text:
(A scene I wrote from an incident that took place October/November 1987 – it was to be part of a novel)
Peggy marched out of the ladies room, gliding across the scuffed tiles with the remarkable grace of an ice skater, though she lacked the petite size and shape of such an athlete, with a shoulder spread nearly as wide as a man's. Nor did her face display the usual vacuous expression dancers wore here, instead glaring at people as she came, her eyes sparking as they gazed upon each familiar face.
Yet no one would dare accuse Peggy of not looking pretty or acting feminine. She did those things to herself most other dancers did, giving a slight tease to her dark hair, painting her nails and her lips and her eye lids with all the appropriate colors. She just seemed less fragile, and when she walked towards the bar, the lights seemed to encircle her, giving her an odd glow, as if she had stepped out of the pages of some science fiction magazine, more Martian than human, with a Martian s attitude towards the whole damned sexual thing going on around her. She just didn't want men to stuff bills between her tits or their cocks in her clit. She wanted them to bow down before her, and divert their eyes. In private, some men might have questioned their attraction their attraction. For Peggy did not fit the mold of pretty that most dancers did. She hardly had eyebrows at all, and those that showed sharply in the dim light, she had painted on. And her face bore a rigidity that no man could stare at long and imagine part of a love scene -- if that was all she had to offer. Her mouth stretched too far across her face, thin-lipped and straight, contradicting the tiny nose that seemed lost between the other elements. But men did stare at her, and men did imagine what they might do with her if they could tame her long enough to get her into bed. Part of it, I believed, was the liquidity of her motion, her arms, legs and torso part of some more finely crafted machine. Where as the other dance might have served science fiction as a robot, Peggy clearly had the superior elements that went into making an android. Nothing clinked or clanked, every muscle moved with perfect control, as if she had mapped out every step of her journey to the bar while still in the ladies room, and now, with the confidence of a pilot, followed her flight plan flawlessly. Not one man in the whole bar remained unaware of her, even though they pretended to be. The men at the pool table paused in mid-shot, stood up straight, stumbling back as she passed. The Southenders ceased giggling and fidgeting, frozen into their moment of anticipation, their faces painted thickly with the mixed colors of pleasure and horror, each of the upcoming events reeling across their eyes from previous viewings, though they knew even the long-residents could not predict what Peggy would do or say when she actually mounted the stage. They knew only that it would be remarkable.
The owner grabbed her arm before she could slip passed him through the gap to get to behind the bar. "You're gained weight," he said.
Peggy turned, glared down at the thick fingers that gripped her flesh, her flat upper lip suddenly curling up like the edge of a whip.
"Fuck you!" she snapped.
"No thanks," the owner said, removing a cigar butt from one corner of his mouth, studying it for a moment, then replacing it. "I've seen what you do to your victims. I'm concerned with the deal we had."
"Deal? What deal?"
"You dance for me only if you keep off weight."
"Come off it, Jim," Peggy said, slashing at a strand of hair that dared worm its way down across her face. "You can't afford to fire me. I bring in the bacon for you."
"I can't afford to have no blimp floating over my dance floor," he said. "This is a go go club, not the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I'm cutting you off until you lose some weight."
"Cutting me off?" Peggy roared. "You mean
as in no alcohol?"
"That s right."
"Why, you son of a ..." Peggy actually took a step forward, her fist raised as if to strike the man s face, her hand closed into a fist, not to slap him, but to punch him in the nose.
"You touch me, girl, and you'll never work for me again," the owner said in a voice like dry ice, the humor drained totally from his eyes.
Peggy s fist hovered in the air, then slowly fell back to her side.
"You re still a son of a bitch," she said. "I got a day job. I get enough aggravation there without having to hear it from you at night as well. You know I can t dance dry. How about a limit? I could live with that."
"How much of a limit?"
"One? Are you fucking out of your mind? Suppose somebody wanted to buy me a drink, am I supposed to say no?"
"You could drink soda."
"Don't make me sick. Four drinks, that s the lowest I’ll go."
"Two, or you can go get dressed right now."
The owner removed the cigar from his mouth, motioned vaguely towards the ladies room with it, then returned the butt to the corner of his mouth. Peggy s gaze followed the motion, her blue eyes sharp and hard, even though the dim light dilated the pupils.
"Three," she said. "That s a good compromise, isn't it?"
The man gnawed on the cigar as he studied her -- the anger in his eyes eased again, returning to that mingled expression of humor and caution.
"All right," he said. "Three. But you make a ruckus when the time comes to cut you off and I'll have you tossed out onto the street. I don t want no riot in here tonight."
Peggy smiled, and touched her chest with her finger tips, the red nails as sharp and bloody as a cat s after a long drawn out alley fight.
"Me? Cause trouble?"
"Yeah, you," he said. "Now get your quarters and set up your music before I change my mind. I don t know why I m so kind to you. I don t like let any of the other girls get away with talking the way you do."
"None of the other girls deliver the way I do," Peggy said, with a smile nearly as sharp as a sneer.
"Get!" the man said,
Mary put five quarters into Peggy’s palm, and then returned to fill the orders now clamoring from around the bar, every patron in a hurry to get his drinks before the action started. Few of these men met her gaze as she paraded down the eastern side of the bar towards the juke box near the front door, each man diverted his eyes just as she approached. She seemed to accept this as accolade, her expression smug, the undisputed queen of the My Way Lounge, marching down the aisle in the first moment of her bi-weekly coronation. But no queen ever walked so scantily dressed, nor with orange tassels dangling from the tip of her breasts --with firm nipples pressing out from the brazier like outfit she wore. No queen ruled such a world at this with the smell of booze and sweat and vomit, though her step sounded as confident and regal as if walking through a palace.
A little of this showed in her eyes as her gaze shifted ion her study of the bar. She seemed disappointed at the small size of the crowd and the caliber of people. She glanced at the multiple faces staring back at her in the angles of the mirrors. She glanced at me, at the middle bar regulars, at the newcomers, and finally at the crowd of stone-jawed men at the north side . Her expression grew grim with her calculations; absent were the curious
Businessmen, horny salesmen, legal clerks, office workers, postal people, court administrators and others of downtown's middle management off whom she took the deepest tips, these types hanging around the long hours after their offices and stores closed just to catch her act. Although more people had come than was usually for a winter night, the room wasn't packed, and those who had come, the truck drivers, the cab drivers, the bus drivers, factory workers, unemployed warehouse men, and men less noteworthy, few had cash or conscience, coming to avoid their wives with a quick peak at a chunk of tit so they could jerk off later. The contempt for them showed on Peggy's face, her mouth twisting into sneer, promising she would take someone's head off before the night ended.
Then, she saw the pudgy man, and her whole expression changed. Her eyes grew bluer, sparkling under the blue of the flashing jukebox lights. The edges of her mouth rose, and what had been rage, suddenly erupted into an expression of delight, and into one of additional calculation. She slowed down when she neared him, but didn't stop, allowing him to twist his pudgy frame around on the bar stool. His disappointment at losing the other dancer melted from his flabby face, though his eyes did not regain the mirrored reflections of lust. Instead, they grew wider, and alarmed, his mouth dropping open beneath them like a guppy's when confronted with a shark, hypnotized by Peggy's stare.
Having caught his attention, Peggy's head jerked around and she continued on, not with the same brisk pace she had after leaving the own, but with a much more fluid sense of dance, hips swiveling to music only she could hear. By the time she reached the jukebox, she had already made up her mind on what songs she wanted to play, and her fingers punched out the code for each with the same professional beat as an accountant over a calculator. Her retreat, however, did not take her passed the pudgy man again. Instead, she pranced around the stern-eyed men whose heads did not turn, nor expressions alter. Their eyes said they did not approve. Not because she was new or even a dance, but before she showed them no respect for their long years here at the bar. They were men and as men she saw them as vulnerable to the same organic juices as other men, all she had to figure out is what stirred up those juices in them. She blew kisses at them as she passed. She patted some on the back, calling them "Sweetheart," "Honey" or "Cutie" before passing beyond their ranks again. The newcomers and middle bar regulars welcomed her with grins, especially those whom she had victimized in the past and knew they would not get the same treatment tonight, looking forward to watching some other poor fool squirm under her attentions instead. But each of these was a light switch she turned on and off at will, and their lives seemed to brighten or darken depending upon how much encouragement she gave. Even now, these men brightened as she came and grew dim again as she moved on, swallowing their drinks whole as they held out their glasses for Mary to refill.
The owner rocked back on his stool and scowled, jerking his hand up in a sign that he wanted her to hurry, teeth now firmly grasping the tip of his cigar as if he would soon bite completely through it.
Peggy engird him, slowing against when she reached the first and least favored of the owner's minions, the loose chinned and unshaven jaws struggling to contain their giggles, caught between their won queer attraction and the wrath they knew she was capable of committing. They stared, eyes flashing as Peggy passed, and she in her turn acknowledged them, scowling out the names they bore on the street: Bumpers, Zero, Sterno, Snoot, Wrinkles, Head Start Bob, Losing Louie and such, each head rising at the mention like a pigeon stirred out of sleep, then falling back into sleep and giggles when she moved on.
