Happy New Year! The Year of the Dog, 4716

Happy New Year! Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) is the most important holiday for the Chinese people. It is a season for celebration, food, visiting family and friends.

According to the traditional Chinese calendar, this is the year 4716.

As a child growing up in New York City where a few of my relatives from our village in Toy Shan ( a rural town in Guangdong Province) lived, the new year meant endless days of dinners and visits with relatives. Our laundry home was extra clean for the occasion. Plates or bowls of either oranges or tangerines were placed throughout our humble but spotless home . Tangerines are symbolic of good luck, and oranges represent wealth.

On New Year’s Eve my mom made a huge dinner—fish, chicken, seaweed soup, squid, abalone, roasted pig, vermicelli noodles, tofu, various vegetables, and of course rice. The meal had at least 12 to 15 dishes. Each dish was symbolic of the good wishes for the new year. The chicken had to be complete with head, neck, and feet to symbolize completeness. A form of noodles was server to symbolize long life. A whole fish was symbolic of never lacking, you’ll always have since the pronunciation for the word fish in Chinese sounds similar to the pronunciation of the word to have. Enough food was made for the new year’s eve dinner to make sure there would be leftovers, a symbol that you had an abundance of food.

One of the favorite foods for my sister and brothers was a sesame ball my mom and dad made during Chinese New Year. In my Cantonese dialect, Toy Shan, they are called  tee doy. Mom made these for the family and took them to the relatives during our new year’s visits.

I can remember my mom starting the process after the dinner dishes were washed the day before new year’s eve. She liked to make them undisturbed through the night. I can still remember the aroma of hot sweet potato and brown sugar wafting through the cold laundry air as she stirred the mixture over a two burner stove as we slept.

In the morning, we’d awaken to the smell of hot oil and the gentle sizzle of the tee doys cooking, our alarm clock. We were eager to taste these once a year treats.

Mom’s recipe changed through the years. When were children, the filling was crushed peanuts, sweetened shredded coconut, Chinese dried dates, and chunks of pork fat. Our job was to crush the peanuts with a glass bottle that served as our rolling pin. Eventually pork fat was given up for a healthier filling—freshly ground organic Valencia peanut butter and lotus seed paste.

The outer skin, made of glutinous rice flour and Chinese brown sugar, varied with the addition of sweet potato or no sweet potato depending upon its availability. Today I use as much sweet potato as the dough will allow me to increase the nutrition and fiber to these sweet golden jewels. When these are made right, the skin is crispy, thin on the outside and chewy on the inside. The filling is creamy and flavors the neutral glutinous rice flour skin. If crunchy peanut butter is used, there is an added surprise crunch as you chew.

To enhance your enjoyment of the Chinese New Year, may I suggest you complement the celebration with the viewing of my painting, Still Life with Tangerine, Ceramic Pot, and Grape.

新年快乐！(xin nian kuai le) Happy New Year!

Copyright 2009-2018 by Nurturing Wisdom

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Tee Doys

Mom’s recipe changed through the years. When were children, the filling was crushed peanuts, sweetened shredded coconut, Chinese dried dates, and pork fat. Our job was to crush the peanuts with a glass bottle that served as our rolling pin. Eventually pork fat was given up for a healthier filling—freshly ground Valencia peanut butter and lotus seed paste.

The outer layer, made of glutinous rice flour and Chinese brown sugar, varied with the addition of sweet potato or no sweet potato depending upon its availability. I use as much sweet potato as the dough will allow me to increase the nutrition and fiber to these sweet golden jewels. When these are made right, the outer layer is crispy and thin on the outside and chewy on the inside. The filling is creamy and flavors the neutral glutinous rice flour exterior. If crunchy peanut butter is used, there is an added surprise crunch as you chew.

Tee Doys (Sesame Balls)

Makes about 39 plus (extra good when shared with friends and neighbors)

1/4 Cup of raw sesame seeds

2/3 Cup of filtered water

1 sweet potato about 1 3/4 lb. (peel and cut into cubes)

1 lb. of Chinese brown sugar or substitute with coconut crystals

1 lb. of freshly ground organic Valencia peanut butter

1 lb. of lotus seed paste

1/2 Cup of cold filtered water

2/3 Cup of Thai glutinous rice flour

1 box of Mochiko Sweet Rice Flour

32 ounces of high heat cooking oil (sunflower oil)

The Chinese brown sugar and lotus seed paste can be purchased in Chinese grocery stores. The brown sugar may come in blocks of 10 pieces or 5 piece packs. Use a total of one pound. If you use a large sweet potato, use less sugar.

The Thai Glutinous Rice Flour and Mochiko Sweet Rice Flour  can also be purchased at Chinese grocery stores. The Thai Glutinous Rice Flour is more finely ground.

