13x03 - Alejandro's Gift

[bunniefuu]

♪ Reading rainbow ♪

♪ Butterfly in the sky ♪

♪ I can go twice as high ♪

♪ Take a look ♪

♪ It's in a book ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ I can go anywhere ♪

♪ Friends to know ♪

♪ And ways to grow ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ I can be anything ♪

♪ Take a look ♪

♪ It's in a book ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ Reading rainbow ♪

We're driving in one of

The hottest,
driest deserts around.

It's called indian canyons,

Just outside of palm springs,
california.

Not too far from here

Is a place
that's very cool.

It will change the way
you think about deserts forever.

[Jeep hissing]

Uh-oh.

I don't like the sound
of this at all.

[Hissing]

Uh-oh.

Just what
I was afraid of.

Whoa!

Boy! My car
is really overheating.

Good thing
I don't have far to go.

I can finish my journey
on foot

And get water for my jeep.

Finding water in the desert
isn't easy.

Sometimes,
if you're lucky,

You can get a friend
to help you.

That's what happens

To the animals
in this book--

Alejandro's gift.

Alejandro's small adobe house

Stood beside
a lonely desert road.

Behind the house
stood a well

And a windmill to pump water

For alejandro
and his only companion--

A burro.

It was a lonely place.

Visitors were few.

To pass the lonely hours,

Alejandro planted a garden.

It had carrots, beans,

Large brown onions,

Tomatoes, and corn.

The days went by
with little change,

Until one morning,

There was
an unexpected visitor.

A ground squirrel crept
from the underbrush,

Drank its fill of water,
and scampered away.

After he'd left,

Alejandro realized that
for those few moments,

His loneliness
had been forgotten.

And because
he felt less lonely,

Alejandro found himself hoping

The squirrel would come again.

The squirrel did come again
from time to time,

Bringing along wood rats,

Pocket gophers,

Jack rabbits,

Roadrunners,

Gila woodpeckers,
and flushes.

Even an old desert tortoise
could be seen

Plodding toward the garden.

Suddenly alejandro found
he was rarely lonely.

He had only to look up
to find a small friend nearby.

He soon realized
that his tiny desert friends

Came to his garden
not for company,

But for water.

And he found himself thinking
of the other animals

In the desert,

Animals like the coyote,

The desert gray fox,

The antlered mule deer,

The bobcats.

With his windmill and well,

Alejandro could supply
ample water

For any and all,

So alejandro decided
to dig a desert water hole.

Digging was tiring work,

But the thought
of giving water

To so many thirsty animals

More than made up
for the drudgery.

When it was filled,

Alejandro was pleased
with the gift he had made

For his desert friends.

Days passed, and it was
too quiet at the water hole.

Why, alejandro wondered,

Weren't the animals coming?

What could he have done wrong?

One morning,
alejandro saw a skunk

In the clearing
beyond the water hole,

When the skunk
saw alejandro,

He darted
in the underbrush.

It suddenly became very clear

Why alejandro's gift
was not accepted.

He dug another water hole
far from the house

And hidden by
heavy desert growth.

When it was filled and ready,

Alejandro waited.

As it turned out,

He was not disappointed.

The desert animals
did come

Because the water hole
was now sheltered

From the house and the road,

And the animals
were no longer fearful.

Although alejandro
could not see through

The desert growth
surrounding the water hole,

He had ways of knowing
the animals were coming--

By the twitter of birds
gathering in the dusk...

By the rustling of mesquite
in the quiet desert evening...

Or the unmistakable sound
of a herd of peccaries

Charging toward the water hole.

And in these moments
when alejandro sat quietly,

Listening to the sounds
of his desert neighbors,

He knew that the gift
was not so much a gift

That he had given,

But a gift he had received.

Alejandro gave
his animal friends

Nature's most precious gift--

Water.

All animals need water
to survive,

And the ways they find it
and use it

Can be pretty clever.

Long-necked ostriches
must dip and dunk

To get their water.

Thanks to its talented trunk,

Elephants can take a bath
in puddles like this.

Don't forget to wash
those toes.

It may look simple
for giraffes to drink,

But actually
it's quite a stretch.

This cactus catches water
for a tree finch to drink.

A trio of gazelles drinks
very carefully.

You never know who else
may be around.

Raccoons use water to wash up
before dinner.

