WHAT YOU NEED
If you have a yoga mat or yoga rug, use that—otherwise, take a large beach towel and lay it on the ground outside, or on the floor inside. (If you’re doing the sun salutation inside and are using a towel, make sure to do it on a non-slippery surface.)
Stand in tadasana, “mountain pose.” Your feet and toes should be firmly on the ground, your arms at your sides, your shoulders back and your neck long. Take a few breaths to prepare yourself (remember to breathe through your nose, with your belly button pulled in towards your spine).
Inhale and raise your arms out to the side, palms up, bringing them up overhead until your palms touch. This is hasta uttanasana, raised arm pose. Raise your gaze so that you look up at your thumbs. Try not to tilt your head back or scrunch up your eyebrows when you look up, and also try to keep your shoulders from creeping up around your ears.
Exhale as you bring your arms down in front of you and move into a forward bend (uttanasana). If you can place your hands on the ground next to your feet, great. If not, place your hands on your ankles or knees. Try to keep your back extended rather than rounded; if it feels like too much on your lower back, you can bend your knees slightly.
Inhale as you look up, your shoulders back and your fingertips still touching the ground (or your ankles/knees). Your back should be flat, and you should feel like a diver just about to dive into the pool.
Place your palms on the mat, fingers spread, and exhale as you jump or walk back into chaturanga dandasana, a low push-up position. Unlike a regular push-up, in this posture your elbows need to stay very close to your body, and your upper arms should be squeezing against your ribcage.
The weight of your body is on your hands and your toes. Take care not to sag your hips down; your body should be a straight line. If this is too much, keep your hands and toes where they are and lower the knees to the ground to help support yourself.
From here, inhale as you push yourself forward into urdhva muhka svanasana (upward-facing dog). Push from your toes as you roll through from a flexed foot position to a pointed-toe position. Your hands and the tops of your toes should be the only parts of your body touching the ground. Look up as you arch your back, and try to keep those shoulders down (and those eyebrows from rising).
Exhale as you lift yourself back into adho mukha svanasana (downward-facing dog), rolling back over your toes to the soles of your feet and keeping your palms on the floor. Stay here for five deep breaths. When you look at your feet as you breathe in this posture, you should not be able to see your heels. Move your heels so they are in line with your ankles, and try to think about the soles of your feet moving toward the floor. Looking upward toward your stomach will help keep you from hyperextending around your back and rib cage. Think about moving your chest toward your feet and your head toward the floor.
Look toward your hands as you bend your knees, and either jump or walk your feet to your hands.
Inhale as you look up with a flat back, your fingertips on the floor (uttanasana B)
Exhale as you bend forward into a full forward bend (uttanasana A). Think about having your stomach and chest on your thighs rather than curving over with a rounded back.
Inhale as you lift all the way up into hasta uttanasana, looking up toward your thumbs as your palms touch.
Exhale as you return to tadasana, mountain pose.
Three Silly Pranks
THINK BOYS are the only ones good at pranking? Think again! Here are three classic pranks for any daring girl.
STINK BOMBS
The old-fashioned kind,
from the herb valerian.
Head outdoors with the following:
a small jar with a screw-on lid
measuring spoons
any kind of vinegar you can snag from the kitchen
valerian root powder—this is the key ingredient for a stink bomb. You can find this at any grocery store that stocks vitamins and herbal remedies. It comes in capsules that can be opened and emptied. If you can only find valerian tea, mash it into a powder.
Mix one or more teaspoons of the powder with 2 teaspoons of vinegar, close the jar very, very quickly and shake. When you’re ready to set off the stink bomb, open the jar (don’t throw it), yell “Skunk!” and run.
SHORT-SHEETING BEDS
For this prank you’ll need to know the oldfashioned skill of making a bed, the fancy way, with tucked-in sheets.
Here’s a refresher: Fit the bottom sheet over the mattress. Tuck the top sheet under the foot of the bed and along at least part of the sides. Lay the blanket on top, tuck that in too, and then neatly fold the top edge of the sheet over the blanket, about six inches or so. There. Stand back and observe your handiwork, because you will want the short-sheeted bed to look the same way.