Utensils:

measuring cup

medium bowl for peanut butter-lotus seed paste

small bowl for sesame seeds

medium bowl for gooey Thai glutinous flour-water mixture

medium pot

wok

rack to hold wok in place

small rack to drain tee doys (sesame balls)

1 pair of wooden chopsticks or a wooden spoon with a flat edge

1 teaspoon to spoon peanut butter-lotus seed filling into each tee doy

1 fork to mash sweet potatoes

1. Toast sesame seeds in medium pot. Place in small bowl. Set aside.

2. Peel and cube sweet potato.

3. Place cubed sweet potato and 2/3 cup water in medium pot and bring to boil. Lower flame. Cook until    soft.

4. Mash sweet potato with fork.

5. Break Chinese brown sugar into smaller pieces and add to mashed sweet potato. Cover.

6. Cook mixture until all the sugar is dissolved over a low flame. If more water is needed, add a small amount. Keep an eye on the mixture. Stir occasionally with wooden chopsticks or wooden spoon. Don’t let mixture overflow or burn.

7. In a medium bowl, add 1/2 cup of cold water to 2/3 cup of Thai glutinous rice flour. Mix. It will look gooey.

8. With wooden chopsticks or a wooden spoon, stir small amounts of the gooey glutinous rice mixture into the pot of sugar-sweet potato. Continue adding and stirring. The mixture will get stiff and turn darker. As you stir, it will cook and start to pull away from the sides of the pot as you stir.

9. Coat a cookie sheet or marble slab with Mockiko Sweet Rice Flour. Reserve some flour for coating hands and dough.

10. Place a half box of Mochiko flour on to cookie sheet or marble slab.

11. Make a well in the pile of flour and pour a small amount of the hot sweet potato-sugar-glutinous rice flour mixture into the well. Start kneading the mixture. Continue adding more flour a bit at a time as you knead until the dough is no longer sticky—almost the entire box. Be careful with the hot mixture!

12. Break about 1 1/2 inches of dough off and roll into a ball.

13. Press ball into the reserved Mochiko Sweet Rice Flour.

14. Press the reverse side of ball into sesame seeds.

15. Over the dish of sesame seeds, start to make a bowl-shape. Push down into the side of dough with flour using your thumbs. Turn the bowl-shape as you press the sides of the bowl between your thumbs and index fingers to make the wall of the bowl thinner.

16. Fill the bowl-shape with the peanut butter-lotus seed filling.

17. Using your thumb and index finger bring about 1/16th of an inch together on the edge of the bowl. Repeat this around the entire edge until the opening is smaller.

18. Pinch opening closed.

19. Flatten long piece of dough.

20. Fold piece of dough back.

21. Heat oil until hot but not smoking. Keep the flame low to low-medium. When you smell the oil, it is hot enough to start cooking the tee doys.

22. Place one tee doy into the hot oil. Gently move it around in the hot oil with your wooden chopsticks.

23. When the tee doy turns slightly golden, place another tee doy into the oil. Gently move the tee doys around and keep them separated with your chopsticks. Continue adding a new tee doy as the  previous tee doy turns slightly golden. I usually have 3 tee doys of different degrees of doneness in the wok.

24. When the tee doy is golden, remove it from the oil and place on the draining rack on the wok. If you don’t have a draining rack, use a dish with paper towels.

25. After they’re drained and cooled, they can be served with your favorite beverage or eaten as a snack.

There’s nothing like biting into a freshly cooked tee doy. The dough is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. They’re even more delicious the next day. The sweet potato and rice flour flavors are more pronounced.

Modifications and Suggestions:

Tee doys are served during the Chinese New Year as a holiday treat, usually once a year. As with serving any fried foods, I try to maintain the alkaline-acid balance, the proper omega 6–omega 3 ratios, and  boost the antioxidant levels by adding other nutritious ingredients and foods to the rest of the day’s meals.

1. Only use high-heat oils sunflower or safflower or avocado oil (a monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid). Don’t use low or medium heat oils. They may become carcinogenic when heated too high or to its smoking point.

Since omega 6 oils are very unstable, don’t reuse the oil.

I’ve been thinking of trying coconut oil to cook my tee doys next year. I understand that coconut oil can be heated to 350º. I’ll heat the oil close to 350º and see how well a tee doy cooks.

If you have fried in coconut oil, please let me know what you think.

2. Sunflower and safflower, canola, peanut, soybean oils are all polyunsaturated oils with no omega 3’s or a very low omega 3 to omega 6 ratio; therefore, I balance these treats with some omega 3’s—fish or krill oil, eat some fish high in omega 3 (salmon or cod) during a meal, or serve omega 3 eggs during breakfast.

