Thought Prints

Carpe Diem #1464 wind in the verdure (aoarashi) While most of the farmers in the community of my childhood grew cotton, other crops were grown, too.  A field of milo was usually planted by Tommy Thompson across the road north of our house.  The field east of our house was usually corn planted by Tommy's brother, Floyd.  Another brother lived west of our place about a kilometer.  His name was Buford but he raised more sheep than crops.  The road's name was and is Thompson Lane. half grown corn winds tickling each long leaf chasing a dog ©    petra domina Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI   Looking northeast from our front porch.  Both fields are beyond the trees.

Carpe Diem's Renga Challenge #2 logged tree Here the six (6) haiku to use to use to complete the renga challenge were written by  © Basho (Tr. Jane Reichhold). Logged Tree (I couldn't retrieve the owner of this image. If you know the owner or are the owner of this image please let me know) the blue sea in waves smelling of saké tonight's full moon  © Basho silhouetting the fishermen lowering their sails ©  petra domina rainy season sea glow lights held up by the night watchman © Basho slightly swaying the light with his rain soaked arm  ©  petra domina early summer rain the green of a rock cypress lasting how long  © Basho harvesting hydrangea leaves   ama-cha for kan-butsu-e ©  petra domina still alive under the slightness of my hat enjoying the coolness © Basho sultry air heavy with the racket of cicadas ©  petra domina ...

Carpe Diem #1463 old bush warbler (oiuguisu) bush warbler skips across the patio serenading me ©    petra domina Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI   Little Yellow Warbler

Carpe Diem #1462 thin clothes (usumono) Growing up on a cotton farm in Texas summers were hot and long.  Crops were tended by hand in those days.  Weeds were hoed from the rows of plants.  Later in the season the cotton fibers would be pulled by hand, one boll at a time.  The black sandy loam soil would become hot to the touch adding to the heat.  My parents, sisters and neighbors would work together in the fields.  At times they would chat back and forth.  Sister would flirt with the neighbor boy.  Someone would tell a joke just to break the drudgery.  A truck waited at the end of the field under a shade tree if there was one.  There would sit a big, galvanized can of water with a solid chunk of ice.  The ice might last till noon.  The workers all wore hats or bonnets, long pants and long sleeved shirts to avoid sunburns. snow white field glistening in the summer sun thinly clad vixen ©    pet...

Carpe Diem #1461 waterfall (taki) In this world there are so many different waterfalls.  The almost quiet waterfalls of a gentle brook.  The thunderous ones such as Victoria Falls or Niagara Falls.  My old garden had a small waterfall we had made.  Each and every waterfall with its own voice. cool mist nourishes delicate ferns a waterfall sings ©    petra domina Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI    

Carpe Diem #1460 heat at zenith (hizakari) searing sunrays perspiration covered brow pushing to freedom horrified screams punctuating lost dreams ©    petra domina Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI  

Carpe Diem Crossroads #12 young birds are raised Our most gracious host for this group has given to us another challenge. "... The task is to create a so called "fusion"-haiku from the given haiku. With that task you create a symbiosis between the two haiku."  This is going to be extra challenging for me as just yesterday a young mockingbird was learning to fly.  It landed in our large container garden.  It seemed lost.  I moved to close to it and away it awkwardly flew.  The young wings were carrying it only a meter or two with each attempt.  If was, however, quickly into the road.  Before I could rise and get to the bird a car passed over it.  Fortunately no wheel made contact.  Four or five more attempts had the bird across the street and to safety.  Within minutes it had moved out of sight completely. fountain trickles hedge branches conceal the young white tipped wings falter ©    petra domina Her...

Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #38 A Trip Along Memory Lane #1 Carpe Diem Special How happy! Bathing in the tub full to overflowing  The above one line poem by Sumitaku Kenshin (1961-1987) really sent me down memory lane.  Until I was a teenager my family lived on a farm.  The year Sumitaku Kenshin was born, my family moved "in town".  That move brought us into a new age, indoor plumbing.  Until that time there was a galvanized tub for baths and a path for other bodily necessities. Baths were taken on the screened in back porch during the summer months.  There would be 3 to 4 inches of water in the tub.  Water drawn from the well just outside the house.  Some of the water would be heated in the teakettle on the stove in the kitchen.  Youngest child would bath first.  Then up through the ages of the children.  Daddy was always the last.  In the same 3 to 4 inches of water.  Once baths were done, the tub was o...

Carpe Diem #1459 evening lull (yuunagi) My Granny grew up in the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee.   Her father died when she was just a teen.  Being the oldest of several children she 'hired out' from that time forward.  I remember her saying she worked as a nanny and in a nearby canning factory.  She spoke of life in those mountains.  Two of her memories have stuck in my mind, hillsides covered in blooms of mountain laurel and the hour or so of twilight each evening. blazing orb slips behind the mountain twilight settles across the valley with a sigh of relief ©    petra domina Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI  

Carpe Diem #1458 short night (mijikayo) listening footfalls of youth returning late on this short night ©    petra domina Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI  

Carpe Diem #1457 luxurance (shigeri) nodding in the spring breeze bluebonnets in the field of flowers and cactus the longhorn grazes ©    petra domina Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI   4/9/2018 taken near our home in Round Rock, TX

Carpe Diem #1456 sweetfish (ayu) silver flashes swimming against the current sweetfish heading home ©    petra domina Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI  

Carpe Diem #1455 half-year's end festival (nagoshi) Half full, half empty.  Half gone, half to go.  Which are you?  Do you regret what you do not have or relish every tiny thing that you call yours?  Do you spend time looking back, looking forward of working to live in the minute?   celebrations valley filled with sounds of joy school bells ring ©    petra domina Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI