Cautious Optimism

Posted on 2021-01-242021-01-27 by Mellow Curmudgeon

«Because this is America, the 82-year-old hands that used to pick someone else’s cotton went to the polls and picked her youngest son to be a United States Senator.»

~ Raphael Warnock (newly elected US Senator from Georgia) in his victory speech on 2021-01-05

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The first three weeks of 2021 gave me whiplash.

On 01-05, progressive Democrats displaced Trump toadies by winning both runoff elections for Senate in Georgia. Knowing how badly the Dems had fared in several other Senate races that seemed close at the start of November, I had expected both Warnock and Ossoff to be swept away by a tsunami of dark money pouring into Georgia. But they both won, by narrow margins much like Biden’s margin in Georgia.

Seal_of_Georgia_840x840

Great Seal of the State of Georgia

On 01-06, a mob stormed and trashed the US Capitol. The Capitol Police had been complacent while Trump cultists swarmed into DC. Some of the cops (and some members of Congress) may even have been complicit in the violence that Trump incited. Yes, he did incite it. His mild late admonition to be peaceful was meant to cover his ass, not to walk back his continued strident lying about the urgency of radical action to undo a “stolen” election in Georgia and other states that Biden won narrowly.

Voltaire_DJT_840x1038

On 01-20, Biden took the helm of what remains of the USA. Fortunately, what remains of the USA includes soldiers who remembered what they had sworn to defend and responded to the danger of an insurrection on 01-20 that would be better organized and better armed than on 01-06. The National Guard was out in force.

BidenNatGuard_840x456

For now at least, civil war has been averted. Fireworks were the only explosions on 01-20.

BidenFireworks_840x548

We are not home free. That Trump is a fascist was obvious after truly nonviolent protesters were driven from Lafayette Square to make way for a sleazy photo-op on 2020-06-01. (To some observers, Trump’s fascism was obvious long before then.) And yet, as Molly Ball wrote in TIME for [01-18/01-25]:

Despite his loss, Trump notched millions more votes in 2020 than in 2016 and spurred unprecedented GOP turnout. … The real threat to America may be not that this GOP can’t win elections but that it can.

Whether the USA values constitutional democracy enough to forgo white supremacy and the rest of Trump’s cult will be severely tested over the next few years. Get ready for more whiplash.

Build Back Better
|With luck and hard work,
|we may yet build a future
|better than the past.

Continue reading →

haiku, photography

Rainbow Zen

Posted on 2021-01-15 by Mellow Curmudgeon

The rainbow images that illustrate haiku here are in an elite group. (Wish the images were mine.) The rainbow does not just coexist with whatever else is in the scene; it works with the other elements and lifts a good image to greatness. A bonus awaits those willing to read the notes and credits at the end of this post.

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Dramatic-Skies-31

Arizona Sky
|Wings gliding past arc,
|high above Mogollon Rim:
|raven and rainbow.

Out of Reach
|Hard fingers rise up,
|trying to grasp soft colors
|as the rainbow fades.

No Pots of Gold
|Seek ends of rainbows.
|You will not find them? Okay.
|The quest is enough.

§: Notes and Credits

While there are zillions of fine photos of rainbows, the images used here are in an elite group. (Wish they were mine.) The rainbow does not just coexist with whatever else is in the scene; it works with the other elements and lifts a good image to greatness.

Subsection headings below are also links to pages with more detail.

§§: Harvey Stearn’s Photo of Raven and Rainbow

Click on the link above if U have any interest at all in how dramatic skies can contribute to landscape photos. No interest? Click anyway and U will soon have one. The photo I used comes near the end in a long series of splendid examples.

I first saw this photo as a standout among standouts in a collection curated by Mitch Teemley, whose blog has many great collections alongside funny and/or insightful original content. The idea of a haiku with what became the last line of Arizona Sky came to mind quickly, but writing other lines I liked took longer. Much longer.

§§: Randy Olson’s Photo of Termite Mound and Rainbow

I wrote No Pots of Gold and later found this splendid photo to illustrate it (and inspire some haibun prose). The photo proved to be a gift that keeps on giving; it inspired Out of Reach.