3. Eat or drink some extra antioxidants—blueberries, dark chocolate, prunes, oregano, or green tea.

4. Balance these fried treats (acid) with an alkaline soup or eat a seaweed salad during the day.

 

Copyright 2009-2018 by Nurturing Wisdom

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Happy New Year! The Year of the Dragon, 4710

Happy New Year! Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) is the most important holiday for the Chinese people. It is a season for celebration, food, visiting family and friends.

According to the traditional Chinese calendar, this is the year 4710.

As a child growing up in New York City where a few of my relatives from our village in Toy Shan ( a rural town in Guangdong Province) lived, the new year meant endless days of dinners and visits with relatives. Our laundry home was extra clean for the occasion. Plates or bowls of either oranges or tangerines were placed throughout our humble but spotless home . Tangerines are symbolic of good luck, and oranges represent wealth.

On New Year’s Eve my mom made a huge dinner—fish, chicken, seaweed soup, squid, abalone, roasted pig, vermicelli noodles, tofu, various vegetables, and of course rice. The meal had at least 12 to 15 dishes. Each dish was symbolic of the good wishes for the new year. The chicken had to be complete with head, neck, and feet to symbolize completeness. A form of noodles was server to symbolize long life. A whole fish was symbolic of never lacking, you’ll always have since the pronunciation for the word fish in Chinese sounds similar to the pronunciation of the word to have. Enough food was made for the new year’s eve dinner to make sure there would be leftovers, a symbol that you had an abundance of food.

One of the favorite foods for my sister and brothers was a sesame ball my mom and dad made during Chinese New Year. In my Cantonese dialect, Toy Shan, they are called  tee doy. Mom made these for the family and took them to the relatives during our new year’s visits.

I can remember my mom starting the process after the dinner dishes were washed the day before new year’s eve. She liked to make them undisturbed through the night. I can still remember the aroma of hot sweet potato and brown sugar wafting through the cold laundry air as she stirred the mixture over a two burner stove as we slept.

In the morning, we’d awaken to the smell of hot oil and the gentle sizzle of the tee doys cooking, our alarm clock. We were eager to taste these once a year treats.

Mom’s recipe changed through the years. When were children, the filling was crushed peanuts, sweetened shredded coconut, Chinese dried dates, and chunks of pork fat. Our job was to crush the peanuts with a glass bottle that served as our rolling pin. Eventually pork fat was given up for a healthier filling—freshly ground organic Valencia peanut butter and lotus seed paste.

The outer skin, made of glutinous rice flour and Chinese brown sugar, varied with the addition of sweet potato or no sweet potato depending upon its availability. Today I use as much sweet potato as the dough will allow me to increase the nutrition and fiber to these sweet golden jewels. When these are made right, the skin is crispy, thin on the outside and chewy on the inside. The filling is creamy and flavors the neutral glutinous rice flour skin. If crunchy peanut butter is used, there is an added surprise crunch as you chew.

To enhance your enjoyment of the Chinese New Year, may I suggest you complement the celebration with the viewing of my painting, Still Life with Tangerine, Ceramic Pot, and Grape.

新年快乐！(xin nian kuai le) Happy New Year!

Copyright 2009-2010 by Nurturing Wisdom

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God Saw…and It Was Good…Ponderings on the Source of Our Creativity

I’ve been pondering about the source of creativity and what enhances its growth.

Creativity often feels like a river welling up within me. I only know the realness of this power when I’m practicing my craft, painting; but even more so when I haven’t painted for a while, when I’ve been without. I can’t go for too long without holding the implements of my craft. Just putting my brush to paint allows the flow of this spirited river. Some of my artists friends have felt this same energy when they cook a special meal, compose a song, write poem, paint a painting, perform a dance, play an instrument, or create a design. They too, have felt out of sorts and are about to burst, when they haven’t practiced their craft for a while.

I have had the tremendous honor of repeating this creative process over and over again as a painter. The times when I’ve been satisfied with what I’ve painted, I step back from my painting, look at it from different angles and say to myself, This is good.

I feel an intimate relationship with chefs, composers, writers, poets, painters, dancers, musicians, and designers who have shared their talents with me and others by allowing this river to flow through them. Whether I view a museum painting, experience fine dining, read a poem, examine the intricate details of a design, or listen to a symphony; I sometimes say to myself, This is good.  The art has taken my breath away. It has touched my spirit and lingers in my mind. I can’t forget it. I want to go back and experience it again and again. The art resonates within me, and I’m willing to purchase it. It lingers in my mind so much that I’m willing to pay a price for it. I say to myself, This is good.