"Now that you're finished taking the tour, do you mind getting up to dance?" the owner asked when she finally reached him again and pushed through the gap to the inner bar. She grinned, wiggled her fingers at him, and then paraded up the interior in exactly the same fashion she had the exterior, only now easing along the east side, her gaze making a closer survey of the pudgy man. He had, unwisely, gawked during her whole parade, and gawked still when she finally reached the stage and slowly mounted it, sitting on its flat surface, lifting on long leg up to the first high step, then the second. Even more wiser regulars could not avoid staring at the stocking'd legs, so smooth and long, they seemed indecent.
The pudgy man licked his lips, his big brown eyes flicking back and forth trying to focus on her face and legs at the same time, his expression growing confused and desperate in the attempt.
"What's your name?" Peggy asked him when she was finally up, glancing over her shoulder at him, her face caught in the beam of a red bar light. Even now, nothing about her face bragged of beauty. If anything her too-bread face hinted of the dull Eastern European heritage that most people associated with the word "peasant," eyes too far apart, her nose, subtly flattened, and thick at the bottom, floating above the mouth. In high school, someone might have called her "a cow," but no one in the bar did. Her so subtly smug expression defied the crowd, and somehow transformed her into an attractive being, her whole manner making up for the flaws of her individual pieces.
"B-B-Billy," the pudgy man said.
She stared at him twice, blue eyes flashing with the humorous disbelief one tall-tale artist reserves for another, though she blinked this look away, trading it for something more cunning. "Billy Bilby?" she asked.
"Mother calls me, William."
"I'll bet she does," Peggy said, drawing a chuckle from those near enough to hear the exchange. "What would mother said if she knew you were hanging out in a place like this?" Red splotches colored poor Billy's puffy cheeks.
"She doesn't know I'm here, or even th-that I'm out of the h-house." Peggy lifted her long forefinger to her lips, its sharp red nail poking into the crack like the edge of a razor, her eyes glinting again in the bar light.
"It's our little secret," she said, and then turned as owner pounded on the bar, with some primitive jungle message ordering her to dance. And she, responding to it, began to move her limbs, arms and legs falling into a rhythm so smooth it did not seem like dancing so much as -- as a mass seduction, Bruce Hornsby music followed by Fleetwood Mach, then through the history of pop music from 1965 to the present, sliding Madonna, Prince, and Michael Jackson in between songs to which no other dancer would dance. The whole time, she surveyed the bar from her new elevated perspective, a remnant of her former thoughtful smile clinging to her lips. She surveyed the men to the north, and the others to south, as she surveyed those nearest to her along the narrowest part of the bar, making sure that every face was turned up at her. She wouldn't stand for any downcast eyes. She wouldn't stand for any shy faces, all making up a fence around her, an enclosure in which she could continue her dance. And then, once contained, she did everything to break free, swiveling her hips, swaying and shaking and flowing across the dance floor, her eyes and their eyes locked into a tug of war -- her gyrating limbs and hips and shifts of chest, too subtle to be called dance. These places of her anatomy made promises. Her fingers flexed, and petted, caressed and soothed. She exposed sections of flesh no man would have found sensual on another woman, but on her, any and every inch of exposure created a ruckus of surging hormones. She did not caress her breasts or pinch her nipples the way other dancers might have. She did not stick her hand down between her legs and move up and down on it, pretending it was a man's penis. She just melted and molted, grinding out each man's passion as if against a stone, and each man cried out for more, each man peeling dollar bills from their wallets and pushing them at her, and when she ignored their offerings, they pushed more at her, dropping them like still green leaves onto the bar floor where she might recover them later. By the third song, sweat dribbled down from her stark black hair. She stopped, bent, recovering a small pink towel from her bag and deliberately patted the pellets from her face. Then, with one painted eye brow raised, she glared at Billy Bilby again. He sat transfixed -- his hand glued to his beer bottle, his mouth set at a queer angle, as if the mind behind the wide open eyes struggled to work out the mystery of Peggy's attraction. The right side of her upper lip rose, revealing a single canine tooth. Her blue eyes sparkled as she changed the rhythm of her dance.
I’d seen this part of the act before, though it lacked any sense of routine -- her arms and legs growing even more limber, melting into each movement, hands rising from her knees, past her thighs and eventually, with just the slightest hesitation, reached to her breasts -- sharp red nails tweaking, only in an instant gesture -- the very tip of the fabric around her protruding nipple where it pressed so hard against the thin pale pink top the top threatened to burst, the top thrust with the same building pressure as every man's pants at that bar, only without the bar or the bottle to disguise its contents. Then, her hands swayed with her over her head, and her fingers wiggled, Billy Bilby wiggling with them, his arms, legs, torso twisting in an erotic torture he struggled to endure, reacting not to his own desire but to some command issued to him from Peggy on the stage, as if every part of his pudgy body was reacting to pulled strings, and at any moment, he would leap up and dance himself, repeating everything she told him to do. He sweated more than she did, and when he could break himself free of his twitching, he wiped his pudgy face on his already sweat soaked sleeve, only to have the beads of sweat reappear instantly. At this point, he started to suck on his beer, and emptied bottle after bottle without realizing it. Without word, perhaps with some signal issued from the stage, Ruth rushed up and replaced the bottle, sliding it onto the bar, before ducking out of the line of fire again. As if planned that way, the voice of Madonna started up on the juke box and Peggy's broad face pouted from the stage. One shoulder eased down as the other rose, then in a back and forth battle, she released one strap, and then the other, and finally let the top of her outfit flop forward, her two perfect breasts easing out of their cups. Billy Bilby's jaw dropped like an unhinged gate, one single breath before he threatened to cease breathing totally. The owner whooped! Peggy's spell collapsed around her amid the giggles of the owner’s minions, giggles that ran along the southside of the bar like spreading fire so that even the mid-bar regulars started laughing. Peggy's deft fingers flipped up her top and reattached the straps, first over one shoulder, then the other, as Madonna's voice sang "like a virgin." Mary rushed along the interior of the bar, responding to the sudden surge in orders for drinks. Northsiders, Southsiders, Newcomers, too, rattling on in a sudden gush about Peggy's act. Only Billy Bilby remained silent, his mouth just then snapping shut and his breath returning through his clenched teeth. His now-squinting eyes did a quick and angry study of the other patrons, all of whom grinned at him, chatted at him, laughing openly in his face -- he clearly understanding about his becoming their evening entertainment, subject to review, analysis and comparison with others who had come before him. Then, his narrow eyes turned towards Peggy again, as full of rage now as they had been full of desire a moment earlier, red rising into his cheek and then onto his wrinkled forehead. His hand fell limp from the beer bottle as he finally pulled himself off his stool. He pulled money out of his pocket, coins and bills falling onto the bar in a confused tumble well over the amount of his drinks. Then, with his mouth suddenly pinched tight, he staggered towards the door.
"Say hello to momma for us," one of the semi-regulars said as Billy Bilby passed, though the passing man did not turn his head, sagging with the same humiliation every other one of Peggy's victim's felt, realizing that the whole time the bar had waited and watched for him to crumble. Some men handled Peggy's act better. Some laughed, bought a round of drinks, and then slid quietly out later to curse her, and later return to watch some other victim suffer as they had. Some men blew up, waved their fist and threatened to beat the shit out of her -- such men the owner escorted out on the end of his shotgun. And some men, like Billy Bilby, crawled out on their hands and knees, failing the test so completely he might never wander from mother's side again.
I actually felt sorry for the man, having seen Peggy brutalize other shy men before -- all her victims were pudgy, but not all of them shy -- the angry ones came back, grumbled a lot, but the shy ones never did. Billy even bumped into the juke box, missing the door by twenty feet, looked at it, apologized to it, then staggered out, northsiders, southsiders and in-between regulars howling with delight. Mary did not laugh. Neither did Peggy, who stared triumphantly after the man, her hands on her hips.
"Wimp," she said, and then took a drink from Mary someone had thought to buy her as her prize.
I stared after the man, too, my pen poised above my pad, unable to come up with anything to write -- something unusual for me, something which bothered me a lot when it happened. I perpetually feared the well-of-inspiration running dry. Besides, I had written this same scene so many times, I didn't know how to shape it into something that even remotely sounded original
I had told it through the eyes of everyone in the room, from owner's eyes, from Mary’s eyes, from the Northsiders, Southsiders, even from the tortured Newcomer who rages or sulked or crawled out. The only point of view I'd never tried, was Peggy's. She was too alien to me.
"That man's going to be trouble," Mary said, coming to my table with a fresh beer.
"What makes you say that?" I said, taking the beer, then stuffing several singles into Mary's hand. "He seemed harmless to me."
"Maybe to you. But men like him turn real mean when they get hurt, not beat-you-up-now-make-love-to-you-later mean like some of the jocks, but that sneaky, scared and slimy mean that has you looking over your shoulder when you leave the bar at night. If I was Peggy, I would look around real careful when she leaves tonight -- maybe for the next few weeks. I wouldn't put it past that fat little man to borrow his father's gun or maybe his mother's kitchen knives."
"Peggy attracts them from time to time," Mary said. "It s part of the cycle."
"You mean like the moon?"
"I mean Peggy goes through these -- well, periods where she just attracts the wrong kind of men."
"Is there a right kind?" I asked, laughing, though Mary’s green eyes only glinted angrily at me.
