Two haiku

Mist clings to the land
Under skies of pink and blue--
September sunrise.


What's that mewling?
Is the car's engine purring?
Oh my, a kitten!


This morning, I stopped the car to write down the first haiku. I heard what I thought was a strange bird. After a few moments, I realized it was a cat mewling; and, remembering Pippin, our one-eyed cat, wandering around the car before I left the house, I was afraid he had gotten himself caught up in the car somehow.

I got out and looked, but couldn't see anything. There was very clearly something meowing in the engine compartment, however. I called Amy, but Pippin was at home. It was a kitten. I jacked up the car, but still couldn't get to it or see it. I tried tempting it with a bit of meat from my lunch: no luck. Finally, a mechanic on his way to work stopped and knew where a cat could hide in my engine car--up under the engine block! He crawled on top the engine and reached down behind it and came up with a little, very scared, very angry grey kitten.

Just about then, my father-in-law showed up to help too. I'm rather helpless with these things! I couldn't keep it; we have like eleven pets already. I couldn't turn it loose; it was too young to make it out in the fields on its own. I couldn't put it in my car, because I'm crazy allergic to cats. Finally, I spread out my soft windshield sunshade in the trunk and put it there.

I texted my boss that I'd be late and took the kitten to the animal shelter in Kirksville. They weren't open, but finally agreed to take the kitten when I explained my plight. What a morning!

Cornfest haiku

Funnel cakes, lemon
Shake-ups--summer flavors sour'd
By flat Elvis songs

Ukulele Haiku

Tiny, four-stringed thing
I can't seem to stop smiling
At this dancing flea

Winter Haiku

Silent snow and ice
Are everywhere--how noisy
My heartbeat, my breath!

Haiku

Swirling around me,
Morning wind whispers of snow;
I hurry inside.

1000 Hills Haiku

Bright, twinkling ripples
Light blown by the summer wind
Lapping autumn shores

We took the kids out to Thousand Hills State Park yesterday after hitting the Kirksville Farmer's Market and doing some shopping. It was a nearly perfect day: a light breeze was blowing, the sun shone in a cloudless, deep blue sky, and the temperature hovered around eighty degrees. The kids played on the playground while Amy looked for lizards along the edge of the trees, and we took a short walk in the woods, stopping to let the kids see the "cave" along one of the trails.

After a little more playground time, we drove down to the lake and the kids had a ball poking along the shore. Cristofer hunted for unopened mussel shells; I think he was hoping for pearls! The girls and Nick waded in to collect "seaweed" for some inexplicable purpose. It all reminded me how much I love the shore (particularly the ocean, but a lakeshore will do). The sound of the water and the sight of constantly shifting light and shadow are as close to my definition of "peaceful" as anything else I can imagine. The waves beckon, whispering of hidden coves and secret beaches, private worlds waiting to be discovered. Here at the end of the land, the imagination can sail out into the blue, bound for distant shores and exotic destinations.

I'm just a drop in the sea
Painted blue, painted green
And I move with abandon
Impossibly free
So jump into that stream
Take it down to the river
And follow the river to me