To short-sheet a bed, you merely reposition the top sheet. Instead of tucking it in at the foot of the bed, tuck it in at the head of the bed. Lay out the sheet and halfway down the bed, stop and fold the sheet back toward the pillows. Place the blanket on top and fold a few inches of sheet on top for that neat, just-made look. This bed looks normal, but just try and stretch your legs out!
Important: Don’t do this to anyone whose feelings will be hurt, only to those you know will laugh hard or at least giggle when they figure it out.
FAUX BLOOD
Fool your friends with this
easily prepared hoax.
Needed:
corn syrup
cornstarch
red food coloring from the pantry
a jar with a tight lid
a spoon
an eyedropper
Red food coloring can stain, so wear old clothes, although washing with very warm water and strong soap should clean it up. It is best to keep this all outdoors.
Mix 4 small drops of food coloring, 2 teaspoons of water, and 1 to 2 teaspoons of cornstarch in the jar, cover, and shake. Pour in 2 tablespoons of corn syrup. Cover and shake again.
Use an eyedropper or a spoon to drip the fake blood where you want it. Make up a good story.
What is the Bill of Rights?
IN THE DAYS AFTER the United States won its independence from Britain in the 1780s, people vigorously debated how much power a government needed to rule, and how best to protect people’s rights from being overly stifled by the government. The now-famous Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers were originally published as letters in newspapers, and instead of using their given names, the letter writers often took names like “Brutus,” “Agrippa,” and “Cato”—well-known figures from the era of the Roman Republic. In their struggle to create a free society, after having only known life under a king, the early Americans looked to ancient Roman society for inspiration.
The first ten amendments to the Constitution, called the Bill of Rights, were the answer to the power of government versus personal freedom debate. The amendments form our basic sense of what it means to be American. These are the laws that now protect our freedom of religion and speech, our independent press, and our right to assemble peacefully in protest. Among other things, the Bill of Rights establishes our right to bear arms (not arm bears) and to be granted fair and speedy trials, and protects us from cruel and unusual punishment.
The Preamble to the Bill of Rights
Congress of the United States begun and held at the City of New-York, on Wednesday the fourth of March, one thousand seven hundred and eighty nine.
The Conventions of a number of the States having, at the time of adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added, and as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government will best insure the beneficent ends of its institution;
Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, two-thirds of both Houses concurring, that the following articles be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, as amendments to
the Constitution of the United States; all or any of which articles, when ratified by three-fourths of the said Legislatures, to be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the said Constitution, namely:
Ratified December 15, 1791
AMENDMENT I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
AMENDMENT II
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
AMENDMENT III
No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered i any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
AMENDMENT IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
AMENDMENT V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
AMENDMENT VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
AMENDMENT VII
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
AMENDMENT VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
AMENDMENT IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
AMENDMENT X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
Seventeen amendments follow these. The last, ratified in 1992, made it harder for our Senators and Representatives to raise their own salaries. This amendment has a long and intriguing history; it was first submitted in 1779 as part of a heated debate about states rights! Amendments are first passed by a two-thirds majority of the full Congress—the Senate and the House of Representatives. Then they must be approved, or ratified, by the legislatures of seventy-five percent of the states. This often means years of spirited discussion for each attempt to pass a new amendment.
The history of the amendments highlights our nation’s most impassioned debates. In 1868, the thirteenth amendment abolished slavery. Two years later, the fifteenth guaranteed that our right to vote could not be denied on account of our race, color, or having previously been a slave. The eighteenth amendment made it illegal to manufacture alcohol—and ushered in the prohibition years (which ended two years later, when the amendment was repealed).
In 1920, the nineteenth amendment marked a significant event for girls and women in America when, after 141 years of male-only elections, women were granted the right to vote. Just afterward, Alice Paul, one of the suffragettes, or activists on behalf of women’s voting, or suffrage, presented to Congress an amendment to supply equal rights to women. It wasn’t until the 1970s, however, that both houses of Congress sent this amendment to the states to ratify. Although the Equal Rights Amendment came close to approval by thirty-eight of our fifty states, the necessary three-quarters, it was defeated.
The Three Sisters
THE THREE SISTERS aren’t actually real girls, but they support one another, as sisters should. So named by the innovative Iroquois (the Native American tribe also called the Haudenosaunee), the Three Sisters are corn, beans, and squash.
