers made this crazy pattern, I can have him help me clean it up. Let's take a closer look: Hmmm, the pattern looks like a wave with some round circles, triangles and a few things that look like small cars.  Wow, whoever designed this pattern on the bottom of this sneaker must have had a fun time doing it!  It may sound weird, but I don't think I've ever looked at mud this way before, which brings me to...

STEVE'S SPRING QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"I've looked at clouds from both sides now, from up and down and still somehow, it's clouds illusions I recall, I really don't know clouds at all."  -Joni Mitchell

(exchange the word "mud" for the word "clouds" for an added chuckle):


Well, well, well, I, um...er...ahhh...think I've solved the mystery of the mud...seems that wherever I  walk in the clubhouse, the pattern follows me around.  Is it my sneakers?!  Aaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!  Yes, it's me! I'm going to make sure to take off my shoes when I come next time...and...in the meantime I'm going to clean up this mess right away, so my brothers don't find out!

STEVE'S SPRING TONGUE TWISTER OF THE DAY:

"Memorable Muddy Mystery"

(Betcha it sounds like mud when you say it quick):


We'll be busy re-recording our new CD, crossing our fingers for warmer weather, and looking forward to seeing you soon at a Zucchini Concert!

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JACK'S CORNER

I'm writing the first half of my 'corner' on this last day of winter. I can hear an owl in the distance as I sit here outside my wighouse (which, if you recall, I described in the previous newsletter). My brothers, Steve and Sam, were out here with me earlier, but went back inside the clubhouse to warm up. It's cold--well, for this time of year, anyway. I mean, tomorrow is the first day of spring, and right now it's still very much like winter here in ZucchiniLand. Polly, who's by my side, sits at attention. Her ears are perked upright as she listens to the owls--several in number now--calling out to one another. Not many days from now--hey, maybe even tomorrow--it'll be a whole lot more spring-like, and I'll look out our clubhouse window and see green grass and flowers, blue sky, birds and bees, leaves budding on trees, and sunshine. I hear the early sounds of spring as I sit here quietly, surrounded by snow. The sun's setting, but I'm always warm with my sweaters and my two ponchos. People sometimes ask, "Why are you wearing those rugs?" or "What's with those blankets?" and I tell them they're my ponchos....which brings me to...

JACK'S SPRING WORD OF THE DAY:

Poncho
Definition: (Noun) A kind of cloak originally worn by Spanish Americans having the form of a blanket with a slit in the middle for the head to pass through.


...Ok, I'm picking this journal entry back up a few days into spring here in ZucchiniLand..

Spring has now sprung but there's still snow on the ground. Old Man Winter's hanging around but he knows it's time to go.

Hey, that sounds like the seed of a song. I could grow a song from those words and then sing it with my brothers in Miss Honeypepper's class. Yeah, that'd be cool...which reminds me of an appropriate phrase for...

JACK'S SPRING QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"A seed hidden in the heart of an apple is an orchard invisible." -Kahlil Gibran


Now I have a song to continue writing. But first, let me leave you with...

JACK'S SPRING TONGUE TWISTER OF THE DAY:

"Spring seeds sprout strong stems."

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SAM'S CORNER

I'm recovering from a stubbed toe I got from walking our dog, Polly. Actually I have 3 stubbed toes now (two from the walk with Polly and one gotten back at the clubhouse, trying to heal from the first two).

Jack usually walks Polly, since she's his dog. But he got extra busy last Thursday with an assignment our teacher, Miss Honeypepper, gave him. So I thought I'd help him out and take Polly for a walk myself. Usually my walks with Polly are very enjoyable, gentle excursions into the outside world of ZucchiniLand....which brings me to...

SAM'S SPRING WORD OF THE DAY:

Excursion
Definition: (Noun) A short journey made with the intent of returning to the starting point. An outing.


We were going our merry way when we met up with Mrs. Untemeyer and her dog Ruffles. Usually Polly and Ruffles get along fine, but there must have been something Mrs. Untemeyer and I were unaware of. Our dogs starting barking madly, and straining at their leashes....which leads me to.....

SAM'S SPRING TONGUE TWISTER OF THE DAY:

"Crazy canines straining and stretching" (try saying THAT 10 times fast!)


Well, Polly's not a big dog, so I had no trouble holding on to her. But Ruffles...well he's not at all a small dog, and poor Mrs. Untemeyer lost control of the leash and he came bounding toward us. I tried to run one way and polly, the other. I stumbled forward and stubbed my big toe on my left foot (through my sneaker no less!). Polly jumped into my arms and Ruffles jumped on both of us. I stumbled again, fell, and stubbed my little toe on my right foot this time. Ouch!

'Turns out Ruffles wasn't mad at all...just wanted to play. But I was definitely worse for the wear. Thank goodness Mrs. Untemeyer suffered no damage at all, just a bit of a scare. So Polly and I said good bye to Mrs. Untemeyer and her dog and limped home (and we hadn't even gotten our walk in!)

Back at the Zucchini clubhouse, I limped to our library, got a good book and decided to rest on the couch to try to heal my two toes. But just when I had settled in, the phone rang. I sprang up like I usually do to get the call, forgetting about my injuries, and stubbed my BIG toe on my RIGHT foot!

SAM'S SPRING QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"...somewhat like the boy in Kentucky who stubbed his toe while running to see his sweetheart. The boy said he was too big to cry, and far too badly hurt to laugh."
-Abraham Lincoln


Well, I don't feel like laughing OR crying, just resting! As soon as my toes feel better I'm going to start planting our clubhouse garden. I'll let you know how that goes. And don't forget to start rooting for the ZucchiniLand Zebras baseball team. They're gonna need all the help they can get this year!

Keep in touch!

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This newsletter is written by the Zucchini Brothers with Susan Meyer. Thanks so much for subscribing to this newsletter and supporting The Zucchini Brothers! We hope to see you at an upcoming performance! And please consider calling or writing your local radio station to let them know you like our show!

Your Friends,
Steve, Jack & Sam Zucchini
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