She Giggled

Posted on 2020-04-302021-05-08 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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Seen on Green
|Swaying in light wind,
|branches only seem to weep.
|Pink cherry blossoms.

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(reblog), haiga, haiku, photography

Clams in the Clouds

Posted on 2019-04-152021-05-08 by Mellow Curmudgeon

Two haiku (each inspired by a photo of clouds imitating clams) illustrate the synergy between poem and image in a modern haiga (with a photo as the image). Haiku #2 uses a modern kigo (“abalone”). I took the calm photo; Sue Ranscht took the dramatic one.

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Abalone-Shell

Carpe Diem #1645 Abalone (modern kigo)

The cloud images in this post were in an earlier post (for a photography challenge) that emphasized synergy between pastel pink and green. Now I am responding to a haiku challenge with emphasis on synergy between poem and image in a modern haiga (with a photo as the image). Haiku #2 uses the modern kigo abalone.

To those who have not seen many nacreous clouds, the poems’ metaphors might seem far-fetched. Presenting the photos along with the poems they inspired may reassure readers willing to trust that the photographers refrained from deceptive editing. I took the calm photo; Sue Ranscht took the dramatic one.

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Clams in the Clouds #1
|Serene clouds
|give mother-of-pearl
|to old eyes.

Clams in the Clouds #2
|Molten pewter clouds:
|some are tinted pink or green.
|Abalone shell.

(reblog), haiku, photography

Pastel Synergy

Posted on 2018-09-282019-04-14 by Mellow Curmudgeon

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This post ends with 2 haiku, each inspired by a photo of clouds imitating clams. I took the calm photo; Sue Ranscht took the dramatic one.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Pastel Colors

Tho I usually prefer deeply saturated colors, I love the pastel pink and green sometimes seen in a cloud, when the angles are just right in the triangle formed by the cloud and the sun and the viewer. At my latitude, it is a rare sight. I have had just one chance to photograph the elusive synergy of pastel pink and green:

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Dramatic photos of pink and green in clouds can be seen by searching online for

[mother-of-pearl clouds] or [nacreous clouds].

There is also the marvel by Sue Ranscht that appears below. Fair warning: the image credit links to a post in a series, with a striking image for each episode in a fantasy epic. The series is so addictive that it hooked me despite my aversion to fantasies and impatience with epics.

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Clams in the Clouds #1
|Serene clouds
|give mother-of-pearl
|to old eyes.

Clams in the Clouds #2
|Molten pewter clouds:
|some are tinted pink or green.
|Abalone shell.

flowers, humor, photography

Vibrant Synergy

Posted on 2018-09-222022-06-28 by Mellow Curmudgeon

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Vibrant Colors

I like the synergy when a few good things up their game by working together, as with peanuts and chocolate. When they do not clash, bright colors can work together in vibrant synergy.

Pink and Green:

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Magenta and Yellow (with a bee):

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With help from blue and green, the pink and yellow flowers in the following photo team up to illustrate a deep truth about statistics. Really.

Outside of CFFC, I posted the photo along with a beautiful image found on the web that espresses the same deep truth in another way. Both ways have no equations, no jargon, and no saturated fat. Click on the photo to see the details.

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baseball, flowers, haiku, humor, photography

Orange and Blue

Posted on 2015-10-242018-05-21 by Mellow Curmudgeon

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I had no interest in baseball during my misspent youth. My late wife had some interest in it, her interest was contagious, and we had become casual fans of the NY Mets by the time they won their 2nd World Series in 1986. With stamina unthinkable today, we saw the sights in Washington DC by day and watched much of the 1986 World Series by night, on the big TV in our motel room. There were no games on the nights of travel days, but we managed.

While fans of the NY Yankees got to see many more wins over the years, Mets fans got to see more strategy because there is no designated hitter in the National League. A great baseball team has an unusual combination of strategic leadership, individual initiative, and teamwork. It is like a great army, but nobody gets killed. Moreover, a not-great team can try again next year.

Tho definitely not a great team in most years, the Mets did and do have great colors: a strong orange and a strong blue, much like the colors in my photo. Many fond memories of 1986 were refreshed by seeing orange and blue on a great postseason team in 2015, in addition to seeing them on foliage walks.

October is blessed with a riot of reds and yellows (and some persistent bright greens), as well as the glorious oranges of many of the sugar maples (Acer saccharum), some of the red maples (Acer rubrum), and NY Mets uniforms (but only in a few special years). One color I seldom see in October is pink. In 2015 I saw that also.

Willful Cactus
|My “Christmas” cactus
|blooms whenever it pleases.
|Pink for Halloween!