Lore FAQ Part Two
Welcome back, friends! If you missed Part One of our Lore FAQ, you can read it here. We hope you enjoy reading Part Two in this blog post. If you have any questions that we did not answer, please feel free to reach out to us by email and we will be happy to chat more. Thank you for sending in these excellent questions – we are honored that you want to learn more about the world of Hazel Village!
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What holidays do the animals celebrate?
Many! You can learn all about them in our blog post: The Animals' Holidays and Festivities.
Is there a mayor or a head of Hazel Village? And if so how do they get elected?
Nobody is in charge in Hazel Village – the animals coexist peacefully and make decisions together. But if they had a mayor just for fun, it would probably be Oliver Mouse. (He quite likes giving speeches and cutting ribbons when an occasion calls for it.)
Which of the animals are best friends?
Much like in our human world, the animals enjoy doing different activities with different friends. For example, Catalina Mouse likes to garden with Reginald Fox. If you would like to know some pairs of animals who are particularly close, we would say: Gwendolyn Raccoon and Gracie Cat; Arthur Lamb and Lucas Rabbit; Annicke Mouse and Owen Fox; Lewis Toad and Jeremy Owl; Phoebe Fawn and Juliette Rabbit. But really, the animals are all wonderful friends with one another!
Do the nocturnal animals stay awake or asleep at night?
It depends! When Florence Bat visited Hazel Village, she usually snoozed during the day and woke up in late afternoon to enjoy evening festivities with her friends.
What sorts of events happen at the Lodge?
The animals gather in the Lodge for big feasts, major tea parties, indoor Turtle Society meetings, pine needle basket making gatherings – basically, any events for which they want to be indoors and need a good amount of space.
How do you play Baa-Ball and Frog Ball?
Baa-Ball is Arthur Lamb’s favorite game. He and Lucas Rabbit play it all the time. You would have to ask them how the game is played – frankly, we’re not quite sure. From what we can gather, it seems like enthusiasm is more important than rules.
Frog Ball is Ella Toad’s favorite game. It is kind of like kickball, although not particularly competitive. The pitch has four bases, each named for different flowers that one might find in a field. There are hurdles made of wicker and festooned with flowers and ribbons, which the animals take a lot of care in decorating, and which you have to jump over on your way between bases. Behind Dandelion Base is a hoop festooned with more ribbons and a bell. If you get a hole-in-one, the animals call it "the full bouquet".
Here is Jane’s sketch of the Frog Ball pitch:
What is Thimbleberry Island like and what activities do the animals do there?
Thimbleberry Island is in the middle of the lake at the southern edge of Hazel Village. The animals often row their rowboats there in the summertime to enjoy swimming, picnicking, and relaxing in the fresh lake breezes. The island has a nice rock beach, where Max Raccoon has found some of his most favorite rocks. And of course, it has lots of bushes full of plump delicious thimbleberries. The animals snack on thimbleberries all day, and when they row home they bring a pailful to make thimbleberry jelly. Some years they even hold a Thimbleberry Festival on the island.
Who is the Village’s wildflower expert?
Annicke Mouse.
What Villagers make clothes? Do they all make their own?
Ella Toad makes the most clothes because she quite enjoys sewing. Sometimes the other animals make clothes too, because it is a fun project. They also enjoy making clothes for each other as presents; right now Juliette Rabbit is knitting a purple scarf for her friend Phoebe Fawn.
What sorts of jobs does each animal have to help keep the Village running smoothly? How are these duties determined?
The animals follow their passions! Many have particular duties, although since they pursue them for pleasure we would call them pastimes rather than jobs. We encourage you to read each animal’s story to get to know their favorite activities. Here are some examples:
- Lucy Owl is an archivist and runs the animals’ newspaper.
- Lewis Toad is a potter. He makes a lot of tableware for the animals to use, and sometimes he dabbles in sculpture.
- Oliver Mouse is the Village mail carrier, record keeper, and weather reporter. (He is the sort of creature who likes to always have plenty to do.)
- Phoebe Fawn is the conductor of the Village Orchestra and the Wake Up Day Band, and composes much of their music.
- Gracie Cat loves to cook, and often makes big feasts for her friends to enjoy together in the Lodge. The other animals will help her out with the prep work.
- Lucas Rabbit is a Turtle Society Scout.
- Reginald Fox is a gardener. He lives at the top of the Village garden, and tends to it every day. The other animals help him out with big planting and harvesting days.
Do the Villagers have any conservation projects?
Certainly! Appreciating nature and tending to their surrounding environment is a daily pastime for the animals. They make sure that the fruit and nut trees have good soil, and check on the mushrooms growing beneath them. They take care to help the wildflowers flourish for the bees and butterflies.
Does the Turtle Society meet all year round?
The members of Hazel Village Turtle Society go on s-l-o-w hikes through the forest, observing turtles and discussing conservation of turtle habitats. They earn badges for things like:
- Successfully completing a turtle-spotting hike
- Spotting hidden turtle trails
- Maintaining safe aquatic habitats for turtles
- Spotting a rare hatching egg
The Turtle Society meets whenever they feel like it. In the winter it’s harder to find turtles, so they meet indoors and slowly reminisce about turtles they’ve seen.
Are any of the Villagers interested in studying or cataloging the trees of Hazel Village?
Yes indeed! Lucy Owl has made a field guide for tree identification, and a reference guide to nuts and berries. Annicke Mouse likes to inspect the hidden trails of the Village and leave messages for herself and her friends in the form of trail trinkets tied around tree trunks and branches.
Do the Villagers read? If so, do they have a library?
The Villagers do read, though some of them are better at it than others (Penelope Rabbit is still learning). Lucy Owl is particularly interested in reading, and keeps a small library in her house. Any animal is welcome to drop by and borrow a book. Perhaps some of Lucy’s books might become available for you to read later this year…
If you are interested in Jane’s recommended reading, you can find a list at the bottom of our Willow Basketry blog post. We are also compiling a reference library here at our workshop, of all sorts of books that inspire us when it comes to Hazel Village.
Do the animals go to school? How do they learn how to do the things they do?
If you ask Lucy, she will tell you that the animals definitely go to school and they love it. If you were to ask the other animals, they would probably say that they love playing school. Lucy likes to be the teacher, but sometimes they take turns.
Generally, the animals learn how to do things by a combination of imagination and confidence. They try stuff and figure it out, then teach each other what they learned.
Who do the animals get mail from?
Mostly the animals send each other mail. There is a mailbox in front of the Lodge where they leave letters and small packages. While it is true that any animal could simply carry a letter directly to another animal’s house, the woodland friends greatly enjoy the fun of sending things in the mail and Oliver Mouse takes great pride in delivering them. Occasionally a letter might arrive from a friend who does not live in Hazel Village, and these occasions are always quite exciting.
What do the animals do on snow days?
The animals have great fun on snow days. Between the Present Tree and the Lakeshore is a gentle slope which the animals call Sledding Hill, so naturally they sled down it when it’s snowy. They like to make snow mice and dig snow forts. They gather pailfuls of fresh snow and mix it with maple syrup to make delicious treats. When they are tired of playing in the cold, they go inside to bundle up by a cozy fire. Then they play with puzzles and work on indoor crafts.
How is the Secret Treehouse decorated and how does one get in?
You'd have to ask Owen Fox. We have been told that it is painted his favorite color (green) and that he does a lot of cool dances in there. We know that a lot of other creatures have been there too, with Owen’s permission, but it is important to him that it’s a secret. We understand!
Thank you for reading!
If you have any questions or just want to say hi, feel free to email us at hello@hazelvillage.com.
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