§§: Naturalism in Haiku

Rainbows are one kind of spectrum. There are many other series rather like the somewhat quantitative R-O-Y-G-B-I-V of rainbows, and sometimes it helps to think of those spectra as rainbows. Two examples follow.

This post’s series of haiku exemplifies the spectrum of naturalism in haiku. Like Arizona Sky, many haiku are specific descriptions of a momentary observation. Like No Pots of Gold, some are toward the other extreme: general expressions of attitudes toward life, with at most a metaphorical reference to nature. Out of Reach is in between.

There is also a spectrum of compliance with the 5-7-5 rule, which is revered by some and reviled by others. Like most of my own haiku, the ones in this post comply. Tho I do respect the 5-7-5 rule, I also wrote a haiku that goes 3-2-5 and a haiku with just 2 lines. No apologies.

Don’t submit blindly to restrictions on
subject matter and nuances of form,
for haiku or any other kind of art.
Let the rainbows glow.

haiku, photography, seasons

Hope at Sunrise

Posted on 2021-01-01 by Mellow Curmudgeon

Patrick Jennings’ challenge #259 salutes the sun in the great outdoors. Sunlight is both a source of hope and something to hope for. The same is true in more intimate settings, and the New Year got off to a good start at sunrise on 2021-01-01.

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Hope ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #259

IMG_4803_840x549

Morning Sun on Winter Wreath
|Bird, bow, and berries
|scatter rays of hope to me.
|Today may be good.

haiku, photography

Seeking Solitude

Posted on 2020-12-202020-12-26 by Mellow Curmudgeon

«You may use my image in your post, or any image you have created.» So say the rules of Patrick Jennings’ series of challenges. For challenge #257, I did both at once. (Details are at the end of this post.) The image illustrates my haiku about solitude, which is sometimes an aspiration rather than a condition.

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Solitude ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #257

solitude-overlay-60_ragged-edge_840x408

Not Alone
|Lonely in the crowd
|and weary of empty talk,
|I seek solitude.

Image Notes and Credits

I was intrigued by the landscape’s azure sky in
solitude-landscape_840x404

While the sky is fine just as it is, it is also a good place for an overlay with text or another image.

I had already used a downloaded image of a wearisome crowd to illustrate the first 2 lines of my haiku Not Alone:
cartoon people in the crowd

I decided to illustrate the whole haiku by overlaying the landscape’s sky with the crowd image, opaque at the top and then gradually fading out of sight toward the bottom. By the time I noticed that my photo editor does not support opacity gradients in overlays, I had my heart set on the project. Hmmm. Overall opacity of 60% in the overlay looks good, apart from the sharp horizontal line at the bottom of the overlay. Hmmm. My editor does have enough functionality to make that boundary a little blurry and wobbly, with one eye of Ms Purple Hair left staring at the viewer.

haiku, photography, seasons

Warmth and Light

Posted on 2020-12-06 by Mellow Curmudgeon

Warmth and light are both in short supply outside at this time of year, but the plants in my yard know that relief is on the way. Winter will end and they will rebound. My haiku about their resilience can be a response to Patrick Jennings’ Pic and a Word Challenge #255.

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Warmth ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #255

Spring
|After the winter,
|green plants spring back to savor
|warmth and longer days.

flowers, haiku, photography, seasons

Snow Fall

Posted on 2020-11-21 by Mellow Curmudgeon

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai has the theme “autumn leaves” for November of 2020 and the subtheme “colors of life” for the CDHK episode posted 2020-11-17. Where I live, snow rarely falls before the leaves do. When it does, the resulting colors may foretell the colors of awakening life in the coming spring.

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Carpe Diem #1839 colors of life

SnowBurningBush_840x718

Snow Fall
|Bright white and strong pink:
|early snow on burning bush
|predicts apple blooms.

apple-blooms_840x574

birds, flowers, haiku, humor, photography

Ozzie Had His Head on Straight

Posted on 2020-10-10 by Mellow Curmudgeon

David Eppley’s photo of a bald eagle named Ozzie was among the fan favorites in the Weather Channel’s 2016 Photo Contest. The same excellent photo inspired a haiku that can respond to a CDHK challenge about daffodils. Really.

