Here you will find photos, poetry, and possibly somelight-heartedfoolishness. For the Heavier Side of JzB see my other blog, Retirement Blues. (There be dragons!)
I claim copyright and reserve all rights for my original material of every type and genre.
Every day visits* From Moose, Goose, and Orb Weaver All seized by Haiku
"Why moose and goose?" you may ask. Back on 2/04/13 Pirate wrote a haiku with an elk in it, and I responded with one with a moose and then included him every day. A few days later in comments Mystic asked "Where's the goose?" So I started including her with this post on 2/07. A week later on the 14th, Mark Readfern asked for and received a spider. The rest is history.
*Well, most days, anyway. Grant me a bit of poetic license.
This weekend we're asking for exactly 33 words including an idiom
somewhere within. Examples of idioms include - add fuel to the fire or
wear your heart on your sleeve. You can find more examples and a
definition of idiom here. Good luck!
Hey, no prob!
~~()~~
IDIOTM
I was horny, and came on like gangbusters. She, mad as a wet hen, knocked me for a loop. I was seeing stars. But they were porn stars.
Theme: Just take it two days at a time. Common words that can all precede the word "DAY" and thus describe a recognized event are stacked in the puzzle so that they can be considered paired.
16. *Furry forecaster? : GROUNDHOG. A burrowing rodent (Marmota monax), also known as the woodchuck, whistle-pig, or land-beaver. Nobody knows how much wood it would chuck. GROUNDHOG DAY. Feb 2. when the eponymous rodent is coaxed from its cozy hole in the ground to give a mostly inaccurate prediction about the duration of winter. Also the title and subject of a now classic movie.
27. *Jolly Roger, e.g. : FLAG. A piece of fabric with a distinctive design that is used as a symbol, a signaling device, or decoration. Roger's design is more distinctive than jolly.
FLAG DAY. Celebrated on June 14th, commemorates the adoption of the U.S. Flag by the 2nd Continental Congress on that day in 1777.
30. *Formal beginning : INAUGURATION. The start of a new operation, practice or administration. INAUGURATION DAY. The day of the official swearing in of a U. S. president to signal the beginning of her/his administration.
45. *Freedom from control : INDEPENDENCE. A condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population exercise self-government. INDEPENDENCE DAY. Celebrated in the U.S. on July 4th, commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence of the 13 colonies from the Kingdom of Great Britain. The rest is history.
48. *Leave the ground : LEAP. Launch oneself skyward, an activity that before which one should generally look.
LEAP DAY. Feb 29, the added day in leap year, making the most miserable month even longer. Big mistake, IMHO.
61. Big name in publishing, and a visual hint to the three adjacent pairs of answers to starred clues : DOUBLEDAY. Famous publiher of many fiction and non-fiction books. DOUBLE DAY. Two days at a time, or one day at a time if you live under a double star.
Hi, gang, it's JzB guiding you though a nifty DOUBLE play turned by our fearless leader and dynamic soloist. Come along, let's make a day [or two] of it.
My wife burst into the tower chamber and found me naked in bed with the girl I had just deflowered.
While she screamed, calling me and the poor girl, who huddled terrified under the sheets, the most vile names imaginable, I poured myself a large flagon of sweet Dornish wine and sipped it, leaning against the mantle until her rage was spent.
"Klarys," I said, you know I truly love you, but occasionally I get a taste for something young, fresh and tender; and in my time as King, I've learned that when I want something, I can usually have it.
"What I want from you is to make yourself presentable, for you will be at my side tonight, smiling, beautiful, and very much my Queen, when we entertain that disgusting envoy from Braavos, and just now you do look a sight."
I turned to the girl and said, "Sweetling, my wife appears to be feeling neglected, so I shall spend the night in her chamber; but you won't be lonesome: a maid from the Summer Isles will stay with you -- and, mayhaps teach you a thing or two.
It's just a bit above freezing today, with snow coming down, not too heavy. Last year there was no winter, to speak of. The cherry trees bloomed a full month early, only to be nipped after a few weeks by a late frost. A year ago today it was like high summer. We had dinner on the patio, some drinks, and after dusk made love in the moonlight.
She asked what the unseasonal weather meant, and could ask it again had she stayed. She should have stayed. Michigan – at least its weather - is just like her.
Oh my. As I write this, it is 34 degrees, overcast, and a very light snow is falling. Not exactly deep winter, but far from deep spring, so I will have to resort to wishing and hoping.
The vernal equinox symbolizes the reawakening of life after a dormant Winter. From the Druids we get the equinox celebration of Alban Eilir, the Light of the Earth, and also the mysterious Druid's Egg, also known as the Adderstone.
And from John Coltrane we get this.