"Yes, and she gets their kind, too. You just haven t been around long enough to catch the whole cycle. For a long time, she runs along with safe men, the fat little helpless mothers’ sons. Then she get one of the fat ones that isn’t safe, a real son of a bitch who might show up with a gun one night and try to blow her brains out."
"And where do the good men come in on that?"
"The good ones think they can save her from the fat men and the violent men, from this life of evil she s living here."
"And you think she can t be saved?"
Mary started to answer, but a clamoring at the bar shifted her attention away, and the owner, taking note of her absence glared from his seat at the southern end, Northsiders, Southsiders, and middle men still ranting about Peggy s performance, as she moved into a different mode of dance, still as smooth as before, but not nearly as seductive, she, joking from the stage with the regulars, taking their tips, taking their kidding, but taking no notice of me or Mary
"Got to get back to work," Mary said, grabbing and squeezing his hand. "Be careful, will you."
"Be careful? About what?"
Mary smiled sadly, shook her head, then hurried away. Il stared after her a moment, then glanced towards the door again through which Billy Bilby had just vanished, envisioned the man floating through the dark streets dragging his punctured ego behind him, seeking the solace of one of the many women on the street.
"No, that one won t buy a gun," I thought. "But he won t go home to Momma either."
I finished my drink and rose, somehow, inspiration wouldn't come to me tonight.
I waved to Ruth, and then followed Billy Bilby s trail out to the street.

domain: literature


text:
CEP Renewables and Luminace Complete 10 MW Community Solar Landfill Project in New Jersey
Project provides savings to low-to-moderate income residents and $2 million in revenue to Township
RED BANK, N.J., Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — CEP Renewables and Luminace announced that they have achieved commercial operation of the 10 MW (DC) BEMS community solar landfill project, located on the Big Hill Landfill in Southampton, New Jersey, which is part of the state’s Community Solar Energy Pilot Program. The project is the first-of-its-kind in the state due to having two 5 MW solar systems atop a landfill, and which span across two utility territories. This fixed tilt project utilizes ballasted solar racking technology from Terrasmart as well as bifacial solar panels. In addition to converting a previously limited use site into a solar power plant, the project has enabled the Township to recoup approximately $2 million in back taxes and interest. The majority of the several thousand households powered by this project are low-to-moderate income (LMI). CEP Renewables developed the project and contracted CS Energy to perform the role as EPC contractor throughout the construction phase. Luminace, a Brookfield Renewable company, is the long-term owner and operator of the project.
“We are pleased to have converted yet another previously limited use site into a source of revenue as well as more affordable, clean energy for local communities,” said Chris Ichter, Executive Vice President at CEP Renewables. “The BEMS project builds upon the success of our redevelopment project in Mount Olive, New Jersey, the largest solar landfill project in North America, through the use of a similar process with this project.”
Similar to CEP Renewables’ Mount Olive project, the BEMS project real property was also purchased through the redevelopment and tax lien foreclosure process, which was completely unique prior to the Mount Olive project. Long abandoned by its former owner, the Big Hill landfill site accrued millions of dollars in tax liens. CEP addressed this issue by brokering a public-private partnership with the Township that involved CEP acquiring the tax liens from the Township, paying back all past-due taxes, and foreclosing on the landfill property. CEP is now the owner of this site, and the Township has been able to recoup roughly 40 years of interest and back taxes.
“We’re grateful to have been selected by CEP, one of the nation’s top leaders in landfill and brownfield solar redevelopment, to provide our expertise on this impactful project,” said Erol Ozkirbas, Chief Operating Officer at CS Energy. “We were able to leverage our experience designing and constructing over 200 MW of landfill solar projects to address the complexities of this project and complete it safely, on time, and on budget.”
“Luminace is pleased to work with CEP Renewables, CS Energy, the Southampton Township and the local community on this most recent Community Solar project in New Jersey,” said Brendon Quinlivan, Chief Executive Officer of Luminace. “This project continues to expand our New Jersey solar footprint that we’ve built over the last decade and contributes to our growth strategy across the U.S. to expand the decarbonization-as-a-service solutions available to our valued customers and communities that we serve.”
In addition to turning a closed waste disposal site into a revenue generating asset, the BEMS project also contributes to New Jersey maintaining its ranking as the number one U.S. state for both installed solar capacity per square mile as well as for the most planned community solar capacity serving LMI households. This project also adds to CEP’s over 100 MW of solar projects developed in the state and further supports the state in achieving its goal of 100 percent clean electricity by 2035 – the most ambitious clean energy goal in the country.
About CEP Renewables:
CEP Renewables designs, develops, and builds grid-connected, utility-scale solar projects. With global expertise developing projects in Europe, Asia, and North America, the company has turned its attention to New Jersey and supporting the Governor’s ambitious Energy Master Plan (requiring 100% utilization of clean energy by 2050). CEP utilizes its highly-skilled professional team to implement complex remediation, engineering, and permitting strategies that allow it to bring particularly challenging projects from conception to energization. For more information visit https://www.ceprenewables.com/.
CEP Renewables, LLC Media Contact:
Luminace is a leading fully integrated decarbonization-as-a-service provider in North America, sponsoring accessible, reliable, and renewable energy infrastructure to empower the zero-emissions future. Luminace has an operational and development portfolio of more than 5,000 megawatts of distributed energy resources, serving hundreds of customers in the educational, commercial, industrial, utility, and municipal sectors across the U.S. and Canada. Luminace offers a full suite of decarbonization solutions including solar, energy storage, EV solutions and energy efficiency upgrades, all at no upfront cost.
About CS Energy:
CS Energy is an industry-leading engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) renewable energy firm that designs and builds optimized projects in solar, energy storage, and emerging energy industries. CS Energy has successfully designed and installed over 1.5 GW of solar and 500 MWh of energy storage projects across the United States. Owned by American Securities, a leading US private equity firm, CS Energy leverages strong relationships with solar developers, IPPs, utilities, off-takers, suppliers, and landowners to help our customers streamline the project development process, lower project costs, and create value for all stakeholders as a trusted and long-term partner.
Luminace is a leading fully integrated decarbonization-as-a-service provider in North America, sponsoring accessible, reliable, and renewable energy infrastructure to empower the zero-emissions future. Luminace has an operational and development portfolio of more than 4,000 megawatts of distributed energy resources, serving hundreds of customers in the educational, commercial, industrial, utility, and municipal sectors across the U.S. and Canada. Luminace offers a full suite of decarbonization solutions including solar, energy storage, EV solutions and energy efficiency upgrades and retrofits as well as grid-resiliency options, all at no upfront cost.
For additional information, please visit: www.luminace.com. Luminace is a Brookfield Renewable company. Brookfield Renewable operates one of the world’s largest publicly traded platforms for renewable power and decarbonization solutions.

domain: geography


text:
Has it really been more than a month since my last post? I know I said I was going to post at least once a week, but this time I didn't even realize time go by. Wow... guess I am more sleep-deprived than I realized!
Also, and I must be honest here, I don't have that same drive to blog that I had before. I'm still baking and cooking like crazy, but it feels like no one is reading my blog anymore. Hmm. Don't mean to sound whiny here. Just saying. But this week, I got a lovely email from a person I don't know - her name is Cindy - and she just wrote to say hello and that she's a SAHM with two little boys and that she knows how tough a job it can be! And she said 'I look forward to more posts from you'. That really made me want to post again! Thank you, Cindy!!! <3
Today I want to share a lovely muffin recipe again. This one is so unusual and complex that I would classify it 'a grown-up muffin'. Very mildly sweet, a good hit of coffee and orange zest and bittersweet chocolate chips make it a very interesting muffin. A lot of ingredients to organize, but not at all a labor-intensive recipe. I hope you like it!
Mocha Orange Muffins
Makes 6 large or 9 small muffins
Adapted from 'Muffins Galore' by Catherine Atkinson
150g all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
30g cocoa powder
2 1/2 tbsp soft light brown sugar
1 heaping tbsp ground coffee
(Not instant! Freshly ground roasted coffee is best.)
30g unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup plain yoghurt
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 tbsp milk
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
Zest of 1 whole orange
1/3 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1. Preheat your oven to 180C or 350F. Line your muffin tin with paper liners.
2 In a small bowl, cream the butter and slowly add in the yoghurt, the milk and the cream. Whisk together well.
3. Add the egg and vanilla. Whisk well to combine and set aside.
4. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder. Stir well to combine.
5. Add the sugar and coffee powder and mix well.
6. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and pour in the butter mixture. Stir well till just combined and no dry mixture is seen. Don't overmix.
7. Stir in the chocolate chips and orange zest.
8. Spoon the batter into the tins and bake for 18-25 minutes (depending on the size of the muffins) or until the tops of the muffins are springy to the touch.
My husband, the coffee lover, loved these muffins but we both found the orange flavor a little intense. Maybe next time, I'll add less of the zest or even skip it altogether. But if you are someone who loves the combination of orange and chocolate, I would suggest you go with the original measurements!
These muffins, like most muffins, freeze great! There are five sitting in our freezer in a freezer bag waiting to be warmed up for breakfast one morning when I don't feel like baking!
Surprisingly, my daughter ate almost a whole muffin. I thought she wouldn't like the bittersweet taste, but as usual, she surprised me.
Speaking of my daughter, if you follow me on my Facebook page, you would know how crazy she is about baking. She knows recipes by heart and she's not even four! She really amazes me. This week, we made these cupcakes together.