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Carpe Diem #1832 Narcissus (Daffodils)

DavidEppley_EagleDrinking_840x568

Mythornithology
|When we saw himself,
|Narcissus forgot to drink.
|Eagle had more sense.

Click here to see more images and read interesting facts about flowers in the genus Narcissus (AKA daffodils).

Click here to see more images from the Weather Channel’s 2016 Photo Contest.

haiku, photography

Eight Years and Counting

Posted on 2020-10-02 by Mellow Curmudgeon

The year 2020 is not all bad. Carpe Diem Haiku Kai (which is one of the islands of light in an ocean of darkness) celebrated its eighth anniversary on 2020-10-01. The fine haiku poet who founded and curates CDHK suggested writing “a nice festive haiku or tanka” for the occasion.

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multi-horiz_800x328_Adj_B-25_C+70_S+50

CDHK Celebrates its 8th anniversary – Carpe Diem 1829
Introduction to a new month.

My response salutes the pluralism and progressivism implicit in CDHK. We can honor and build upon the past w/o being confined by it.

Old Pond & Beyond
|To sing of all that’s
|true and good and beautiful,
|write haiku poems.

JM_2017-10-27_BKR_800x442

(reblog), haiku, photography, politics, tanka

Twilight Tanka

Posted on 2020-08-122020-08-18 by Mellow Curmudgeon

In context, the phrase «world slipping into darkness» in a recent challenge refers to serene twilight in the natural world. In the political world, the same phrase has an utterly different mood. What to do? Write a tanka and dig deeper for ways to fight the political world’s descent into darkness.

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The challenge is reblogged (in effect) below. I was jolted by the clash between the serenity of the image and the political interpretation of a phrase in the poem.

ebbing-radiance-near-lions-bay-british-columbia_840x520

In the ebbing radiance
Of a world slipping into darkness
The light is most vivid
Capable of magiks
Unknown to daylight

haiku, mundane miracle, philosophy, photography

Mundane Miracle — Curl

Posted on 2020-08-082020-08-08 by Mellow Curmudgeon

What works for one seeker of enlightenment may or may not work for another. If listening to JS Bach’s Mass in B Minor does not work, consider something quicker and quieter. Pay really close attention to some of the mundane miracles of everyday life.

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Portal ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #243

paper-curl_portal_840x739

One Way Among Many
|Stiff slick paper slides
|between thumb and blade to form
|a spiral portal.

haiku, humor

Then and Now

Posted on 2020-07-23 by Mellow Curmudgeon

From a CDHK challenge: «… create a haiku with the … “baransu” (balance) … technique … through association on the separated lines of the haiku.» The challenge goes on to illustrate how an association with one of the ideas in each line can inspire the next line. (Of course, it is also good to have some unexpected twists between lines.) Here are two balanced haiku for an unbalanced world, with pivotal word(s) highlighted.

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Carpe Diem Exploring The Beauty Of Haiku #1828 Baransu (balance)

66503064_s

Pilgrim Then
|Shinto shrine ritual:
|wash hands before entering.
|Predates pandemic.

A ritual to purify the pilgrim. In Japanese, it's called

Carrier Now
|He rants with no mask.
|Virus-laden spit may fly
|beyond two meters.

8798951 - jet aircraft over the sea

Hmmm. Now spit can fly beyond two megameters.

Image Credits

haiku, humor, language

Squirrely Juxtaposition

Posted on 2020-07-062020-07-06 by Mellow Curmudgeon

In many a haiku poem, there is an unexpected juxtaposition of two contrasting ideas. Much of the fun is in realizing how the ideas fit together in the context of the haiku. Here is a 3-5-3 haiku with two ideas that U might expect to see juxtaposed, but not in this way. I saw what I saw.

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Carpe Diem Exploring The Beauty Of Haiku #1826 Juxtaposition

flying-squirrel_crop_clone_840x294

Both in Sciuridae
|Chipmunk does
|rodenta yoga:
|flying squirrel.

