Sylvania Provides

Part of this year's Mellowdene Day celebrations included a more formal gathering in the Village Hall. The speakers were Cliff Babblebrook, Verden Dappledawn, Howard Brighteyes and - representing the Buttergloves - my wife's cousin and engineer Coltsfoot Ivory. My twin Newton was engaged in some work thing, and as some scientific knowledge was required, Colt was a decent substitute.

 

The main gratitude theme concentrated upon the bounties given to us by the land we love. What Sylvania gives us. The Snow Queen was mentioned but only in passing. 

I have spoken of the Snow Queen in previous stories. Most Mellowdenians subscribe to the belief to various degrees. Our Melting Festival is proof of that. Some are comfortable that this supernatural being actually existed and sacrificed herself to create Sylvania. Some think of her as a kind of metaphor for the land, providing for the people in return for their respect of nature. Reverend Kelvin Waters is careful to be non-committal in his sermons yet he is supportive to each individual's interpretations.

Personally, I haven't decided. The existence of the mysterious mineral we call the Dreamstone has muddied the water. Irrespective of one's leanings, the Mellowdene Day focus reminded me that Sylvania does provide unusual bounties to make life easier for its people. And I'm not simply speaking of food, water and climate. I thought I would mention a few.

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You may recall that we use a substance called coolsalt. Manufactured in the mountain plains by our friends the Polaris family, the product is a clever combination of minerals easily sourced up there. Blocks of coolsalt are the active components of our refrigerators, absorbing heat and reducing the surrounding temperature. A remarkable discovery, kind to the environment and even recyclable. I've discovered that there is technology that can slowly discharge heat from used coolsalt - ideal for keeping food warm. Hot or cold - Sylvania provides. (*see Hot and Cold - Jul 2021)

Some of our artificial lighting is based upon insect droppings! Applying pressure to sparkfly waste causes a distinctive glow. Efficiently processed, spark bulbs are a safe alternative to oil, gas and electric lighting. All produced by the Brooks-Underwood Spark Farm, founded by ancestors of the two families. (*see When the Sun Goes Down - Sep 2022)

I have also mentioned floaty-pods. If the large seeds of the lavender ash trees undergo a simple process, they become lighter than air. They are incredibly useful, providing lift when heavy objects have to be moved. Further, the inventive Cedric Walnut has been able to use floaty-pods within his flying machine - Skyrider. (*see Being Apart from Friends - Sep 2023)

DingleDale Worm Farm helps boost the production of textiles thanks to the unusual echo worms that the Dale and Dingle families rear. I still remember the wonder I felt when visiting the farm and hearing the singing worms! (*see A Neighbourly Yarn with Music Mar 2021)

All remarkable, but there are more examples. One I should mention relates to fuel, but there are others. This came to my mind after thinking about the Mellowdene Day speeches.  

Most fireplaces in Mellowdene homes no longer burn fuel that produces open flames. Although we are fortunate to have the Hornbeam House Safety Department and firefighting equipment - under the control of our fire chief Benjamin Underwood - the village has, in the main, cut down on fire risks by switching to an alternative heat source. 

This in no way minimises the respect and gratitude we have for Ben and his volunteer fire crew.

But back to fireglass.

We call it fireglass because it has the appearance of red glass. I don't know the specific details of its manufacture but we understand a key ingredient is a type of fungus that grows in shady conditions, the common name being ruby mushrooms. A local natural source is within one of the many small valleys at the foot of our neighbouring mountain range, although it is now grown in quantity elsewhere. We have a small manufacturing plant that processes it locally - the alliterative Fireglass Fuel Factory run by Reilly Hunter-Smyth and his family. 

The mushroom caps are red but the once picked the stalks become dark, charcoal coloured. The fireglass retains these colours, but the dark parts are not visible in our fireplaces. When those dark parts are submerged in a bath of salt water, the red parts radiate flameless heat. Fine control is achieved by varying the amount of fireglass that is submerged.

A number of vehicles have had their fuel systems altered to use fireglass. The garage associated with Mellowdene Van Hire offer this as part of their services. Murphy Van Dyke and his son Draven are very efficient in this task. Once converted, a periodic replacement of the fireglass (often at the annual vehicle service) is all that is required thereafter. Salt water as the actual fuel is very convenient for filling up! 