The Iroquois discovered that, when grown together, these three plants make each other stronger. The sturdy corn stalks double as poles and support the beans. The squash’s floppy, oversized leaves perfectly mulch the ground and keep the weeds at bay. This vegetable garden combination has been a North American tradition for centuries. You can try it in your backyard.
GETTING PREPARED
* * *
Before planting your seeds of corn, bean and squash (and for the last, feel free to substitute pumpkin), there are three basic strategies you need to know.
1. Nurture Healthy Soil.
As the old saying goes, dirt’s beneath your fingernails, soil’s under your feet. The truth about gardening is that it’s all about preparing good soil, with fertile proportions of water, air, and compost. Humus and manure also add nutrients to your soil, as will the mulch you place on top. Pile on leaves and other garden debris; they will decay in the soil and nourish it from within.
How do you know if soil is healthy? Good soil is something you can feel. It crumbles airily between your fingers and has worms in it.
2. Experiment with Compost.
Gardeners wax eloquent about compost. And you should hear them talk about compost tea, which is when you mix compost and water and sprinkle it over your plants as fertilizer. You can purchase bags of prepared compost at your local nursery.
Compost is also a backyard project, called “a simple heap of green and brown.” Green is kitchen scraps—but never meat! Brown is fallen leaves, pine tree needles, and even newspapers, cut into strips. Toss it all together, add water every few days, and turn over with a pitchfork once in a while.
In a few months, the natural process of decay turns this heap to compost, full of vitamins for your plants. Add some to your garden soil. (It must be admitted that despite gardeners’ eloquence, sometimes mulch piles don’t work. If this happens to you, it’s okay.)
3. Know the Date of Last Frost.
Many seeds should not be planted outdoors until after the date of the last frost, and this includes corn, beans, and squash (others, like lettuce and peas, are cold-weather crops and can be planted in mid-spring). The best way to find this magic date is to ask any seasoned gardener in your neighborhood. This is called “talking over the fence,” and is without a doubt the best way to learn how to garden.
PLANTING YOUR SISTERS
* * *
Now: you are ready, your soil is dark and crumbly and filled with compost, and the last frost is a distant memory. To plant the Three Sisters, prepare a garden spot three to five feet in diameter, and mound the soil up about one foot.
In the center of the mound make five holes, each an inch deep, and plant two corn seeds in each hole.
In two weeks: The corn seedlings will emerge. Prune the smaller, weaker one from each hole; five corn stalks will remain in the mound. (This two-seed planting trick can be used every time you plant; it’s the best way to find the seeds most likely to succeed.) Then plant the bean seeds in seven holes in a circle around the corn, planting two seeds in each hole, knowing you’ll prune the weaker ones later.
Two weeks after that: The beans will sprout. Once again, prune the
smaller ones.
One week later: The beans should be tall enough to start winding through the growing corn stalks; help them find their way. Then plant the seeds for squash or pumpkin in eleven holes around the corn, repeating the two-seed method you now know well.
All summer long: Water very well each day.
In the fall: You’ll have a feast of corn, beans, and squash (or pumpkins) that would make the Iroquois—and your sisters—proud.
Peach Pit Rings
FUNNY THE THINGS girls used to do. This piece of girl lore, rubbing a peach pit into a ring, is really a pretext for hanging out with your friends on a late summer afternoon. Here’s how to do it.
Eat a peach.
Scrape the peach pit on the sidewalk or asphalt, back and forth on one side, then back and forth on the other. You will think nothing is happening, but in fact, microscopic peach pit fibers are being rubbed off.
Eventually the sides will begin to flatten and the inner pith will peek through.
Once the sides are flat the ring is close at hand. Just smooth the top and bottom, and rub the inside smooth with a stick.
If you don’t want to make the pit into a ring, you can plant it. Clean the pit and place it in a plastic bag in the back of the refrigerator. In late September, plant it five inches down in healthy soil. In Spring, if you are very lucky—and in the right temperate zone—the peach tree will grow, slowly. Water and fertilize, and in two or three years, the tree might bear fruit.
The Daring Book for Girls Page 24