If you want to keep up with what's happening with us and get updates on regular posts and recipes, follow me on Facebook.
Until next time!

domain: food


Nikon D800 ReviewWednesday February 08 2012
Nikon D800: The best sensor analyzed on DxOMark!
The Nikon D800: A full-frame sensor with no weak points
The two Nikon full-frame cameras, the D800 and the D4, occupy the top two places in the full-frame category. Simple and efficient. Still, be careful: as ever, in this review we are discussing only the D800’s RAW-image-based sensor results. We will follow up with DxOMark results for compatible lenses for this camera whose small pixel size promises to be very challenging.
Returning to the sensor, the D800’s Overall score is the best that has ever been achieved, and its use case scores are equally impressive:
Portrait: 25.3 bits (tied for 3rd, best full-frame score, very close to the best medium-format scores)
The Portrait score represents the sensor’s capacity to furnish vivid, varied, and accurate colors under good lighting conditions (i.e., studio).
The Nikon D4 had already obtained very interesting results. Here the D800 comes close to the quality of the best medium-format sensors: the IQ 180 (26.5 bits) and the P65 Plus (26 bits) are ahead, while the D800 achieves the same score as the P40 Plus. Even if its resolution is two times smaller than the medium format with the best resolution so far (the IQ180 and its 81 Mpix), the Nikon D800 and its 36 Mpix is a serious contender.
We still need to see how good the resolution and other optical qualities are for Nikon lenses when mounted for the first time on this small-pixel (4.8 µm) full-frame camera. We will also need to verify the performance of the best medium-format lenses on the best medium-format cameras. In short, the Nikon D800 has not told us everything about how well it will do in terms of studio photography, but we can say that its sensor performance is solid in this regard.
Landscape: 14.4 EV (1st)
Here again, the D800 achieves the best score ever measured. The APS-C sensors of the Pentax K5 and the Nikon D7000 are surpassed by around 0.3 and 0.5 stop, respectively. No need to hesitate taking high-contrast photos with the Nikon D800!
Sport: 2853 (3rd) — a pleasant surprise
The Sport score (alias Low-Light ISO score) lets you know how far you can go with regard to ISO without compromising image quality. Up until now, the sensors with the best resolution couldn’t compare their low-light performances with those of the best sensors in this category (the Nikon D3s and of course the D4). Here the D800’s sensor performance matches that of the D4’s!
All this said, it’s useful to recall these 2 important points:
- As with all DxOMark scores, we take into account only image quality. It does not address such other important criteria as image signal processing, mechanical robustness, ease of use, flexibility.
- These scores are obtained after normalization see “Detailed computation of DxOMark Sensor normalization” for more information.
… So be sure to figure out your photographic needs and how you intend to use it before choosing your camera.
Nikon D800 vs Nikon D4
The comparison is available here: Nikon D800 vs Nikon D4
Taking two different approaches, Nikon produced two beautiful full-frame cameras this year (see our comparison of their specifications here). In terms of sensor results, the D800 takes the lead. The 6-point gap is largely explained by the differences in measurements at low ISO.
The normalized SNR curves are very close, and in terms of color sensitivity, the Nikon D800 is slightly superior for low ISO:
The biggest difference shows up in the dynamic range scores:
In every instance in which the Nikon D4 reaches its ceiling for dynamic range for between ISO 100 and ISO 800, the Nikon D800 provides ever more EV at each decrease in sensitivity to achieve a maximum of 14.33 EV (normalized measurement), which corresponds to 13.24 EV per pixel. This sensor’s 14 bits of dynamic range are far from useless. (Of course, we remind you that in screen mode — unnormalized, as is the case for 100% screen view, for example — the Nikon D4 comes out ahead, and by quite a large margin — with the SNR curves showing a difference of nearly 1.5 stops.)
Nikon D800 vs Pentax K5 vs Nikon D7000
The comparison is available here: Nikon D800 vs Pentax K5 vs Nikon D7000
With a nearly identical pixel pitch (4.7µm) and very close measurement results (in screen mode), be they for SNR, DR, or color sensitivity — those who predicted that the D800 would achieve pixel quality close to that of the Nikon D7000 and the Pentax K5 were not wrong. (If we wanted to get a little nit-picky, however, we might be tempted to point out that there has been no significant progress with respect to pixel quality since the D7000 and the K5 first appeared back in 2010….)
The Nikon D800, a less-expensive medium-format camera?
Several comparisons are available between this new full-frame camera and medium-format cameras:
- Nikon D800 vs Phase One IQ 180 vs Phase One P65 Plus
- Nikon D800 vs Phase One P40 Plus vs Hasseldblad H3DII 50
All these comparisons head in the same direction: the D800’s sensor is comparable to the best medium-format sensor, and in fact does even better — much better — as ISO increases.
Of course, sensor scores don’t tell the whole story. For example, medium-format cameras will still offer a nicer depth of field and a smoother bokeh. We also still need to see how the best lenses behave on these different types of cameras.
Nikon D800 vs Canon EOS 5D Mark II (and soon the 5D Mark III)
The complete comparison is available here: Nikon D800 vs Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Just a quick comparison between the D800 and the 5D Mark II (while we wait for the results of the Canon EOS 5D Mark III) to see how the Nikon D800 ranks with respect to this very good but older Canon EOS 5D Mark II sensor.
The D800 is superior in every respect:
- 16 points more for Overall score
- 1.6 bits more for Color Sensitivity (Portrait)
- More than 2 stops’ difference for Dynamic Range (Landscape)
- Around 2/3 stop better for Low-Light ISO (Sport)
Looking at the details more closely, the Nikon D800 succeeds in providing the same SNR in screen mode despite a much lower pixel pitch (4.7 µm for the D800 vs. 6.4 µm for the 5D Mark II)!
To be continued…
Even though the D800’s sensor results are exceptional, we are looking forward to measuring the best Nikon lenses on it, and also to being able to compare it with the new Canon EOS 5D Mark III!


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Four sites of the Harpeth River, two upstream and two downstream of the Franklin Wastewater Treatment Facility in Franklin, Tennessee, were sampled to assess the impact of nutrient enrichment on the integrity of photoautotrophic periphyton. Concentrations of total phosphorus of water samples ranged from 310 μg.L−1 at the uppermost site to 1035 μg.L−1 at the site immediately downstream of the wastewater treatment facility. Concentrations of total nitrogen of water samples ranged from 687 μg.L−1 at the uppermost site to 1,434 μg.L−1 at the site immediately downstream of the wastewater treatment facility. Concentrations of benthic chlorophyll a did not differ significantly among the sites and ranged from 103 ± 11 mg.m−2 at the site immediately upstream of the wastewater treatment facility to 151 ± 13 mg.m−2 at the site immediately downstream. Percent composition of 186 algae taxa were documented: 92 taxa of soft-bodied algae and 94 taxa of diatoms. Values for the algae trophic index for soft-bodied algal assemblages increased from 71 at the site immediately upstream of the wastewater treatment facility to 107 at the site immediately downstream. Values for the pollution tolerance index for diatom assemblages decreased from 2.55 at the site immediately upstream of the wastewater treatment facility to 2.20 at the site immediately downstream. These index values demonstrate that the assemblages of soft-bodied algae and diatoms immediately downstream the wastewater treatment facility had a greater relative abundance of taxa tolerant of eutrophic conditions compared to the assemblages at the site immediately upstream.
Bioassessments that characterize and quantify the impacts of eutrophication are prerequisites to monitoring the efficacy of management practices designed to improve the integrity of nutrient-impaired waters (Smucker and Vis 2009). Algae are a major component of the trophic base of most shallow lotic systems and assemblage composition may reflect periphyton habitat quality (Stancheva and Sheath 2016). The composition of algae assemblages of the majority of streams in the Interior Plateau Level III Ecoregion that extends from southern Indiana and Ohio to northern Alabama is unknown (Grimmett and Lebkuecher 2017). This lack of knowledge limits the ability of watershed managers to monitor changes of habitat quality. This work documents the composition of algal assemblages as they are used to assess the effects of water quality in the upper and middle reaches of the Harpeth River in Middle Tennessee.
Common methods to evaluate the impact of nutrient enrichment of shallow lotic systems include measurements of the concentrations of benthic chlorophyll a (chl a), ash-free dry mass of benthic organics (AFDM), nutrient concentrations in water, and organism composition. The use of concentration of chl a as an indicator of trophic state is complicated by the influence of many abiotic and biotic characters including irradiance, temperature, water velocity, herbivory, volume of submerged wood, and time period between spates of high discharge (Lebkuecher et al. 1998, Kurle and Cardinale 2011). Ash-free dry mass of benthic organics may be influenced by the same factors that influence the concentration of chl a. In addition, AFDM is affected by organic inputs that differ by season, streambank characteristics, and allochthonous inputs (Lebkuecher et al. 2015). Chemical analyses do not indicate ecological condition and may not accurately reflect water quality (Andrus et al. 2013). Pulses of pollution may be missed during sampling and water with a high concentration of biomass may have low nutrient concentrations due to high nutrient demand (Dodds 2006). Periphyton composition is often a more accurate indicator of trophic state relative to biomass and nutrient concentrations partially because of rapid, yet sustained changes of composition as a result of changes of habitat quality.