My ponderings on the source of creativity have taken me back to the beginning:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth… and God saw that it was good… . God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them… . God saw all that He had made, and  behold, it was very good… . (Genesis 1: 1, 25, 26, 31 NASB)

These verses show me a creative and intelligent God who has created me. Since I have been created in His image; I too, have this creativity. He is the source of my creativity. It’s really all His. I’ve also noticed the words used to describe God’s observation of His creation each time He completed a part of it, and God saw it was good; and the words of His final observation that punctuates His satisfaction and contentment, God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good when He completed His entire creation. I too, have found myself saying and thinking similar words about my art or the art of others, This is good.

My ponderings on the beginning from Genesis have led me to conclude that ever since the beginning, God hasn’t been able to take His eyes off of His creation, me… us. He lingers and stays with me… us. He just can’t take His eyes off of me… us; in fact, when Adam and Eve disobey God, He offered mankind redemption in His Son, Jesus. God as a loving, compassionate God who offers His Son as a substitute for our misdeeds—a pardon, freedom:

All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. (Isaiah 53:6 NASB)

When I align myself to God and submit to His plan, I’ve found the source of my creativity and the power that will enhance its grow.

God can’t take His eyes off of what He has created, you… and me. We linger in His mind so much that He was willing to pay a very high price for you… and me. In the same way a patron may pay for my art, God has paid for us, His masterpiece. We… I linger in His mind, and He was willing to pay a very high price for you… me, God saw all that He had made, and  behold, it was very good… . 

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Rejoice!

Dear Friends and Family!

I wish you the most joyful holiday season and a healthful 2012!

“For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” (Colossians 1:19-20)

 

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Happy New Year! The Year of the Dragon, 4710

Happy New Year! Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) is the most important holiday for the Chinese people. It is a season for celebration, food, visiting family and friends.

As a child growing up in New York City where a few of my relatives from our village in Toy Shan ( a rural town in Guangdong Province) lived, the new year meant endless days of dinners and visits with relatives.

On New Year’s Eve my mom made a huge dinner—fish, chicken, seaweed soup, squid, abalone, roasted pig, vermicelli noodles, tofu, various vegetables, and of course rice. The meal had at least 12 to 15 dishes. Each dish was symbolic of the good wishes for the new year. The chicken had to be complete with head, neck, and feet to symbolize completeness. A form of noodles was server to symbolize long life. A whole fish was symbolic of never lacking, you’ll always have since the pronunciation for the word fish in Chinese sounds similar to the pronunciation of the word to have. Enough food was made for the new year’s eve dinner to make sure there would be leftovers, a symbol that you had an abundance of food.

One of the favorite foods for my sister and brothers was a sesame ball my mom and dad made during Chinese New Year. In my Cantonese dialect, Toy Shan, they are called  tee doy. Mom made these for the family and took them to the relatives during our new year’s visits.

I can remember my mom starting the process after the dinner dishes were washed the day before new year’s eve. She liked to make them undisturbed through the night. I can still remember the aroma of hot sweet potato and brown sugar wafting through the cold laundry air as she stirred the mixture over a two burner stove as we slept.

In the morning, we’d awaken to the smell of hot oil and the gentle sizzle of the tee doys cooking, our alarm clock. We were eager to taste these once a year treats.

Mom’s recipe changed through the years. When were children, the filling was crushed peanuts, sweetened shredded coconut, Chinese dried dates, and chunks of pork fat. Our job was to crush the peanuts with a glass bottle that served as our rolling pin. Eventually pork fat was given up for a healthier filling—freshly ground organic Valencia peanut butter and lotus seed paste.

The outer skin, made of glutinous rice flour and Chinese brown sugar, varied with the addition of sweet potato or no sweet potato depending upon its availability. Today I use as much sweet potato as the dough will allow me to increase the nutrition and fiber to these sweet golden jewels. When these are made right, the skin is crispy, thin on the outside and chewy on the inside. The filling is creamy and flavors the neutral glutinous rice flour skin. If crunchy peanut butter is used, there is an added surprise crunch as you chew.

新年快乐！(xin nian kuai le) Happy New Year!

 

Copyright 2009-2018 by Nurturing Wisdom

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Reuse Those Plastic Bags to Store Your Christmas Tree!

Recently my husband and I took down our artificial Christmas tree. It’s usually a big  job, so this year we did a little bit each day. We took down the ornaments the first day, then the sting of silver beads the next day, then the lights the following day, and finally the branches of the Christmas tree.

We keep each rung of branches separated and place a rubber band around each set of branches. There is also a specific color at the end of each branch to help us keep them sorted. Since we store our tree in the attic where there are temperature fluctuations the rubber bands dry out and break by the following Christmas— making the assembling of the tree more time consuming and challenging. Since the rubber band is placed around the end of the branch, the smaller branches on each branch remain open, which create more bulk and makes packing the tree more difficult.

