Spring Flowers

spring flowers - a big THANK YOU forms in my mind spring weeds - a big THANK YOU forms in my mind spring sunshine - a big THANK YOU forms in my mind ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo fern in spring - a big THANK YOU grows in my heart

Look at more of my Spring Flowers


Read more of my Haiku from April 2006

Continue to my Haiku from May 2006 !!!!!

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Cherry Blossoms

side by side with a good friend - watching cherry blossoms all are flowers from the same tree - peace on earth !

Read more haiku from April 2006

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Addition from Winnie

They are so, so beautiful, the cherry blossoms!

Pink is my favorite color; your photographs are an ambrosial feast for the eyes! We lived just outside of Washington D.C. for a number of years and Cherry Blossom Time was one of the best things about living in the area. I have such lovely memories of walking through acres and acres of delicate, exquisite beauty with my two entranced little girls. The one photograph of the dark pink and white blossoms reminds me of those little girls, who are young women now.



We have always said that they are Snow White and Rose Red; one blonde and blue-eyed like my Scandinavian ancestors, the other with the dark hair, olive skin and black eyes of her father’s Cherokee blood. I am going to send the link to my daughters, I know they will see the same thing in those two flowers. I also know that they will appreciate your words of peace.


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Stone Lanterns

stone lantern - the time it takes to grow old ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo stone lantern - the gracious shades of PINK ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo below cherry blossoms - the stone lantern too smells nice

Look at more photos from this tour to Yonago Flower Park


Stone Lantern (ishi dooroo) in the World Kigo Database



IZUMO KAIDO, the Road to Izumo
. . . YONAGO 米子



Mark Schumacher has more details:
Stone Lanterns

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Shadows

six dots - a shadow racing under water he walks on water - his shadow creates wobbles ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo quiet pond - mountain and forest merge without ripples

Look at more photos from this tour to Yonago Flower Park




Water strider, water boatman, amenbo .. アメンボ、水馬 ... KIGO



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Yonago Flower Park

a sacred mountain in the flower park all the colors of spring

Yonago Flower Park and other scenes of the area

Mt. Daisen, the BIG MOUNTAIN, 1,729 meters above sea level. A volcano cone just like Mt. Fuji, it as been the center of mountain worship in Western Japan for ages.

大山、米子鳥取県

Look at my Photo Album,Yonago April 25, 2006.


Trip to Yonago in 2005



IZUMO KAIDO, the Road to Izumo

. . . YONAGO

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White Peacock

a white peacock under cherry blossoms - visiting the zoo

Flower Viewing at Tsuyama Castle Park, April 2006
津山城の花見　


Kujaku Myo-O, The Peacock Wisdomking
孔雀明王の話



kujaku 孔雀 is not a kigo,
but a topic for haiku.


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Monster

brushing my teeth -
staring at that monster
in the mirror

The dentists suggest to take more time and to use various different angles for the toothbrush ...

Here is another haiku of the toothbursh time

sharing my toothbrush
the huge spider
grinning

>> Thus beginneth another bright summer morning ... :o)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/happyhaiku/message/305

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Comments by my friends

Oh Gabi,
this one made me laugh!
And of course I recalled one of my favorites by Issa:

through what teeth
I have left
autumn's wind whistles


Then I started thinking about my own condition...

vacancy --
dentures
in a glass

Hee hee...
:-)
Lary

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The teeth haiku were all just a little too funny right now. I had oral surgery yesterday and had two teeth and a bunch of bone removed. Issa is just a little too close for comfort!

bruises, bone splinters
blood, will make me
all better

donation to gargantuan
tooth fairy, they say
'less is more'

~ Winnie Cross

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"the teeth
in my hand
seem to smile"

smiling
at my new teeth
in the mirror

Yajushi

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For all of the users of third teeth set, here is a pot with DARUMA to keep them over night !



Happy Haiku about the Teeth Monster

Arita Pottery and Daruma

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More Happy Haiku from April 2006

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Bowing Deeply

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bowing deeply -
the elephant talks
to the ant






Well,
for the Japanese, bowing is a serious matter, not to be taken lightly !

Bowing too deeply will only earn you that secretive smile on a Japanese face, knowing you are again on your hen na gaijin trip, you are just a silly foreigner imitating things you do not know the proper background of.

Employees starting at a company get lessons in bowing, how many degrees in which situation, how long, where to place your hands, how to fold at your hips, how to bend (or not bend) your neck and so on...

When I started learning Japanese Archery (kyuudoo　弓道 ) 30 years back, the first thing sensei tought us was proper bowing. Believe me, it takes some lessons and a lot of muscle ache until you even master the basics.

Later I took lessons with the Ogasawara School of Good Behaviour (小笠原流作法), learning more of bowing for the tea ceremony and other occasions. I still pracitce my bowing every day now ... Doing it in a seated position is even more difficult than standing, believe me.

At most shrines there are illustrated signs of how to properly bow to the gods. (I will take a photo next time.)