Bioassessments using algal assemblages are most useful for management practices because they reflect a wide range of anthropogenic impacts (Rimet 2012). Several states including Kentucky, Montana, Oklahoma, and Texas use evaluations of diatom composition as a standard protocol to monitor changes of water quality (Stevenson et al. 2008, Szczepocka and Szule 2009). The objectives of this study were to document the richness, composition, and biomass of algae in the Harpeth River at two sites upstream and at two sites downstream of the Franklin Wastewater Treatment Facility to assess the impact of nutrient enrichment on the algal assemblages.
Study Area: Harpeth River Watershed
The Harpeth River Watershed drains 223,516 ha of the central region of the Interior Plateau Level III Ecoregion of the United States. The geologic base of the ecoregion is limestone and includes some chert, shale, siltstone, sandstone, and dolomite (Griffith et al. 1997). Mesophytic forests (including Quercus and Carya species) surround the watershed, much of which has been converted to row crops and cleared for livestock (Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation [TDEC] 2017). Most of the watershed is within the Outer and Inner Nashville Basin Level IV Ecoregions and consists of surface waters with naturally high concentrations of phosphorus (P) due to the high P concentrations of the carbonate (TDEC 2005). The Harpeth River flows northwest 185 km from its source near Eagleville, Tennessee in rural Middle Tennessee and enters the Cumberland River approximately 25 km northwest of Nashville, Tennessee. The middle reaches flow through Franklin, Tennessee, a large suburb of Nashville, with a population of 75,000 as of 2015.
Sampling Site Locations and Dates
Four sites were sampled in the Harpeth River on September 30, 2017 (Figure 1): two sites upstream and two sites downstream of the Franklin Wastewater Treatment Facility in downtown Franklin (Appendix 1). The uppermost site (Site 1) is located approximately 17 km upstream of Franklin in a rural, agricultural region. Site 2 is located approximately 4 km upstream of downtown Franklin in a densely populated neighborhood. Effluent from the Franklin Wastewater Treatment Facility enters the river at river near downtown Franklin approximately 5 km downstream of Site 2 and approximately 5 km upstream of Site 3. Site 3 is located approximately 6 km downstream of downtown Franklin in a densely populated neighborhood. Site 4 is located approximately 16 km downstream of Franklin in an area with a mix of neighborhoods and agriculture.
Reach morphological characteristics
Two transects that spanned the stream perpendicular to the direction of flow and 5 m apart were established in reaches near each sampling site. Transect widths and depths at 1/3 intervals between the banks of each transect were measured. Velocity and discharge were determined as described by Lebkuecher et al. (2015) using the equations of Robins and Crawford (1954). The percent of benthic substrates smaller than very coarse gravel (32 mm diameter) was estimated visually in four replicate plots established with 0.25-m2 wire frames placed 1.25 m apart at midstream. Canopy angle was estimated visually as the angle between the tops of the vegetation on each bank at midstream as an indicator of canopy cover. Reach morphological characteristics were determined to provide a depiction of the abiotic characteristics of the reaches sampled (Appendix 2).
Sampling cobbles to determine periphyton characteristics
Cobble sampling occurred in runs with velocities between 0.1 m s−1 and 0.3 m.s−1 at depths between 0.1 m and 0.25 m. Four plots in each of the four river sites were established with 0.25 m2 wire frames placed approximately 1.25 m apart at midstream. Two cobbles nearest to the plot center between 12-cm and 18-cm diameter were removed. If a plot did not contain two cobbles appropriate for sampling, cobbles closest to the plot were removed. One cobble from each plot was used to determine the percent composition of soft-algae and diatom taxa. Algae were removed from cobbles in the field using a single-edge razor blade and scrub brush. Algae removed from the four cobbles per site were combined, preserved in 1% glutaraldehyde adjusted to pH 7.0 with NaOH. One cobble from each plot was used to determine pigment concentrations of algae and AFDM. These four cobbles were placed in self-sealable plastic bags and transported to the lab on ice in darkness. There was no effort to control for site environmental cofactors that can modulate algal growth.
Multi-habitat sampling of soft-bodied algae
A multi-habitat sampling technique was employed to identify additional soft-bodied algal taxa not found associated with the cobbles sampled to determine percent composition. Diatoms were not identified from multi-habitat samples due to time constraints and because much more is known about the richness of diatoms relative to soft-bodied algae in Tennessee streams (Lebkuecher et al. 2015). Multi-habitat samples were not collected using a plot system nor were the additional soft-bodied taxa found enumerated. Multi-habitat samples were collected from the water column, cobbles, sediment, wood, detritus, aquatic flora, and snail shells in riffles, runs, and pools. Algae associated with cobbles were removed using a single-edged razor blade and a test tube brush. Algae associated with sand, silt, and clay were sampled using a plastic pipette with the tip cut off to increase tip diameter and removing approximately 5 mm of surface sediment. Algae associated with wood were sampled by scraping the wood surface with a single-edged razor blade. Algae associated with small substrates such as organic debris were sampled by collecting sections of the substrate. Epiphytic algae on aquatic mosses and macrophytes were sampled by collecting sections of the shoots. Samples were preserved in 1% glutaraldehyde adjusted to pH 7.0 with NaOH, and concentrated by settling in darkness.
Periphyton pigment concentrations and ash-free dry mass
Methods to determine periphyton pigment concentrations and AFDM followed those described in Lebkuecher et al. (2015) and Grimmett and Lebkuecher (2017). One cobble was placed in a glass pan containing 0.1 L of 90% acetone and the periphyton was removed with a single-edged razor blade and scrub brush. Ten mL aliquots of periphyton suspended in acetone were placed in a mortar, ground with a pinch of sand and a pestle for 2 min., and filtered through Whatman no. 1 filter-paper circles. Optical density (OD) of the supernatant was determined at 664 nm to determine the concentration of chl a, then at 665 nm following acidification with 0.1 N HCl to determine the concentration of pheophytin a. Optical density determinations occurred within minutes of acetone extraction and in very low light to ensure pheophytin was not degraded. Concentrations of chl a corrected for pheophytin a were calculated using the equations of Lorenzen (1967). The chl a to pheophytin a ratio was indicated as the ratio of OD664 to OD665 (Baird et al. 2017).
Ash-free dry mass of organic benthic matter was determined following evaporation of the acetone at 25°C. During the drying process, periphyton was transferred to beakers, then to the same crucibles in which weights were measured to ensure no loss of organic matter. Ash-free dry mass of organic benthic matter and inorganic sediment weights were determined as described by Baird et al. (2017). Values for AFDM were increased by the proportion of the periphyton removed to determine pigment concentrations. The surface area of cobble from which periphyton was removed was calculated by covering the upper surface of cobble with aluminum foil, weighing the foil, and extrapolating weight to surface area (Hauer and Lamberti 2006).
Means for concentrations of chl a, optical density (OD) ratios of OD664 to OD665 of pigment extracts, and AFDM were compared using Tukey-Kramer honestly significant difference tests preceded by analysis of variance tests. The data were homoscedastic and normal. Assay means were considered significantly different if they differed at the experiment-wise error rate of α = 0.05.
Identification of soft-bodied algal taxa
Large filamentous algae were cut with scissors such that well-mixed aliquots of filamentous-algae sections and microalgae in the sample could be obtained. Wet mounts on a ruled microscope slide (NeoSci, Nashua, New Hampshire) with a 16-mm2 grid divided into eight 2-mm2 squares were used to determine percent composition as described by Woelkerling et al. (1976) and Schoen (1988). Macroalgae were not separated from microalgae. Soft algae within a 2-mm2 square were observed at 100×, 400×, and 1000× magnification and identified to the lowest taxon possible. Taxa were recorded as units. A unit was considered one cell of unicellular taxa, one colony of colonial taxa, and each 10 μm-length of filamentous taxa as recommended by Stevenson and Bahls (2006). Taxa were enumerated until at least 800 units counted, or for samples with very little soft-bodied algae relative to diatoms, until at least 20 wet mounts were observed. Wet mounts from samples collected by multi-habitat sampling were searched using 100×, 400×, and 1000× magnification until no new taxa were observed in at least five consecutive wet mounts. Taxa identified from multi-habitat samples were recorded as present and thus were not compared to taxa sampled from cobbles to determine relative abundance. Primary taxonomic references used to identify soft-algae taxa included, Cocke (1967), Prescott (1982), Whitford and Schumacher (1984), Anagnostidis and Komárek (1988), and John et al. (2011). The percent of overall soft-bodied algal units and overall diatom units at each site was estimated by counting the number of soft-bodied algae units and diatom units in 2-mm squares of the ruled microscope slide until at least 800 units were counted.
Identification of diatom taxa
Frustule preparation for permanent mounts followed the methods of Carr et al. (1986). Organic debris and intracellular material were completely removed by placing concentrated frustules in 2.5% sodium hypochlorite for 1 h. Aliquots of cleaned frustules (50 μL) were pipetted onto glass cover slips, dried at 50°C, and mounted on glass microscope slides with Permount mounting medium. Valve ornamentations were clearly visible using 1000× magnification. All valves in the field of view at 1000× magnification were identified and tallied until a minimum of 200 valves from each stream site were identified, the minimum number required to calculate the pollution tolerance index of diatom assemblages (KDOW 2008). Primary taxonomic references used to identify diatom taxa included Patrick and Reimer (1966, 1975), Krammer and Lange-Bertalot (1986, 1988, 1991a, 1991b), and Ponader and Potapova (2007). The permanent mounts are maintained in the Austin Peay State University Herbarium in Clarksville, Tennessee.