This year I wanted to change all that. I wanted to find a new way of securing the branches and have them wrapped tight enough so that all the branches would fit into one storage box.

I had some plastic bags that I’ve kept for such an occasion as this! These recycled plastic bags held all the sorted branches together tightly and will last through several seasons. With a little searching through my recycled plastic bags, I was able to find the right bag length for each set of branches.

I used my thicker plastic bags and ones shorter than the the set of branches I was storing . I snipped a small hole in the center of the bottom of the bag. I inserted my scissors and cut all the way to the end. I flipped the bag and cut to the other end.

This created a hole at the bottom of the bag. Holding the handles of the bag (or holes that serve as handles) I inserted all the same size branches into the bag at one time.

As I push the branches through to the bottom hole of the bag, I continue pulling on the handles until the bag was in the center of the branches. When the bag reached the center of the set of branches, I stopped pulling on the handles. I adjusted the bag to make sure it was in the middle.

I then lined up all the packs of branches in size order. I placed the branch packs into my storage box in descending length from longest to shortest. I then placed the center pole, tree stand, and tree skirt (wrapped in tissue paper) into the box.

Next Christmas, when I put up my Christmas tree, the tree skirt will come out of the box first, then the tree stand, the center pole, and finally the branches from shortest to longest with the shortest going on the pole first, then the next longest until I reach the longest branches.

Label and reuse the plastic bags for as long as they will last. This will make for a few less plastic bags in our landfills and oceans.

I hope this tip will make it easier for you to take down, store , and put up your Christmas tree.

Let me know how this works out for you.

Copyright 2009-2010 by Nurturing Wisdom

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Be Inspired! Be Transformed! Be Set Free!

Do you have a prayer request?

I’d like to pray with for you. And I’m hoping that many others in Christ will join with me in this honored activity to make our needs known to God. He already understands and knows exactly what you need.

Each of us at one time or another has felt the heartbreak of separation, the lost of a loved one, the disappointment of broken promises, the devastation of betrayed vows, or the reality of dashed dreams. God was present in the  Garden of Eden when man turned his back on Him and was at Calvary during the death of His Son. Yes, He understands and knows how we feel and what we’re going through.

In Destined for the Throne Paul E. Billheimer describes this mysterious process called prayer as on-the-job training for the believers’ (Church’s) preparation to assume its rightful position with Christ in heaven.

You may ask, If God is who He says He is and is all powerful and all knowing, why would He need us to tell Him what we need ? Can’t He just accomplish it?

Billheimer’s book  explains why God needs the Church’s prayers through two analogies. The first analogy is a business check that requires co-signatures. Two people must sign the check so that the bank can release its funds. In terms of prayer, the first signature would be God’s. The second signature would be ours in order for the bank to release the requested funds, the answered prayers.

He uses the opening of a safety deposit box as his second analogy to prayer. Two keys are needed to open a safety deposit box to access the treasures in the box. The bank teller needs the bank’s key and the key from the person who rents the safety deposit box. Both keys will open the box to all the treasures. In terms of prayer, the first key would be God’s, and the second key would be our key. Both God and the believer are needed in the process of prayer.

Checks used by some business firms require the signatures of two individuals to make them valid. One signature is not enough. Both parties must sign. This illustrates God’s method of operating through the prayers and faith of His people. His promises are His checks signed in His own blood, His part was fully completed at Calvary. But no promise is made good until a redeemed man enters the throne room of the universe and, by prayer and faith writes his name beside God’s. Then, and not until then, are the check’s resources released. It is like a safety deposit box in the bank vault. The keeper has a key and you have a key. Neither key alone will open the box. But, when you give the keeper your key, she inserts both keys and the door flies open, making available all the treasures stored in the box. Heaven holds the key by which decisions governing earthy affairs are made but we hold the key by which those decisions are implemented.

It’s one of those books that I immediately planned to reread after the first chapter, because it spoke to my spirit—the Holy Spirit  spoke to my spirit. I just cried like a baby the whole afternoon. I realized what an honor it is that the God of the universe cares and loves me enough to first send His Son to die on the cross as an atonement for my sins; and, then on top of that, He cares enough for me on a daily basis that He wants a moment by moment conversation with me, prayer. It just boggles my mind. I am in such awe and am so grateful for what He’s done that I want to worship Him and thank Him continuously with my thoughts, prayers, deeds, and life.

I worship Him out of gratitude to Him for all He’s done for me. He loves me. I’m not alone in this life.