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It never ceases to amaze me how these discoveries are made. Given the existence of the Sylvanian Research Group and the Owl Collective, it wouldn't surprise me if all sorts of substances are examined and processed in a variety of ways. I could ask Newton but I'm never sure how much he'd reveal about the scientific work done by the SRG.

It is clear that Sylvania provides. Whether it was by design by the Snow Queen, some purpose of these ubiquitous wild energies, or as a consequence of magic or luck - I cannot tell. But it certainly links with our Mellowdene Day. A reason to be grateful.

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When the Sun Goes Down

In my experience, I would say that most Sylvanians tend towards daytime activities rather than nighttime ones. That's probably because we're a social group of people and it's easier to interact when we can see one another. Am I being lighthearted? A little, perhaps, and yes - I can see the double meaning. It's worth analysing, though.

In years long past, we generally lived according to the rise and fall of the sun. That didn't mean we all took to our beds following sunset. Life went on, and as some critters adapted better to darkness than others, they took advantage of this nocturnal advantage to shift their working day to the benefit of the community. Badgers, beavers, raccoons and foxes were amongst these, and - had there been any cats resident in Mellowdene back then they would undoubtedly been counted too.

Of course, candles and lanterns helped everyone. I know that some Sylvanian villages went on to use gas, oil or electric lighting, but on the whole Mellowdene didn't follow that route. We found another way to illuminate those dark evenings.

I've no doubts that our location guided us. The valley from which Mellowdene sprung, protected by the loving arms of the mountains, the fertile land nourished from the waters of Sweetwater Lake, unusual minerals and plants - all had contributed to our way of life. Our artificial lighting was another bounty.

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Nancy Waters and her brother Norman Brooks are descendants of "Big Bevis" Brooks, a beaver that worked with ancestors of Blake Underwood and Elma Mulberry to develop our main source of lighting. Norman, Blake and Elma continue the work to this day and the process is more streamlined.

Diggle Underwood, Big Bevis Brooks, Karl Mulberry

Close to a series of small waterfalls that feed our river there is a cluster of small caves that provides a home to a colony of spark flies. 

At dusk, these chunky insects fly to their feeding grounds. These were downriver on the west bank in soft ground overlooked by the woodlands. In exchange for the nourishing moss that grew there they left their waste - best described as silver filaments that, for the most part, used to wash away in the current.

Big Bevis was intrigued with the filaments he found, how they almost shone under certain conditions. His curiosity led to experimentation and he discovered that - if the filaments were put into sealed containers, they would start to glow. If some pressure was applied, they would glow brighter. He had the beginnings of a predictable artificial lighting system.

 

The problem was that the soft ground west of the river wasn't a convenient location. Worse still, the moss was slowly being eroded away by the encroachment of other plants.

For that reason Bevis collaborated with Diggle Underwood to set up their own palettes of moss banks within Mellowdene County itself. Situated east of the river, nestled in the foothills north of the bridge, the moss banks were closer to the spark fly colony. 

The rich moss was suitably irrigated and the stable placement made it easier for the spark flies to feed. When the sun edged beneath the horizon, the spark flies were quite happy to divert to the Brooks-Underwood Spark Farm. 

Not only was this preferable to the insects, it made harvesting filaments much easier.

Elma Mulberry's ancestor Karl operated a small glassworks with his family. They would blow glass to create bowls and bottles for various purposes - mainly culinary - but it wasn't any difficulty to create small glass bulbs to hold spark fly filaments. A mechanism to adjust the pressure would allow the level of light to be varied.

Today, the process is much more efficient. When continued use of the bulbs makes them inefficient, replacement is simple. I understand the exhausted filaments are returned to the river - as they used to be - and the glass housing recycled.

Of course, the implementation is more sophisticated too. Houses accommodate more convenient methods to control the amount of spark bulb illumination in their rooms. Nevertheless, most children recall the school lesson where they were given a plunger and a small glass beaker of insect droppings and then guided how to create light. It seemed like magic. 

 

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Spark bulbs were a significant development in giving Mellowdene society a life after dark. It's not just extending our waking hours and family time at home. Transport can continue after sundown, safely illuminating the roads. Businesses can operate after dark, which is a boon for winter months so that work does not have to be rushed to fit daylight hours. Evening meals at the Mousehole, entertainment at the Bear Pit, social clubs after work - all help our villagers enjoy a full life.

So a big thanks to Big Bevis Brooks. You could say he put the spark in our lives!

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