Calculation of metrics and indices
Shannon diversity index (H′) and evenness (J) of soft-algae and diatom assemblages were calculated to provide information about assemblage structures by the equations of Shannon and Weaver (1949):Whittaker and Fairbanks 1958). A percent-similarity value of 0 indicates that the two assemblages compared do not have a single taxon in common. A percent-similarity value of 100 indicates that the two assemblages compared have the exact same percent composition of taxa.
The pollution tolerance index (PTI) for diatom assemblages (KDOW 2008) was calculated as:KDOW 2008) of taxon j, and N = total number of individuals assigned a eutrophication-tolerance value and tallied to calculate the index. The PTI ranges from one (all taxa very tolerant to eutrophic conditions) to four (all taxa very intolerant of eutrophic conditions). A value for the PTI < 2.6 indicates an assemblage is impaired by eutrophic conditions as determined by comparisons of PTI values of stream sites with different trophic states in Middle Tennessee (Lebkuecher et al. 2011).
The organic pollution index (OPI) is the percentage of diatoms tolerant of organic pollution listed in Kelly (1998). Organic pollution index values of >20 imply organic pollution impacts the composition of diatom assemblages and values >40 imply the habitat is severely impaired by excessive concentration of organic matter (Kelly 1998). The siltation index (SI) is the sum of Navicula, Nitzschia, and Surirella, and the taxa formerly identified as Navicula, Nitzschia, and Surirella divided by the total number of diatoms and multiplied by 100 (Bahls 1993). Motile diatoms other than Navicula sensu lato, Nitzschia senu lato, and Surirella are not used to calculate the SI (Bahls 1993). The SI values range from 0 to 100. High SI values signify that sediments impact the structure of diatom assemblages. Belton et al. (2005) suggested that SI values near 40 indicate an impact of sediments on diatom assemblages.
The algae trophic index of soft-algae assemblages (ATI) was calculated as:Grimmett and Lebkuecher 2017). The trophic-indicator values are the abundance-weighted average of the concentration of benthic chl a, listed in Grimmett and Lebkuecher (2017). Taxa not identified to species were excluded from index calculations and included less than 10% of the algae observed. The algae trophic index of soft-algae assemblages values for stream reaches studied by Grimmett and Lebkuecher (2017) were very similar to and significantly correlated with concentrations of benthic chl a (mg.m−2). Therefore, ATI values correspond with Dodds et al. (1998) suggested classification of temperate streams with chl a concentrations <20 mg.m−2 as oligotrophic and concentrations >70 mg.m−2 as eutrophic.
Concentrations of total phosphorus and total nitrogen of water samples
Nutrient concentrations of water samples collected approximately 5 cm below the surface were determined using a Lachat QuickChem 8500 Flow Injection Analyzer (Lachat Instruments, Loveland, Colorado). Concentrations of total phosphorus (TP) were determined using the persulfate-digestion and the ascorbic-acid method (Baird et al. 2017). Concentrations of total nitrogen (TN) were determined by the persulfate-digestion and cadmium-reduction method (Baird et al. 2017). Concentrations of TP and TN were determined because Dodds (2003) suggested concentrations of TP and TN are stronger indicators of trophic state relative to the concentrations of dissolved forms of N and P. In addition, concentrations of TP and TN are used to designate the trophic state of streams by Dodds et al. (1998).
Nutrient Concentrations and Periphyton Biomass
Water samples from all four sites contained eutrophic concentrations of TP and ranged from 310 μg.L−1 at the uppermost site to 1035 μg.L−1 at the site immediately downstream of the wastewater treatment facility (Table 1). Concentrations of total nitrogen (TN) were in or near the range considered mesotrophic for streams and ranged from 687 μg.L−1 at the uppermost site to 1434 μg.L−1 at site three immediately downstream of the wastewater treatment facility. The TN:TP ratios were lowest at the two sites downstream of the Franklin Wastewater Treatment Facility as a result of the very high concentrations of TP at these sites.
Concentrations of total phosphorus (TP) and total nitrogen (TN) of water samples and periphyton characteristics at sites sampled in the Harpeth River. Means ± standard error for concentrations of chlorophyll a, optical density (OD) ratios of OD664 to OD665 of pigment extracts, and ash-free dry mass of benthic organic matter represent four replicates and are not significantly different at the experiment-wise error rate of α = 0.05. Sites 1 and 2 are upstream and Sites 3 and 4 are downstream of the Franklin Wastewater Treatment Facility.
Concentrations of benthic chlorophyll chl a (Table 1) were all >103 mg.m−2 and did not differ significantly. None of the optical density (OD) ratios of OD664 to OD665 of the pigment extracts were <1.5, a threshold value used to indicate the algae were in poor health or senescent (Baird et al. 2017). The concentrations of AFDM were all were >10 g.m−2 and did not differ significantly.
Composition of Algal Assemblages
We identified 186 taxa of algae: 92 taxa of soft-bodied algae (Appendix 3) and 94 taxa of diatoms (Appendix 4). The most abundant soft-bodied algae sampled (Table 2) was the filamentous Rhodophyta Audouinella hermannii (Roth) Duby (16.0%) followed by the filamentous cyanobacterium Leptolyngbya foveolarum (Mont.) Anagn. and Komárek (11.4%). The most abundant diatom sampled (Table 3) was Achnanthidium rivulare Potapova and Ponander (10.4%) followed by Navicula minima Grun. (7.6%).
Most abundant soft-bodied algal taxa at sites sampled in the Harpeth River. Numbers in parentheses represent percent composition. Sites 1 and 2 are upstream and Sites 3 and 4 are downstream of the Franklin Wastewater Treatment Facility.
Most abundant diatom taxa at sites sampled in the Harpeth River. Numbers in parentheses represent percent composition. Sites 1 and 2 are upstream and Sites 3 and 4 are downstream of the Franklin Wastewater Treatment Facility.
Percent composition of algae groups such as diatoms, cyanobacteria, and Chlorophyta differed dramatically between sites (Table 4). Cyanobacteria were the most abundant at the uppermost site and diatoms were most abundant at the lowermost site. Both the soft-bodied algal and diatom assemblages were distinct across sites (Table 5). The most similar assemblages of soft-bodied algae and diatoms were the assemblages at the two uppermost sites, the two sites with the lowest and most similar concentrations of TP of water samples (Table 1). The most dissimilar assemblages of soft-bodied algae and diatoms were those at the sites with the greatest differences in concentrations of TP, the uppermost site and the site immediately downstream of the wastewater facility the sites.
Percent composition of algae groups at sites sampled in the Harpeth River. Sites 1 and 2 are upstream and Sites 3 and 4 are downstream of the Franklin Wastewater Treatment Facility.
Percent similarity of soft-bodied algae and diatom assemblages between sites sampled in the Harpeth River. Sites 1 and 2 are upstream and Sites 3 and 4 are downstream of the Franklin Wastewater Treatment Facility.
Metrics and Indices for Algae Assemblages
Richness of soft-bodied algal taxa increased downstream (Table 6). The similar values for the Shannon diversity index for soft-algae assemblages among sites were due partially to similar evenness. The highest value for the algae trophic index (ATI) for the assemblage of soft-bodied algae at site three indicates that this assemblage was most impacted by eutrophication.
Metrics and indices for soft-bodied algal assemblages at sites sampled in the Harpeth River. Sites 1 and 2 are upstream and Sites 3 and 4 are downstream of the Franklin Wastewater Treatment Facility.
Greater values for the Shannon diversity index for the diatom assemblages (Table 7) relative to the soft-algae assemblages at the same sites is due largely to greater the evenness of the diatom assemblages. Values for the pollution tolerance index for diatom assemblages (PTI) at the all the sites are <2.6, which indicate eutrophic conditions. Values for the organic pollution index (OPI) > 20 and the siltation index (SI) > 40 for the diatom assemblages at Sites 3 and 4 were above the threshold values used to designate assemblages as impacted by organic pollution and siltation, respectively.
Metrics and indices for diatom assemblages at sites sampled in the Harpeth River. Sites 1 and 2 are upstream and Sites 3 and 4 are downstream of the Franklin Wastewater Treatment Facility.
The high concentrations of benthic chl a at all four sites indicate eutrophic conditions based on Dodds et al. (1998) classification of temperate streams with chl a concentrations >70 mg.m−2 as eutrophic. The concentrations of AFDM at all four sites also indicate eutrophic conditions. All sites had AFDM values >10 g.m−2, a threshold value indicative of eutrophic environments based on earlier studies (O'Brien and Wehr 2010, Lebkuecher et al. 2015, Grimmett and Lebkuecher 2017). The eutrophic concentrations of TP at the sites upstream of the Franklin Wastewater Treatment Facility likely reflect the heavy anthropogenic activities in the watershed and naturally high concentrations of P in the limestone bedrock (TDEC 2005). Concentrations of approximately 180 μg TP.L−1 are suggested to be a more realistic expectation of moderate levels of TP of surface waters in the Nashville Basin (TDEC 2005) as opposed to the boundary value of <75 μg TP.L−1 suggested by Dodds et al. (1998) to designate lotic systems as mesotrophic.