God loves you and has a very special plan for your life. No matter what your circumstances, He knows about them and loves you.

Many people have prayed for me in the past as they are doing now. God has transformed me from the inside out. The Holy Spirit guides me, comforts me, gives me love, peace, and joy. It’s not about me, but it’s about Him, Jesus:

…we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. (2 Corinthians 4:7-9)

Be inspired by this youtube of Nick Vujicic. See how his life of disability has been changed by the love of Jesus.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord… .(Jeremiah 29:11-14)

I’d like to pray with you.

Do you have a prayer request?

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Remembering Dad

Happy Father’s Day

to all the fathers!

I want to honor all the fathers. You are very important. You are an essential role-model for your children,  and children, honor and respect your fathers. Ephesians 6:1-4 says,  “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother’−which is the first commandment with a promise−’that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth. Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”

This year will be my dad’s twelfth anniversary in heaven. I miss him tremendously and think of him often. I know I will see him in heaven some day.

I loved both my parents deeply while they were alive and presently treasure the memories that were woven through time.

Working in my parent’s laundry spanned many years, from childhood to adulthood. I wanted to grow closer to my dad as I grew older. I spent many hours after classes from elementary school through graduate school in the laundry with him.

During this Father’s Day, I’d like to share one of these memories with you, part of a memoir I am presently writing.

Under a Canopy of Sycamores

The falling temperature in the store was a signal for me to lock the doors to the laundry. One by one the shopkeepers, who didn’t have their own heating system, closed for the day heading for their warmer homes-Joe’s Shoemaker. Morty’s Drugstore and Luncheonette. Harry’s Meats. Jean’s Beauty Parlor. And Sammy’s Dry Cleaning. As the store lights went out, the streets lamps came on to light the path for the few weary commuters who worked late.

In that in between time of darkened storefronts and shadow casting street lamps, was the most terrifying darkness. Jumping at the sight of my own shadow, I warred with the wobbly screen door-pulling as hard as my shivering hands could pull. Its weathered-frame dug its claws into the frozen cement and gripped the ground in protest. With fear fueling me, I won the battle and latched it. Then I double locked the wood-framed glass door. The uninvited cold surged into the store.

The sole radiator at the front of the store clanged it last clang and hissed its last hiss for the night. Our unheated space was warmed by the fiery hot irons my ba-ba and I wielded in our hands. We ironed to the beat of rock ’n roll. The lyrics didn’t matter although they were seared onto my mind and awakened memories every time I heard them as an adult  as oldies on the radio.

Get ready for the big chill. The mercury will hover around 25 degrees this evening. The winds at 10 miles per hour will make it feel like 15 degrees. The winds will pick up as the mercury drops tonight. Make sure you bundle up if you’re going out. Snow is expected tomorrow evening. Now back to Cousin Brucee.

Seventy-seven, WABC.

This is Couuu-zin Bruceee. Snow is on the way!  Let’s warm up with Sixteen Candles on this chilly evening. Numm-berr  ten in our countdown  this week, The Crests…

Happy birthday, happy birthday, baby

Oh, I love you so

Sixteen candles make a lovely light

But not as bright as your eyes tonight…

As the temperature continued its descent, we donned our thickest sweaters. Eventually adding more layers to keep us warm as the last store with its own furnace closed for the night and as lone shoppers made their way homeward with their bundles.

Moving up this week from the numm-ber ten slot is The Coasters. Numm-berr nine in our top ten countdown is Charlie Brown.

Fe fe fi fi fo fo fum

I smell smoke in the auditorium

Charlie Brown, Charlie Brown

He’s a clown, that Charlie Brown

He’s gonna get caught; just you wait and see

(Why’s everybody always pickin’ on me…)

I raced my father in an imaginary contest to see if I could iron more shirts than he did by closing time. I set the iron’s temperature to blister-making hot to keep my hand warm and to help me iron as fast as I could. Any slowdown would scorch the shirts and burn my hand. My left hand pulled the fabric taut so that the iron in my right could slide over the faint wrinkles like an ice skating blade gliding across the ice leaving a smooth remembrance.

First the front of the collar, and then the back. Now the buttonholes, first the front and then the back. Then the side with buttons.  Careful, around each button. Don’t rip them off. Around each gently…

This is Couu-zzin Bruceee with this week’s top ten countdown. Numm-berr six this week is Kansas City by Wilbert Harrisson…

I’m going to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come

I’m going to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come…

Left sleeve. Front and back. Right sleeve…

They got a crazy way of loving there

And I’m gonna get me some…

Not one wrinkle! Now all I need to do is to slip the paper inside the shirt and start buttoning. Remember to match the top button with the top buttonhole. Now the middle button and the last.