And that's the water story
from "a" to zebra.

In the middle
of the desert,

It's hard to imagine
that you could find water.

When you see trees
with big green leaves,

You know there's water nearby.

That's an oasis,

A place where water flows
through the desert.

That's exactly
where we're headed.

Hi, levar.

What took you
so long?

I had car trouble.

Engine overheated.

That happens
a lot here.

This is morgan levine.

She's a naturalist
and knows every corner
of this oasis.

This place is
remarkably beautiful,

But how did
this water get here?

This water
is from three
different places--

Snow melting
on the mountain,

Mountain springs,

And hot
mineral springs

Bubbling up
from underground.

Because there is
water here,

People could
live here.

The kiowa tribe
lived here for
thousands of years.

They needed
more than water
to survive.

They needed animals
and plants.

The oasis provides
everything.

Their life style
was based on

Things gathered
and used on the oasis.

Right. This water
made it all possible.

This group of palms
really shows

The action of the water.

If we lived here
over 100 years ago
and came back,

We would wonder,
where is the ground?

When these palm trees
began to grow,

The soil was here.

Now look where
the soil is.

Why are the trunks
all black?

The kiowa people
fired these palms
on purpose.

They lived
under them.

This palm tree
will keep its skirts--

Its dead leaves,
sometimes called
petticoats--

Unless they've been
in a fire.

If you set them afire,

It would make it
brighter, warmer,

And get rid of leaves
on the ground.

Most importantly,
it improved the fruit.

You can see fruit
in the treetop.

If you fire the palm,
you get more and better fruit.

Did the kiowa
have other uses
for the palm?

Leaves were used as
the roof of their house.

It's windproof
and waterproof.

They also made
baskets from this.

They made stirring
sticks and spoons.

They even
made their sandals
from the palm tree.

I think of this canyon
as a big supermarket.

We're in one of
my favorite aisles.

This plant is called
the yerba santa.

Look at
these leaves.

They're velvety.

They are.

What did they
use this for?

To treat colds.
They made cough
syrup from this.

They would boil it

And take it
like cough syrup
every few hours.

They also
made it into teas
and chewed this.

Try it.

Kind of gummy,
isn't it?

You won't be
so thirsty.

It has a lot
of water in it.

It's a little bitter.

What's this bush
over here?

The four wing
salt bush.

Each little seed
looks like
it has four wings.

They would pound
this into flour

That tasted
a little bit salty.

They would also boil
stems and leaves
for head colds.

The steam would
open your head up.

They got soap
for washing clothes
from this.

Really?

This is
the detergent aisle.

The most important bush
or tree in the oasis--

What would that be?

Let me
show it to you.

This is
the mesquite tree.

In this canyon,

This plant was
most important
to the tribe.

They knew water
was here because
these are here.

The roots go down
to 180 feet.

They must have
their feet in water.

This was used
for many
different things.

It was the framework
of the house

And material
for bows.

They used the sap
for eyewash
and to treat wounds.

They'd use
mesquite thorns

To make
facial tattoos.

The flowers are
edible and storable.

They turn into
these pods.

These pods are
the nutritional
equivalent

Of butter.

What does
this taste like?

Give it a taste.
You tell me.

It's really crunchy,
isn't it?

Mmm. It's got
a sweet flavor.

That's why
they call this
the honey mesquite.

Is this the only way
they ate the mesquite?

They prepared it
in many ways

In a place
we call the kitchen.

This is the kitchen,
levar.

Besides eating these
mesquite beans,

You could also make
flour out of them.

So we come here,
take some
mesquite beans,

Put them
in this mortar hole.

And with
this pestle stone,

They would pound
the mesquite beans
into flour.

They also pounded
fruit of palm
and acorns.

Each hole belonged
to a family.

You could cook
in these

When they
got deep enough.

You could put hot
stones in the bottom

And meat strips
on top.

These holes were actually
worn into this rock.

After many
generations, yes.

Grandmothers passed
mortar holes down
to granddaughters.

Does ground-up mesquite
have a different flavor
than the bean?

Try some.

So this is
the ground-up mesquite.

Mmm. That's good.

Kind of
a nutty flavor.

You could put
this in soup
or make something

Like an oatmeal
from it.

This was eaten
almost every day
by the tribe.

Since we're at the oasis,

Let's find someplace
cooler to hang out.