Nerdy 😉 Notes

When I first saw the chipmunk with belly down and legs spread out, it looked remarkably like a flying squirrel on a long glide. Despite being well paid for modeling by seeds that fall from my bird feeder, the chipmunk did not hold the exact position while I fetched and focused the camera.
© Serafima Manekina | 123RF Stock Photo
While at least one yoga position is named for a kind of snake (the “cobra”), no position known to me is named for a kind of squirrel. Too bad. The chipmunk’s “flying squirrel” position is one that even I might be able to master, on the floor if not in the air.
Wanna count syllables? Where I live, the word [squirrel] has one syllable and rhymes with [swirl]. Elsewhere, it can have two syllables. Maybe more.

birds, haiku, photography

Light Show

Posted on 2020-07-02 by Mellow Curmudgeon

The weather is warm and will soon be hot, so I leave my camera behind when I smuggle in a quick walk between chores. As Murphy’s Law predicts, I see something I want to photograph. While the scene itself is common enough, the way light caroms off part of it (and then to me) is not. Oh well, for now I can write a haiku. Maybe later I can get an image close to what I see?

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Red-winged Blackbird
|Sun shines. Bird mutters.
|Perched on power line, flicks tail.
|Day-Glo epaulets.

Hmmm. Buy a download of a promising large image (6750×4500 pixels):

Rotate it. Crop tightly (down to 635×912). Boost saturation and visual contrast. Yes, the result is like the red and gold on black that I saw when the light was just right:

16607712 - male red-winged blackbird (agelaius phoeniceus) perched

Sometimes it takes a good deal of editing to tell the truth.

growing old, haiku, photography, tanka

Going Gray?

Posted on 2020-06-02 by Mellow Curmudgeon

Some photos need color, some are better in grayscale (aka “black and white”), and many are good either way. Here are some examples and a tanka that touches on the symbolism of color in general. Visit the links to see more examples.

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dark-branches_rot+8.1_crop_sat+23_tweak_sat-blu+13_840x1152

If somebody chooses to emphasize form and texture in a photo of bare branches by going to grayscale, I am likely to disagree with (but respect) that choice. So far, I have always wanted to keep color in my own photos, often with minor adjustments in my photo editor. Here are some examples where grayscale would be goofy:

Click on a thumbnail to see the full image in another tab.

While I have no qualms about really needing color in most of my own photos, there is more to be said about the ways various photographers have used color or grayscale. Some examples follow.

A somber poem with grayness as a metaphor has been illustrated by a photo of a mostly gray scene. But it is a color photo, and rightly so. The subtle color is a reminder that the grayness is there in the scene, not an artifact of how the image is displayed.

Of course, I admire the photographic pioneers whose images were compelling despite then-obligatory grayscale. Some classic photos are best left in grayscale anyway, and contemporary photographers may choose partial desaturation. There are even a few photos that benefit from going all the way to true black and white, where every pixel is either pitch black or stark white. Scroll down from the header image in Choices to see an example.

haiku, photography

She Giggled

Posted on 2020-04-302020-05-12 by Mellow Curmudgeon

I am not just being ornery when I avoid common subjects for haiku or photos. Seldom do I see a common subject in a context that tickles my muse with the possibility that I might say something not already said many times, often better than I can say it anyway. On 2020-04-28, my muse giggled at the sight of a popular haiku subject displayed with a cheerful color combination that is special to me.

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IMG_4185_840x495

Seen on Green
|Swaying in light wind,
|branches only seem to weep.
|Pink cherry blossoms.

pink-green-vert_clone_840x1027

flowers, haiku, photography

Haiga with Several Time Scales

Posted on 2020-04-172020-04-17 by Mellow Curmudgeon

Haiku poems commonly deal with events on short time scales. In a split second, the frog jumps into the pond. In minutes, the sunset fades. In days, the cherry blossoms fall. How about decades? How about millennia? They can show up too, along with the split second that a camera’s shutter is open.

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mums-rock_840x674

Sunlit Moment
|Mums are good silk fakes.
|Rock is real and will outlast
|both mums and viewer.

rock_rain-splats_glow_800x582
Dunno why the WordPress algorithm for choosing “Related” posts missed the one that is by far the most closely related: Weather’s Works.