Summer Camp: Crocus-Pocus

Circle Round - WBUR

In this episode of Circle Round, a young grape grower named Nicola faces a disastrous summer that ruins his family's vineyard. After losing

Key takeaways

• Acts of generosity can lead to unexpected rewards.

Main topics

• Generosity

Notable quotes

I'd rather make someone else's day by helping them in their time of need.

Conclusion

Nicola's selfless act of sharing his final grapes with a stranger leads to

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:02) Well, well, well, if it isn't my favorite campers. Welcome back to Circle Round Summer Camp. I'm your camp counselor, Erica Henningsen, with another exciting story to help us appreciate the beauty and wonder of nature. In many parts of the world, summer is a time of color. And by that, I mean flowers. Sunflowers, poppies, gladiolas, dahlias. Flowers bring joy into the world. And so today, we have a story about one flower worth celebrating. So circle around, everyone, for Crocus Pocus. Speaker 5 (0:47) WBUR Podcasts, Boston. Speaker 4 (0:56) had a bad day? When we're having a bad day, it can be helpful if we talk about it. If we sit down with someone we trust and share how we're feeling. We're about to meet a character who isn't just having a bad day, he's having a bad summer. And when he talks about it with a complete stranger, things go from tragic to magic. Speaker 4 (1:22) I'm Rebecca Shear, and welcome to Circle Round, where storytime happens all the time. Today, our story is called Crocus Pocus. You'll find versions of this tale from the southern Italian island of Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Speaker 4 (1:43) Some really great people came together to bring you our version of this folktale, including Jacob LaValle and Speaker 3 (1:48) Amanda Warren. Speaker 4 (1:50) Jacob LaValle has appeared in such TV shows and movies as Sesame Street, John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch, The Plot Against America, and 8-Bit Christmas. His newest film, The Unbreakable Boy, is in theaters now. Amanda Warren is known for her roles in East New York, Dickinson, The Leftovers, The Burial, and The Night Agent, now in its second season on Netflix. So circle around, everyone, for Crocus Pocus. Speaker 4 (2:26) Have you ever seen the little cup-shaped flower known as the crocus? Most crocuses originally come from Asia and North Africa. But there's one type of crocus, the pale purple long-flowered crocus, that comes from Europe. More specifically, from the Italian island of Sicily. And according to legend, it was all thanks to a young grape grower named Nicola. Ah. Speaker 6 (2:55) Time to wake up and get to work in the vineyard. Speaker 4 (2:57) The vineyard had been in Nicola's family for generations. He recently inherited it from his parents, a pair of hard-working grape growers who taught Nicola everything they knew before they passed away. Speaker 3 (3:11) Now that they were gone, Speaker 4 (3:12) the vineyard was Nicola's responsibility. And though he was still rather young, he was determined to keep the family business thriving. So, day after day, he woke up early. went to bed late, and spent every hour in between tending the vineyard. But then, in the middle of summer, everything went wrong. First, heavy clouds rolled in and stretched across the sky like a thick gray blanket. Speaker 6 (3:41) Good grief! The grapes need six hours of sun a day to ripen properly. These cloudy skies won't do at all. But Speaker 4 (3:49) the cloudy skies just got cloudier, growing thicker. and grayer before unleashing a non-stop torrent of rain. Speaker 6 (4:00) Good gracious. If the grapes get too much water, they'll swell, then split, then rot. This rain is definitely not helping things. Speaker 4 (4:11) The rain eventually subsided, but Nicola's troubles didn't, because then the vineyard was infested by caterpillars. Speaker 6 (4:19) Good golly, those pesky parasites are nibbling up the vines and fruits. Come harvest time, I'll hardly have a harvest at all. Speaker 4 (4:29) As it turns out, Nicola was right. Come autumn, when it was time to pick the grapes, there were barely any grapes to pick. Good gravy! Speaker 6 (4:39) I've been walking up these rows of vines for hours, and while I've managed to pick some sweet purple grapes, the whole crop barely fills one basket. Speaker 4 (4:50) Still, Nikola was on his own now, and just like his parents before him, he knew he must make a living. Speaker 6 (4:57) Or do my best to make a living. I'll take this basket of grapes to the marketplace and see what I can sell. Speaker 4 (5:05) The marketplace was buzzing with shoppers shopping and vendors vending when Nikola arrived. Weaving his way through the crowd, he passed the olive grower, whose kiosk was bursting with plump, shiny olives. He saw the nut seller. whose stall was filled with glossy brown almonds and chestnuts. The orchardist had plenty of apples. The beekeeper had plenty of honey. Every vendor seemed to have had a bountiful harvest. Speaker 6 (5:33) Except for me.