The TN:TP ratios at all four sites are well below TN:TP ratios hypothesized to indicate potential N limitation of algae growth. For example, N may be considered limiting when the TN:TP ratio is <10, and by P when the TN:TP ratio is >17 (Dodds 2003). The low TN:TP ratios may have precluded the potential for significant differences of concentrations of benthic chl a and AFDM among sites upstream and downstream of the wastewater treatment facility. Earlier studies of determinations of chl a from four cobbles per stream site were adequate to demonstrate significant increases of chl a at sites immediately downstream of wastewater treatment plants just outside the Nashville Basin (Lebkuecher et al. 2015, Grimmett and Lebkuecher 2017). However, we acknowledge that four cobbles per sampling site is a relatively small number to estimate chl-a concentration given the spatial heterogeneity of small rivers and may have contributed to the absence of significant differences. In addition, environmental factors such as canopy angle and river morphological characteristics influence periphyton biomass.
High values for the algae trophic index (ATI) for soft-bodied algal assemblages and low values for the pollution tolerance index for diatom assemblages at the sites downstream of the Franklin Wastewater Treatment Facility indicate that additional nutrient enrichment of the Harpeth River as the river flows through Franklin impacts the structure of these assemblages. These index values demonstrate that the assemblages of soft-bodied algae and diatoms sampled downstream of the wastewater treatment facility have a greater relative abundance of taxa tolerant of eutrophic conditions. The higher values for the ATI at the lower three sites were due largely to the high abundances of Audouinella hermannii. The highest value for the ATI at site three was due largely to the high abundance of Cladophora glomerata (L.) Kütz. Audouinella hermannii and C. glomerata are assigned high trophic-indicator values for the ATI which indicate these taxa are abundant at eutrophic sites in Middle Tennessee (Grimmett and Lebkuecher 2017).
The high value for the pollution tolerance index (PTI) for diatom assemblages for the assemblage at the uppermost site is due largely from the abundance of Achnanthidium taxa (52%) and Cymbella affinis (16.5%). Both of these taxa are assigned eutrophication-tolerance values of three or four, given they are common in oligotrophic and mesotrophic lotic systems (KDOW 2008). The lowest PTI value for the assemblage at the site immediately below the wastewater treatment facility is due largely from the low abundance of Achnanthidium (8.3%; Appendix 4) and the greatest abundance of Navicula minima (11.0%). Navicula minima is an indicator of poor quality water and is assigned a eutrophication-tolerance value of 1.0 (KDOW 2008).
The PTI values ≤2.6 for the diatom assemblages of the Harpeth River sites are similar to those of other stream sites in predominately agricultural and urban regions impaired by nutrient enrichment in Middle Tennessee. The PTI values for stream sites in Middle Tennessee considered some of the most nutrient impaired range from 2.3 to 2.0, whereas PTI values for stream sites in Middle Tennessee considered reference sites with good water quality range from 2.8 to 3.0 (Lebkuecher et al. 2011, Lebkuecher et al. 2015, Grimmett and Lebkuecher 2017). The organic pollution index (OPI) values >20 for the diatom assemblages at the sites downstream of downtown Franklin suggest these assemblages may be impacted by organic pollution, yet are well below the threshold value of 40, which indicates severe impairment. Values well above 40 are common in reaches with very high concentrations of organics, such as Elk Fork Creek in the Red River Watershed in northern Middle Tennessee (Lebkuecher et al. 2011) and Jones Creek downstream of the Jones Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant near Dickson, Tennessee (Grimmett and Lebkuecher 2017).
The apparent impact on the diatom assemblages by siltation at the two lowermost sites sampled in the Harpeth River is typical for middle and lower reaches of lotic systems in agricultural regions. For example, diatom assemblages in two streams in morphologically similar watersheds in New Jersey with 1% and 28% agriculture had mean siltation index values of 18 ± 7 and 43 ± 4, respectively (Belton et al. 2005). Siltation index values are most informative when comparing values from stream sites with similar regional conditions given that soil erodibility and land use affects the composition of diatom assemblages. Siltation index values of six stream sites in the Red River Watershed in northern Middle Tennessee, which has highly erodible soils and where >60 % of the land is used for agriculture, were 54 at the watershed's reference site and 78 at the site most impacted by siltation (Lebkuecher et al. 2011).
We do not know the reason why the uppermost site was dominated by cyanobacteria and the lowermost site was dominated by diatoms. Lebkuecher et al. (2015) and Grimmett and Lebkuecher (2017) found no correlation between trophic state and abundances of diatoms verses soft algae in Middle Tennessee streams. The lower abundance cyanobacteria and the greater abundance of Chlorophyta at the sites downstream of downtown Franklin sites relative to the sites upstream are consistent with earlier studies that demonstrated cyanobacteria biomass and diversity were lower at river sites with higher concentrations of soluble reactive phosphorus of water samples in central Spain (Perona et al. 1998, Douterelo et al. 2004). Similar lower abundances of cyanobacteria relative to Chlorophyta at sites with higher concentrations of nutrients occur in other Middle Tennessee streams (Grimmett and Lebkuecher 2017).
The greater number of the same taxa among the diatom assemblages relative to the soft-algae assemblages at the sites studied in the Harpeth River is consistent with earlier studies of several Middle Tennessee streams. A study by Lebkuecher et al. (2015) of three mesotrophic sites and one hypereutrophic site in Sulphur Fork Creek in Middle Tennessee demonstrated that the similarity of diatom assemblages between sites sampled in August was far more consistent, ranging from 44% to 66%, relative to the similarity of soft-bodied algal assemblages, which ranged from 16% to 57%. In a different study of eight sites in eight streams in Middle Tennessee, percent similarity for diatom assemblages between sites sampled in August ranged from 25% to 67% and for soft-bodied algal assemblages, from 2% to 39% (Grimmett and Lebkuecher 2017).
Noteworthy and unexpected taxa identified in the Harpeth River by this study include Chilomonas sp., a nonphotosynthetic cryptomonad, Chroomonas sp., a photosynthetic cryptomonad, and Paulinella chromatophora Lauterborn, a filose thecamoeba. Cryptomonads are much more common in oligotrophic lentic water, although two sp. of Cryptomonas were documented in Middle Tennessee streams with relatively good quality water (Lebkuecher et al. 2015, Grimmett and Lebkuecher 2017). Paulinella chromatophora was not known to occur in the southeastern United States, possesses primitive, cyanobacteria–like plastids, and is frequently referenced as evidence for the endosymbiotic origin of plastids (Graham et al. 2016). Genetic uniqueness of P. chromatophora plastids suggests that all plastids were not acquired from a single primary endosymbiotic event and thus implies that the Archaeplastida supergroup may not be monophyletic (Nowack et al. 2008).
This study documents the composition of soft-algal and diatom assemblages needed to help monitor the integrity of periphyton in the upper and middle reaches of the Harpeth River. High concentrations of TP of water, benthic chl a, and AFDM at sites upstream of Franklin are likely a result of extensive anthropogenic activities in the watershed and naturally high concentrations of P in the limestone bedrock. Additional eutrophication of river sites downstream of the Franklin Wastewater Treatment Facility is indicated by increased concentrations of TP of water samples, increased values for the algae trophic index for soft-algal assemblages, and decreased values for the pollution tolerance index for diatom assemblages. The results indicate that additional degradation of water quality as the Harpeth River flows through Franklin alters the composition of algal assemblages.
The research was funded by the Harpeth Conservancy and the Department of Biology at Austin Peay State University. We thank the two anonymous reviewers and Subject Editor for Castanea for their comments, which improved the manuscript.


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Blockchain is best known for its ability to support cryptocurrencies and dapps, but the number of blockchain applications continues to increase as the technology becomes more advanced. At the same time, the user base is also evolving. Governments are beginning to not only test out the capabilities of blockchain technology but also use this technology for improving governance in the real world.
This chain of blocks represents a true technological revolution as big as the emergence of the Internet, but really, what is Blockchain?
Blockchain is a technology or information coding system, which is behind the bitcoin virtual currency. It would be like the accounting book of a company where all the entries and exits of money are registered; in this case, we are talking about a book of digital events, in the style of a P2P protocol.
It can be defined as a database and its literal translation is chain of blocks. However, and beyond the foundation to the cryptocurrencies for what was created, it is a platform that allows hundreds of utilities in the future.
Like the Internet, they are technologies that in themselves do not change things very much; however, it is the sum of small advances that add value, those that build a useful and productive application. As it is the case of the Internet today, thanks to the convergence of several technologies, it allows from calling a video conference, to sending emails or using a browser and social networks.
Blockchain is an encrypted system, with highly sophisticated encryption, highly secure, in which transparency and clarity is guaranteed. Transactions are irreversible, avoiding fraud and it is impossible to fail, by responding to thousands of nodes and although in theory the network fell, with only one of those computers or nodes did not, the information would never be lost.
Therefore, it is a revolution with a level of change like the Internet was because the processes are of the users, not of institutions, there are no owners or human control of the transaction eliminating intermediaries.