Morgan, thank you so much
for the tour of the oasis.

Don't forget some water
for your jeep.

Flowing water is one of the most
powerful forces on earth.

There are some places

Where the water rushes
with such force,

It puts on a spectacular show.

This is niagara falls,

One of the wettest and wildest
places on earth.


Pour over these falls

In a single second.

That's enough water
to fill 21,000 bathtubs...

Or flush 125,000 toilets

Or brush your teeth


Water from lake erie
flows down the niagara river.

Then it splits and tumbles
over the american falls

And the horseshoe falls
in canada.

Millions of people come from
around the world for a look,

But they don't just watch
from a distance.

The maid of the mist boat
gets people into the spray

That's kicked up when the water
crashes against the rocks.

For those who really want
to feel the force of the water,

The hurricane deck is
about as close as you can get.

With a short climb,

You can get
next to the falls

And get pretty wet, too.

While the falls provide
an eye-opening show,

Much of the niagara
river's water

Is used to produce energy.

Water from the river
travels downstream

And enters this building.

Inside, the force
of falling water

Turns turbines like these
to produce electricity.

Now, you might think

That nothing could stop
the niagara river,

But winter
can sure slow it down.

Icy-cold weather
can freeze the river.

When this happens,
icebreakers cruise the river,

Cracking and crushing the ice

So that niagara falls
can keep cascading


All year long.

Before I head home,

I want to make sure
I have enough water

For me and my jeep.

That ought to do it.

If you want to learn more
about deserts and water,

Here are three books

That will satisfy
your thirst for knowledge.

Don't take my word for it.

Hi. I'm jesse.

The water you drank last night

Is the same water
the dinosaurs drank.

This book is called
water, water everywhere.

It has neat facts about water.


Is covered by water.

It's a good thing because
everybody needs water to live.

Most of earth's water
is salt water.

A lot of the fresh water
is frozen.

Even though
there's water everywhere,

It's not all drinkable.

Water changes its form
over and over.

It can be a liquid,
a solid, even a gas.

This is one cool photograph.
It's a water droplet.

This book tells kids
why it's important

To protect the water we have.

I liked water, water everywhere.

Imagine what it's like to live
in a dry, dusty place

And then it starts to rain.

It's a celebration,
just like reading this book--

It rained on the desert today.

This book is
full of wonderful poetry.

The pictures
are absolutely beautiful.

Here the girl is watching
for the storm clouds to gather.

There's the blinding
flash of lightning.

There's the cr*ck of thunder.

It's raining.

To the children,
the rain is like music.

The little ones
play in the mud.

The book calls them mud babies.

The girl goes to sleep,
thankful for the rain.

I'm christine.

It rained on the desert today
is a special book.

It will make you happy.

Ever heard of
a fennec or a jird?

How about a meerkat?

These are creatures
in the desert alphabet book.

This book is filled
with desert survivors.

They need only
a little water.

The australian
water-holding frog, for example,

Lives deep in the ground.

It conserves its energy
until the rain falls.

Of course, everybody
knows about the camel.

The elf owl is

A really
fascinating bird.

You're probably wondering
what a fennec is.

Here's the picture.

It's a small desert fox.

All these creatures began

With a different letter
of the alphabet.

"P" is for a palmate gecko,
a kind of lizard.

The pictures in this book
are very colorful.

I'm mahmudul.

I recommend
the desert alphabet book.

It's like cold water
on a hot day.

When you're in
a dry place like this,

You realize
how precious water is.

There's nothing else
on earth like it.

Water brings life
to everything around it,

And it keeps people,
plants, animals alive,

So let's make every drop count.

I'll see you next time.

♪ Butterfly
in the sky ♪

♪ I can go
twice as high ♪

♪ Take a look ♪

♪ It's in a book ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ A reading rainbow... ♪♪

Today's
reading rainbow books are

Alejandro's gift,
by richard e. Albert,

Illustrated by sylvia long,

Published by
chronicle books.

Water, water everywhere,

By mark j. Rauzon
and cynthia overbeck bix,

Published by sierra club books
for children.

It rained on the desert today,

Written by
ken and debby buchanan,

Illustrated by libba tracy,

Published by
northland publishing company.

The desert alphabet book
by jerry pallotta,

Illustrated by mark astrella,

Published by
charlesbridge publishing.