<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;"><div dir="auto" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;"><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);"><span style="font-style: normal;">Magic</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); min-height: 14px;"><b></b><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">When I was about eight years old,</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">I would ride my bike to my </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">grandmother’s small house</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">on the corner of Fourth and G.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); min-height: 14px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">Once there, I was expected</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">to pull weeds out of Nana’s lawn,</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">which was mostly Bermuda grass.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">When I had worked all morning,</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">I got stung by a bee</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">and Nana made a poultice</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">out of Witch Hazel and dirt.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); min-height: 14px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">She said, “That’s enough for today,</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">Steven. Come in, and I’ll show</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">you some magic.”</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); min-height: 14px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">We walked through her house</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">into the kitchen where she had set,</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">on her black and white tile counter,</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">a deep conical yellow bowl</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">with a long-handled wooden spoon</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">lying next to it.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); min-height: 14px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">The bowl was filled with cream.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); min-height: 14px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">“Now Steven, as a reward for your</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">hard work, I’m going to let you</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">use my magic spoon </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">to turn this bowl of plain milk</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">into the best butter you ever tasted.”</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); min-height: 14px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">She showed me how to use the spoon, </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">and I began beating the cream,</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">waiting for the magic to happen.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">It did not happen quickly.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); min-height: 14px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">I told Nana my arm was</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">going to fall off.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">She said, “Not all magic happens</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">with the wave of a wand, Steven.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">Keep beating.”</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); min-height: 14px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">Gradually, the cream began</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">to thicken—the spoon and I</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">were one.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">We were turning plain milk</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">into butter!</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); min-height: 14px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">Nana lifted two lids off the fire</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">in her Wedgewood stove </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">and placed slices</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">of freshly baked bread</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">over the holes.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); min-height: 14px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">When the toast was ready,</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">she gave me her mother’s </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">silver knife to spread the butter.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">She then opened a jar of Point</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">Reyes huckleberry jam</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">she had made that summer.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); min-height: 14px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">We sat on the front porch steps</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">and savored the fruits of our labor.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); min-height: 14px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">Magic.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="color: rgb(26, 26, 26); white-space: pre;"> </span><font color="#1a1a1a"><span style="caret-color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">- Steve Trenam</span></font></div><div><br></div></div></body></html>