The blockchain is one of the most significant, fundamental advances in digital platforms since the internet and also probably the most overhyped technology in current times, according to Kevin Werbach, Wharton professor of legal studies and business ethics, at the inaugural annual Penn Wharton Budget Model Spring Policy Forum, held recently in Washington.
“In many ways, the parallels are striking,” said Werbach, who worked at the Federal Communications Commission in the late 1990s during the dot-com boom. “This is a new infrastructure baseline technology that can lead to lots of benefits — also, it has lots of problems. Blockchain is now the source of a great deal of fraud, of illegal activity and regulatory arbitrage, but it is also sparking innovation across the world in all sorts of areas.”
While most people use the terms Bitcoin and blockchain interchangeably, they are very different things. “At bottom, blockchain is not about money, even though this is the technology underlying Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies — and it’s not fundamentally about destroying governments and replacing them with purely private, decentralized systems, even though it is a system that creates a new kind of decentralized infrastructure. “Fundamentally, blockchain is about something deeper than all of that. It’s about trust.”
Public sector blockchain applications are already having a positive impact around the world. Governments at various levels (local, provincial, national) are realizing the benefits of this technology. Still, many of these applications remain in the test phase or as of mid-2019. With increased interest and investments in blockchain; however, the significance of blockchain in the public sector will only increase in the coming years.

domain: news


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domain: hobby


text:
In late 1970, my 20-year-old bohemian-natured mother packed three-year-old me, my infant sister, and our poodle Angel into a Fawn Beige 1963 Chevrolet Biscayne and we hit the road. Her original plan was to bring some friends from San Diego, California to Washington state. Somewhere between leaving and arriving, she decided it was important for her daughters to someday be able to say they'd been to every single state in the lower 48, so off we went, and for many months we traveled.
As a very young girl my concept of home consisted singly of being with my mother, so life was secure no matter the location. I don't have many specifics in my mind of our journey; only a few vague flashes of memories remain of the many destinations: laying in the back seat and looking up through the car window at mountains in northern California, playing in knee-deep North Dakota snow with my red boots-wearing dog, the flat endless plains of the Midwest, the giant cold Atlantic Ocean, the terrifying-to-me Burger King statue that sat out in front of every single restaurant. What I do remember with startling clarity is my mother cleaning hotel rooms for money, us girls in tow, the dog attached by a leash to the rolling supply cart, and how much I adored the car I called Biscuit, named such because I couldn't pronounce Biscayne. I didn't yet have all the words to identify the amazing sensations I felt as we rolled along but I remember I loved the wind in my face and hair, I enjoyed meeting new people, and I imagined myself and the baby sister as Princesses, and Biscuit was our golden carriage.
Alas, all good things come to their end and my mother's country-wide sojourn did so when my grandfather wired money to Sandusky, Ohio for a new set of car tires. He had a crying jag on the telephone with her because she had been alone on the road for months with her two small girls and the family dog. We slowly headed back home to New Orleans but did it in a circuitous fashion and managed to catch the East Coast on the way down so, in the end, we only missed the Northeast states of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. After my mother's months-long road trip, I spent three years living with my father in Maryland during which time he brought me to Virginia, Pennsylvania and his hometown of Washington, D.C. on a regular basis to visit family and see the sights. At age seven I returned to New Orleans, to my mother and my southern family. My childhood remained chaotic and colorful; I'm pretty sure I've lived in nearly every part of New Orleans! Like most people on the Gulf Coast, we forayed into Mississippi, Alabama and Florida for beach vacations and up to Arkansas and Tennessee to enjoy the mountains. Texas was an occasional evacuation spot for hurricanes and while there, why not enjoy what was on offer? Such were my younger years, filled with local movement and regional travel, and I grew up with the expectation that I'd always be on the go.
Discovering the Joy of Immersive Travel
While I did manage a few short trips in my early adult years to some amazing non-Gulf Coast destinations - Los Angeles, Portland, Gatlinburg, Natchez, Virginia Beach - full-time work as an RN and raising two children kept me from significant travel all through my 20s and into my mid-30s. I decided to try travel nursing in my late 30s and did assignments in Redding, California and Tucson, Arizona. It was in those two places that I discovered a passion for slow travel and how it allowed me to experience the depth of being on location for an extended period of time. I was able to set up a household, enjoyed meeting and spending time with neighbors and new friends, I explored the surrounding areas to my heart's content on my days off, and I gained a true appreciation of the people, the cultural differences, the food, the architecture, the scenery, everything. As much as I already loved to travel, the immersive experience of living in another location, away from home, made very clear to me how little I really knew of the USA, and even less so of the world. In 2006, after a difficult and draining recovery from Hurricane Katrina, my husband and I bought another home in New Orleans, our youngest daughter graduated and flew the nest, and I began to create my domestic and international travel agenda.
Among some of us there's a saying that goes, "When you make plans, the Goddess laughs." And so it happened that my dreams of wandering the globe were thrown into mayhem thanks to a number of health crises in my 40s. Despite them, and a lingering decrease in my mobility that seems to be permanent, I've still managed to travel here and there around the USA and also to do some exploring in England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland in 2015, 2018, and 2023. I move a bit more slowly than others but that actually lends itself to appreciation of the things many people miss when they're rushing! I have given myself permission to move at the pace that works well for me and I plan to experience the sacred beauty and wonder of our Mother Earth in as many places as possible for as long as can.
Still on the Go, Still Healing
All those years ago as a little bitty traveler around the US, as a girl growing up in the beautiful chaos that is New Orleans, and then healthy and on-the-go in my 20s and 30s, I couldn't fathom being a chunky, slow-traveling, middle-aged 50-something, but here I am! Despite a certain degree of difficulty at times, I continue to wander and explore. I've spent most of the last three years travelling full-time with my husband in our RV around the USA and I'm planning to be on the go again in Spring 2024, likely to the East Coast of Canada to learn more of my deep Acadian roots, and to Mexico to do some snorkeling, and who knows where else? The world truly is my oyster.
In addition to exploring places just for fun, genealogy-based travel - tree travel - is also on the menu, as it connects me directly to my ancestral healing work which has an effect on my current walk through life as a midlife woman. France is my next international venture, specifically the Alsace region, so that I can walk the streets of my 8th great-grandmother's birth place and perhaps find what I need to do further healing on this ancestral line. When I tree travel, it opens up my heart to my own history and to my sense of rightness and worth. It makes me feel less broken and erases shame and fear. It is healing in so many ways. It is my hope that I can encourage other women to step off the beaten path, to search their own roots for strength and wisdom, to venture into the unknown and allow the wonders of the ancestral world to wash over them like a clear flowing stream. There is healing to be found there.
May it be so.


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Adipurush: After the continuous opposition of Adipurush, the makers of the film have made a big announcement. The dialogue writer of the film Manoj Muntashir has announced by tweeting that now the dialogues of the film will be changed. At the same time, the makers of the film have also issued a statement on this and have officially asked to change the dialogue. There is a continuous protest against the film, in view of which the makers have taken this big decision.
New dialogues will be included in the film this week
Manoj Muntashir gave this information by tweeting and wrote, ‘I and the producer-director of the film have decided that some of the dialogues which are hurting you, we will modify them and they will be included in the film this week.’ Along with this, Manoj Muntashir also told that he has written dialogues of more than 4000 lines for this film. Out of which 5 people have been greatly hurt. In view of this, it has been decided to change its dialogue.
The first lesson one can learn from Ramkatha is to respect every emotion.
Right or wrong, time changes, feeling remains.
I wrote dialogues of more than 4000 lines in Adipurush, some sentiments got hurt on 5 lines.
In those hundreds of lines where Shri Ram’s eulogy…
— Manoj Muntashir Shukla (@manojmuntashir) June 18, 2023
The makers took the decision keeping in mind the sentiments of the public.
‘Adipurush’ is receiving a tremendous response across the globe and is winning hearts of audiences of all age groups. Making the scene a memorable cinematic experience, the team has decided to tweak the dialogues of the film, taking into consideration the inputs from the public and the audience. The makers of this film are re-thinking the dialogues which have hurt the audience. Also, the makers want that the film should not deviate from its original spirit. The makers of the film also believe that even though the film is doing great collections at the box office, the sentiments of the audience should not be hurt in any way.
there has already been a change
Let us tell you that earlier when the teaser of the film was released, it also had to face the anger of the audience. After which a lot of changes were made in the graphics of this film. After which the budget of the film also increased. Then when its trailer came out, it got a lot of love from the people. However, now after the release of the film, again the makers have to take this big decision.
Also read: The Archies Teaser: Teaser of Suhana Khan, Khushi Kapoor and Agastya Nanda’s ‘The Archies’ released, film seen passing through love and breakup

domain: artistic


(LISLE) A Braidwood man is charged with stealing equipment from a home under construction in west suburban Lisle.
Andrew J. Hardy, 27, is charged with one felony count of burglary for the Saturday incident in the 2500 block of Retreat Circle, authorities said.
Officers responded about 8:45 p.m., and found that someone burglarized a home under construction, police said. Two people were taken into custody, and allegedly stolen construction equipment and materials were recovered at the scene.
Hardy, of the 1000 block of Cermak Road in Braidwood, is being held on a $5,000 bond, according to the DuPage County Sheriff’s office.
It wasn’t immediately known if charges were pending against the other man.