Burrr…It’s cold outside. Couu-zzin Bruceee with  numm-berr  four in our countdown this week, Paul Anka’s Lonely Boy.

Here’s the tricky part−flip the whole shirt over to the back without the paper falling out. One, two, three, flip. Great, the paper stayed in! Now fold the left side. Fold the long sleeve. The right side. Now the whole shirt in half. Flip again over to the front. A perfect rectangle!

How did I do ba-ba?

…I’m all alone with nothin’ to do

I’ve got everything you can think of

But all I want is someone to love

Someone, yes someone to love

Ba-ba props his iron up and walks over to my side of the ironing platform. He smoothes his right hand over the shirt like he’s re-ironing it. Inspects the corners closely. And rubs the starched collar between his thumb and index finger like he’s trying to separate the pages of a new book.

How smooth. Not one wrinkle. And so neatly folded. You iron faster and better than me, he says dotingly as he lowers his forehead to touch mine and kisses me on the cheek.

I love you.

Couuu-zin Bruceee here with this week’s top ten count down to keep you warm. Up frroom last week’s numm-berr  three spot is Venus. Herrre’s Frankie Avalon in the numm-berr two spot this week…

Hey, Venus! Oh Venus!

Venus if you will

Please send a little girl for me to thrill

A girl who wants my kisses and my arms

A girl with all the charms of you…

This encouragement fuels my hands to even iron faster.

I need to iron two more to be ahead of you, ba-ba.

Hey, Venus! Oh, Venus!

Make my wish come true.

That was Venus, numm-ber two this week. Couu-zin Brueee here with the top ten countdown for the week. Aaand nummm –ber one this week, two weeks in a row,  izzz… Bobby Darin’s Mack the Knife!

Oh the shark, babe, has such teeth dear

And it shows them pearly white…

Time to finish up. Make this your last shirt. It’s getting late, and it’s getting very cold. We have to go home.

Can I just iron one more? Please? Please, baa-ba?

Now that Macky’s back in town

Look out, old Macky’s back!!

No. Finish the one you’re ironing. It’s late and getting too cold. Maa-me will have dinner waiting for us. We’ve got to get home.

Next time I’ll be faster! I almost ironed more shirts than you did tonight, ba-ba!

Remember to turn the radio off.

We bundle up. I in my gray and red-checkered coat with a gray fake-fur collar that feels two sizes too small and ba-ba in his gray wool jacket. I tuck my red wool hood into my coat collar and pull on my red gloves. My arms bulge like Popeye, and my body feels like a sausage. Buttons ready to pop.

We step into a night laced with crystals. The moon a yellow ball floated high above us in the blackest, black sky. We run across the street. The roar of passing cars become a distant hum as we walk under a canopy of sycamore trees. Its bare branches quiver in the icy wind as if ready to snatch me up. I tighten my grip on my father’s calloused hand. The chilled air teases a cough from my chest. I shiver and pull my head down into my coat like a turtle pulling its head into its shell seeking shelter.

Ba-ba kneels down to make sure my hood is securely buttoned.

Don’t worry. Everything’s all right. I love you.

Our foreheads touch. He gently kisses my cheek, and squeezes me in his arms. The whirling wind envelopes us in the fragrant pomade from his hair. Its lightness caresses my nose’s memory.

My eyes follow his tall, straight body as he stands up. A giant. Like one of the sycamore trees. His cheeks singed red from the cold. His thick, ebony hair slicked back. I feel the warmth of his hand through my wool glove as he takes my right hand again. Everything is all right.

Sometimes we talked as we walked. Our breath an alternating crystal mist dissipating into the darkness.

Now when you cough, don’t swallow the phlegm. Spit it into a tissue.

Yes, ba-ba, I’d nod.

I must remember to take tissues to school with me every day.

Sometimes he’d give me a little English lesson. When you have to go to the bathroom in school, tell the teacher, I need to go to the toilet.

I-need-to-go-to-toilet, I’d echo.

I will remember the words, ba-ba.

Most of the time he gave me words of caution and encouragement.

You, your sister, and brothers are our hope. Study hard. Don’t grow up and work in a laundry. Stay away from troublemakers. Confucius says that if you are near white, you will become white. If you are near black, you will become black. If you see someone doing something wrong, get away from them. You will be blamed, because you look different. You are Chinese. You must not shame me. You must bring honor to the family.

Yes, ba-ba.

Sometimes we raced the cold in silence. Drifting forward with the wind. Two misty clouds appearing and disappearing with increasing frequency under a canopy of quivering sycamore branches in the quiet race toward home.

