by Steve Sakiyama –
I’ve always been a messy eater. It started in childhood when my family used chopsticks or forks, depending on what was served. This utensil bilinguality meant that I was never very good at using either of them, resulting in random bits of food scattered around the eating zone. It didn’t help when my mother would send me off to school with – I kid you not – chow mein sandwiches. Half of the noodle filling would fall out before it reached my mouth, much to the amusement of my schoolmates.
Getting the food to my mouth still eludes me as an adult. One time just before entering a large classroom to give a lecture, I attempted to take a drink from a water bottle. Sadly the water missed my mouth, leaving a large, dark, wet stain on my frontage that included my um, lap. The students probably thought it strange that I went to great lengths to stand behind the podium for the entire class. Another example in my food disaster history occurred while checking my impeccable appearance in the foyer mirror before heading off to work one day. Much to my surprise there was a large smear of peanut butter prominently tattooed on my forehead. How did it get there? Was it some sort of scalp treatment?
There’s no doubt that many food messes are the result of poor judgement – like eating while driving. I drive carefully, but since I eat without due care and attention the car interior looks like a cruise ship buffet. My worried wife reminds me: “Please be careful and use both hands.” I reply: “But I need one hand to drive.”
Speaking of things dropping, there are all sorts of things that can fall from the sky – like snow, for example. Snowflakes are ice crystals (either single or joined with others) that are large enough to fall to the ground. If there is plenty of moisture, freezing temperatures and tiny particles (like pollen or dirt), water attaches to these particles and freezes. This creates an ice crystal that grows as it collects more moisture. The characteristic six-sided shape of the snowflake reflects the molecular structure of the water molecule and how they join to one another when water crystallizes. The final shape depends on the temperature and moisture conditions that it encounters while floating in the atmosphere. Since every snowflake’s path to the surface is different, they experience different conditions thus each one has a unique, gloriously beautiful pattern. What kind of weather do we expect to drop on us this January? Long-term forecast models indicate near-normal temperatures with a weak bias toward greater-than-normal amounts of precipitation. So maybe snow will be on the menu this month.
As we head into 2023 with all our desires for new beginnings, let’s lift our heads and see what’s falling our way. Although January is our coldest month here on the South Island, the snowflake is a sign of hope – reminding us that beautiful things can be created even when it is dark and cold. They are like tiny, exquisite diamonds silently floating down from above, each unique but delivering a common message: hope, beauty and new beginnings crystallize when we look up.~ Weatherwit
