Things start early at our house, well before the sun comes up.
The cats cry to be fed, the pup wants a walk.
Gym clothes are missing. Permission slips need to be signed.

It's Wednesday, right smack-dab in the middle of the week, and we try to wipe the slate clean and call it morning.

Haiku 10

Wednesday rise and shine
with leftover Easter eggs
Each bite a fresh start

Sometimes when you're in a hurry there's nothing like a little time on the trail to slow you down.
Especially if a caterpillar's in your way.

Haiku 9

Today rushes by
This caterpillar comma
says hold up, slow down

I get a bad case of poison ivy nearly every spring — and it's usually thanks to my dogs or cats.
They go stomping through the woods, break the tender stalks and leaves, and come home dripping with the toxic oil.
I pet them. Naturally. That's just what I do.

It is hard to maintain suspicion, skepticism, fear or anger on a morning walk but poison ivy doesn't bring out the best in a girl.

Haiku 8

Oh, poison ivy —
fresh and pretty but so mean,
dusting the dog's coat.

Public art is nothing so much as a concrete expression of hope —
that beauty still matters, even in this mad, mad world…
that we as people can come together around it…
that there is value in pausing and breathing and taking note.

These pretty strings of glass buoys in a canal in Scottsdale said all that to me.

Haiku 7

Glass, light, reflection
punctuate the waterway,
say: pause, stop, wow, why.

A weekend away is made evermore potent if palm trees are involved.
Don't you think?

Haiku 6

Palm tree as symbol:
Nothing that I have to do
except write haiku

To me, hiking is the ultimate in multi-tasking:
Take in fresh air? Check.
Get exercise? Check.
Absorb beauty? Roger that.
Mediate? Ooom.
Commune with companions? Yep.
And on and on.
I love how it both grounds me and sets me free.
Today was no exception.

Haiku 5

Saguaro reaching
for the available sky.
No need for deep roots.

This morning I flew to Phoenix for a little work and a little pleasure.
It was dark when I left Austin and brightening when the high desert came into view.
To me, there is nothing like an airplane ride (even an airplane ride in a cramped regional jet after a long slog through security) to give a gal a fresh perspective.

Haiku 4

Sunrise over wing
World wakes up to day down there
Clear from way up here

We wait and wait and wait for rain around here.
Last night, it came.

Haiku 3

The dry creekbed floods —
one rain changes everything!
A surprised dog swims.

I traveled by bus to Houston today with my daughter and her entire 6th grade.
It was a long and noisy trip, but also a heavy one — we were visiting the Holocaust Museum there.
The students were amazing in the museum — quiet, wide-open, receptive, empathic.
It was a lot to take in, even for the adults in the group, and they did so beautifully.

So, at the end of the day when morning rain had cleared and the doors swung open, it was no wonder that the kids exploded into a nearby park like a flock of birds. It was a sweet and beautiful thing…

Haiku 2

Hundreds of students
School's out and the rain's stopped
Here's spring's candy cane!