Copyright 2009 by Nurturing Wisdom

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World Oceans Day: One Ocean, One Climate, One Future

Image by TimboDon via Flickr

Today is World Oceans Day. It is a day for reflecting upon the importance our oceans and its amazing inhabitants that God has created,  “… God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing which the water teems, according to their kinds… . And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas…'” Genesis 1:21-22.

It is also a time for us to consider how we’ve treated our oceans and to rethink how we can better relate to and co-operate with them instead of abusing them through establishing new habits that will help us take better care of these marvelous gifts from God. Our eco-systems are all inter-related-one ocean, one climate, one future.

The oceans cover 75% of our earth. It has the longest mountain ranges on the planet. Its bio-diversity is more numerous than the rain forests. The majority of the volcanoes are located in the oceans. It is also mostly an unexplored frontier. We have much to learn about from its depths and its inhabitants.

Please join me…

To whomever is not listening to the sea

this Friday morning, to whomever is cooped up

in house or office, factory or woman

or street or mine or harsh prison cell:

to him I come, and, without speaking or looking,

I arrive and open the door of his prison,

and a vibration starts up, vague and insistent,

a great fragment of thunder sets in motion

the rumble of the planet and the foam,

the raucous rivers of the ocean flood,

the star vibrates swiftly in its corona,

and the sea is beating, dying and continuing.

So, drawn on by my destiny,

I endlessly must listen to and keep

the seas lamenting in my awareness,

I must feel the crash of the hard water

and gather it up in a perpetual cup

so that, wherever those in prison may be,

wherever they suffer the autumn’s castigation,

I may be there with an errant wave,

I may move, past through windows,

and hearing me, eyes will glance upward

saying: how can I reach the sea?

And I shall broadcast, saying nothing,

the starry echoes of the wave,

a breaking up of foam and of quicksand,

a rustling of salt withdrawing,

the grey cry of sea-birds on the coast.

so through me, freedom and the sea

will make their answer to the shuttered heart.

Poet’s Obligation by Pablo Neruda

***

As the oceans and seas call to us and draw us, let’s get a closer look. Let’s linger and marvel at the wonders God has created.

***

Let’s linger and marvel at the sea of plastic man has created!

***

Let’s try to rethink how we can decrease the amount of plastic we use and try to aim towards its elimination from our daily use:

1. A good alternative to plastic and paper bags is to start using a  furoshiki as as shopping bag like the Japanese have done in Japan.
2. Buy shampoos, cleansers, and other products that are sold in bulk at food co-ops so that we can reuse whatever plastic bottles we presently have for as long as possible. That way we won’t add to the present sea of plastic each time we buy a new bottle of shampoo, household cleansers, or any other product bottled in plastic.
3. Find a substitute for the cleaning products that come in plastic bottles. I’ve started to clean with vinegar and baking soda, both environmentally friendly, non-toxic, and economical.
4. Reuse glass bottles, such as salsa bottles to store leftovers in the fridge.
5. Instead of buying plastic bottles of mineral water, use a stainless steel bottle or reuse a glass bottle from mineral water (Perrier or Viche) to carry filtered water from home. In the long run this will be more economical and more healthful for us.  The dioxins and BPA (bisphenol A), carcinogens in the plastics leach into our drinking water from the plastic bottle.
6. Take a stainless steel (interior also stainless steel), thermos coffee mug with you when purchasing coffee or tea from the coffee shop. I’ve seen ceramic cups with lids that look just like the paper cups and plastic lids that cups of and teas are sold in. Again, this will be more healthful for us since the paper coffee cups are lined with plastic!
7. When eating out, take along a Pyrex or stainless steel container from home for the leftovers. This will require a little planning ahead, but it’ll be better for our bodies and our oceans. It will mean one less styrofoam or plastic container that will end up in the plastic soup. In addition to decreasing the volume of plastic soup in the environment, using glass or stainless steel containers will prevent hot or acid (tomato sauce, salad dressing) foods from leaching chemicals from the plastic into the leftovers. When it’s time to eat the leftovers, just pop the Pyrex dish or stainless steel container into the oven to warm up the food. This way you’re getting two meals for the price of one. It’s also a good way to shed those extra pounds by eating a smaller portion.

I’m interested in expanding my list of things I can do to lessen the use of plastics and aim toward eliminating them from my daily use. If you have any ideas, please  leave a comment and I’ll add your ideas to my list. Visit again to see what new ideas have been added.

There is hope as Charles Moore says in the following Youtube segment. It’s extremely important to give our oceans a rest from what we’ve been feeding it.

Please go to Here And There and Everywhere to read how bloggers around the world are observing World Oceans Day.

Please also view the World Oceans Day site to see what other ways you can help save the oceans and its creatures.

Copyright 2009 by Nurturing Wisdom

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