----( | )----
From me, all you get is this:
~ 1 ~
at equinox
I pray for a time with
light and dark equal
~ 2 ~
serpents gathered
in an ancient right
get stoned together
~ 3 ~
kiss of sun and moon
forests and grass lands wake up
from a Winter's sleep
~ 4 ~
at equinox
old man sees the all of the world
in black and white
~ 5 ~
white goose black moose
share the sun and the moon
together
~ 6 ~
equinox
time of joy for orb weaver
insects on the way
UPDATE: inspired by Ese, I checked my yard and found my crocuses were up
~ 7 ~ equinox a perfect time for flirting with some little blondes
I did a little research and confirmed that the horsetail is commonly found in Michigan, and a wide variety of other places. I guess I need to examine my weeds more carefully. Horsetail is a primitive plant that reproduces by spores, not seeds, and spreads underground via rhizomes. Both moose and goose will eat horsetail, though "horsetail stems and branches are covered with silicate deposits that keep many animals from eating them." [from the website linked above] Interestingly, though, the plant is toxic to sheep, cows and horses. This is not the European purple horsetail flower.
Writing haiku is a discipline. I am embracing difficult prompts as an exercise, in the hope of improving basic skills. Rather like playing scales and etudes. The results might not always be ready for prime time, but I offer them to you, such as they are.
Late thought update: here are the inspirational haiku by Sono-jo, a haiku poetess and pupil of Buson:
te wo nobete ori-yuku haru no kusaki kani as I go along, stretching out my hand and plucking the grasses and leaves of Spring
And from Kristjaan:
touching the spikes of green barley covered with raindrops - refreshing tears
__\|/__\|/__\|/__
My humble offerings
~ 1 ~
rain covered barley in a pot with onions soup starter
~ 2 ~
cut on my finger from the sharp edge of a leaf green barley revenge
~ 3 ~
old man malts green barley still knows what to do
~ 4 ~
moose and goose walking stretch out their long necks to pluck green barley
~ 5 ~
amid the green barley orb weaver stakes out her claim in woven silk
Cherries are grown commercially in the northwest region of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Blossoms generally burst forth in early May. Since this is outside of the local tourist season, few get the chance to see them. Last year, the winter was extremely mild, and March was almost summery. The Cherry trees blossomed in the first week of April - a full month early - and the crop was severely damaged by one night of late hard frost. It snowed again today here in lower Michigan. No early spring this year, it seems, and for cherry lovers, that might be a blessing.
As near as I can tell, Michigan cherries have white, not pink blossoms.
I took a walk this afternoon in a wetland preserve near my house. Saw many small birds flitting around and heard the joyful sound of their chirping. No swallows, that I know of, but I was able to get a few pictures of ducks and geese. Deer wander through there too, but, alas, no moose.
Here's goose
Back to swallows.
As a child in Catholic school I learned that migrating swallows return to the Mission of San Juan Capistrano in California every year on March 19th, St Joseph's Day
One of my most favorite creatures is the monarchbutterfly. On this day of Nehane I find this innocent haiku by Kakimoto now to be steeped in bitter irony.
on the human body butterflies are assembling - Nirvana Festival
And this one by Narayanan Raghunathan now just seems sad.
Nirvana Ceremony - a butterfly buddha flutters among human buddhas
This morning my lovely wife alerted me to this article about the strange, precipitous and tragic decline in the monarch butterfly population, down 59% from last year and over 90% from 1997. We will do our small part by planting a butterfly garden, and specifically including milkweed, the major food source for the monarch butterfly.
~ 1 ~
within the shrine's fence what a sad surprise to find a single monarch
~ 2 ~
monarchs suddenly multiplied by fifteenfold nirvana
~ 3 ~
nirvana awaits the passing of the monarchs old man plants milkweed
~ 4 ~
moose and goose foraging for other forbs milkweed for monarchs
~ 5 ~
orb weaver migrates leaves milkweed for the monarchs buddha smiles
I see not everyone is a fan of moose and goose. Ah, well - they are my friends and I hope to have them help us Carpe every Diem. Spider, on the other hand, seems to be highly regarded, which is bit weird, since spiders creep me out. Another mystery of life, I guess.
We had snow flurries today, but no accumulation. I almost went out and took a picture of the last little patch of snow in my yard, but it was dirty and unattractive. Then I see from Kristjaan's post that that is more or less the point. Well, its dark now, and I lost my chance.
~ 1 ~
last snow in the corner of my yard no longer pristine
~ 2 ~
the old man sits on the edge of his bed remembers his sins
~ 3 ~
snowman melts children run across the field time to play baseball
~ 4 ~
last snow melts flows into the icy pond for moose and goose
~ 5 ~
end of winter new spider floats on the breeze with the last snow flakes
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
Here is my teaser, with an added senryu, to make it a bit of a haibun.
Arya lifted her gaze from the dead man and his dead dog. Jaqen H'ghar was leaning up against the side of the Wailing Tower.
young girl's revenge
cruel justice meted out
by a faceless man
If you know anything about George. R. R. Martin's book series A Song of Ice and Fire, or the derived HBO series Game of Thrones, you'll recognize these characters. This snippet is from the end of one of the Arya chapters on Pg 566 of the paperback edition of the second book, A Clash of Kings, and takes place during Arya's time at Harrenhal.
I've read the currently existing 5 books, and this is my 2nd time through. I'm on Pg 152, but my random opening took me to Pg 566, which is only about 1/3 filled with text. The sentences immediately preceding this snippet are quite gruesome.
One thing I learned in preparing for this entry is that the camellia is a long-lived flowering tree, and a member of the same plant family as the tea plant, Camellia sinensis.
Century Old Camellia japonica ‘Sarah Frost’ still Blooming and Growing
