under the neon

under the neon

Shaiko Sushi sign, black lacquer

plate glows pink blue green

On a Friday evening in January, Shaiko Sushi is packed with diners. Our small Midwestern town, population 9,500, offers a surprisingly wide range of ethnic restaurants, from  Mexican to Chinese, Indian, Thai, Middle Eastern and Japanese. Shaiko Sushi is the newest establishment, a hole-in-the-wall with a few tables and stools along the bar, where diners can watch a basketball game on the big screen TV. In the tiny kitchen the chef creates culinary works of art that are both exquisite and delicious, like this plate of makizushi. Even though it's way below freezing outside, a small vestibule keeps out the cold air, while the happy, laughing customers and delectable food warm the inside.

sitting on her hope

sitting on her hope

chest at age sixteen, filled with

possibilities

My father must have been full of hope for me when he made me a hope chest for my sixteenth birthday. For months he worked on it. Drawing the design. Selecting the wide tiger cherry lumber. Cutting and planing the planks. Carving the design of flowers representing my heritage: Irish shamrock, Scots thistle, English rose, Missouri sunflower. Carving the inscription on the front: Viva Carole Lee Craver. Jigsawing the drop border. Dovetailing the panels together. Attaching the brass handles. Sanding, polishing and shellacking the exterior until it was as smooth as my face. When it was finally finished, he said, "With age, cherry will turn darker, but that's part of its beauty."
          It came to me empty. It was supposed to be filled with things I would need for my marriage. Slowly the empty hope chest got filled, with patchwork quilts from my grandmothers and great-grandmother, linen napkins and tablecloths from my mother, embroidered cotton pillowcases and crocheted afghans from my aunts, my own baby quilt made by the ladies of my mother's sewing circle. And they all got used for my own family of three sons, except the pink baby quilt which eventually got passed on to my granddaughter. Later, most of them found their way back into the hope chest, wrapped up with tissue paper and lavender sachets. They're still there, patiently waiting. 

bitter wind -- white sun

bitter wind -- white sun 

masked by undulating cloud 

rolls mirroring snow

The sun pales, sapped by bitter wind (wind chill -12 F, -24.4 C) and masked by opaque waves of white and gray cloudlets (altocumulus opacus undulatus). Despite the cold and wind, I take a moment to admire the perlescent sun glowing through wavy white rolls of clouds above a stage of sparkling snow.

locust tree toppled

locust tree toppled

across the creek, thorny bridge

for little feet

In its meanderings Pilgrim Creek carves a sinuous path through the woods, piling sand, mud and debris on one side, undercutting the earth on the opposite side. The roots of trees on the edge of the bank find themselves dangling in the air. Eventually they lose their hold and the tree topples across the creek. Small woodland creatures often use the trunks as natural bridges, but I do not think any of them will venture across the double trunk of this honey locust, bristling with long sharp spikes. During last spring's flooding, the tree speared leaves and twigs on its thorns, camouflaging but not completely concealing the danger. 
          People who canoe call a tree that has fallen across or into the water a "strainer," something to be avoided. It's dangerous because the force of water flowing through the colander of branches will hold a canoe or a person against the tree. The best thing to do if this happens is to get out of the boat and pull yourself over the strainer or get on top of it and sit there. You'll be easier to find sitting on top rather than floating down the stream. Pilgrim Creek is too small for paddling, but you certainly wouldn't want to get caught on a strainer like this, since climbing or sitting on a thorn tree would be extremely uncomfortable!

green ice on the creek

green ice on the creek,

stranger than silver ice bubbles

or green tea ice cream

Freezing rain followed by snow and strong winds. Pilgrim Creek is bedecked with ribbons and bows of green ice, frozen blue-green algae. Strangely beautiful, but most likely toxic.

          Many streams contain some form of algae. A certain amount is not damaging but large amounts, algae blooms, can be detrimental. Blue-green algae is an organism that has characteristics of both a plant and a bacteria, called cyanobacteria. When algae die and decompose they consume large amounts of oxygen which causes an oxygen deficiency. Cyanobacteria thrive in an oxygen-deprived environment and release harmful substances which are toxic to mammals, birds and fish. They also block sunlight, harming other water plants by interrupting the photosynthesis process.

          The algae's toxins can sicken people. Contact with the water can cause skin or respiratory irritation, and drinking it can cause diarrhea, nausea, cramps, jaundice and vomiting. Dogs exposed to the toxins in the water can become ill almost immediately, with drooling, vomiting, staggering and convulsions. A number of dogs have died as a result of playing in water with blue-green algae blooms.

          Of course, right now the algae is frozen. But even so, it poses a danger for all the wildlife who walk through the creek and drink its water. I see tracks of deer, fox, rabbits, raccoons, opossums, squirrels, wild turkey and other birds all over the snow covering the creek, especially around holes where the ice has melted. 

          The main cause of excess algae growth here is nutrients from the run-off of chemical fertilizers used on crops. Would that farmers would use a safe and natural alternative!

a heart full of grace

a heart full of grace,

a soul generated by love --

you can serve and be great

"Everybody can be great. Because everybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. And you can be that servant . . . ." ~ Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

At the climax of his "I have a dream" speech, King, the final speaker at the March on Washington in 1963, raises his arm on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and calls for deliverance with the words from an old spiritual hymn: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty, we are free at last!"

We are so fortunate that great people like King come along at the right time when they are needed, and their rightness and greatness just keep on growing with the passing of time.

Speaking of carrying on his work, King advised: "Remember, celebrate, act a day on, not a day off!"

silver ice bubbles

silver ice bubbles

curve through deer and rabbit prints

on the creek's soft snow

Two days after the blizzard, the snow is softening on Pilgrim Creek, stamped with the imprints of deer and rabbits. A narrow ribbon of ice bubbles looks like a necklace of silver pearls on white velvet.