最初に二度深くおじぎをします。次に二度柏手(かしわで)を打ち、最後にもう一度深くおじぎをします。
(その際には始めと終わりに軽くおじぎをするとより丁寧です。）


Ogasawara School / English Page

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Here are some LINKS about bowing in Japan

Japanese Etiquette
Bowing (ojigi) is a very important custom in Japan. Japanese people bow all the time. Most commonly, they greet each other by bowing instead of handshaking. It is impolite not to return a bow to whoever bowed to you.
Japanese people tend to become uncomfortable with any physical forms of contact. But they became used to shaking hands with westerners.

Bowing has many functions in one. It expresses the feeling of respect, thanking, apologizing, greeting, and so on.

© About Japan

ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo



Also of importance is the degree of inclination.
The farther forward on inclines, the more reverence one shows to the other. For instance, an entry level employee may bow forward 45 degrees from the waist while the Manager perhaps just 10 degrees. A sales person would bow lower than the customer as the gentlemen in this sales call is doing.

®1999 - 2002 gate 39 Media

ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo

Wikipedia

Bows, called o-jigi, o-rei or rei, are the traditional greeting in Japan.

For bowing in China, see Kowtow.

The Wikipedia has all the details !)

ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo

At Meiji Shrine, Tokyo



The way that worshipers pray in different sects of Shinto vary, but the common etiquette to be observed when praying at a shrine is to bow twice, clap your hands twice, pray and then bow once more. Bowing is a way of showing trust to the gods.

© Meiji Shrine in Tokyo


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Yamazakura

I just had my tea break outside, after two days with almost taifun-like storm conditions.

yamazakura
mukoo no yama ni
ten ten ten

山桜　向こうの山に　点点点


The English does not really go well.

mountain cherries -
in the forest over there
spot, spot, spot


finally the pink in the dark green ...


More haiku from APRIL 2006
俳句俳句俳句　四月

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Organic Haiku

spring morning -
my neighbour down there
spraying apple trees


He is covered in a yellow smelly clowd, which slowly creeps up the hill toward my home.
I run inside and close all the windows.
So much for spring today !


Here in the mountains, they use the word NO CHEMICALS, MU NOOYAKU 無農薬, with a different character, the number six, for
MU む　六.
In other words, spraying six times is still considered NO Chemicals!

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For different reasons, I was checking on organic farming regulations worldwide.

Organic Farming in Europa

A new discussion basis for the EU Organic Regulation is to be presented in April. The previous draft regulation published by the EU Commission at the end of December 2005 attracted strong criticism in large parts of Europe.

www.organic-market.info

ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo

PRINCE CHARLES PROMOTES ORGANIC FARMING IN INDIA

Prince Charles visited the state of Punjab, the Granary of India, at the end of March to give speeches promoting organic farming. He announced the setting up of the Bhumi Vardaan Foundation , which is to support organic agriculture in India. The delegation included financially strong supporters like the Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal.
The British heir to the throne also met organic farmers and agreed to accept processed organic products for his Duchy Originals brand.

www.timesonline.co.uk

Dear Gabi San,
Here's for you may be some food for thought- my reactions to Mr. Charle's gestures.

Modern scientists
introduced chemical farming
and pesticides.

With tails behind the legs
now they run for the organic farming
long known and practised in India.

Winning over the nature
is a ruining proposition-collaborate
and you will get the best.

© Aju Mukhopadhyay, India, 2006

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The Africa Organic Service Center (AOSC)
is currently mainly funded by Hivos (Africa Desk) in the form of institutional support. The AOSC activities started in 2004. The AOSC was initially based in Kampala, Uganda, as an interim solution. Since December 2005, it is based in Dakar, Senegal, with Chido Makunike as the AOSC Coordinator.



The AOSC is involved in several projects, such as the OSEA (Regional Cooperation for Organic Standards and Certification Capacity in East Africa) project funded by SIDA, or the project “Increasing incomes and food security of small farmers in West and Central Africa through export of organic and fair-trade tropical products”, a project implemented by FAO, for which the AOSC coordinator is part of the steering committee.
http://www.ifoam.org/partners/projects/aosc.html

organic farming -
fighting drought, heat, flooding
and the locusts

The Kenya and Africa Saijiki


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Kume no Ume

梅園に　鼻の散歩や　久米の梅 taking a nose walk in the plum park - Kume no Sato ein Spaziergang nur fuer die Nase ! Pflaumenpark in Kume Click to see more photos from 2009!

I wish I could send you some of this smell !
Almost 4000 plum trees, almost in full bloom !

Read more about this great Plum Park in my neighbourhood.
久米の梅の里へどうぞ！


World Kigo Database: Plum (ume)



. My PHOTO ALBUM - Kume Spring 2008 　


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Spring Thunder

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spring thunder -
the rattling window panes
in my kitchen




春雷や
ガラスの響く
台所



The whole valley shaking under the rage of thunder !

... but also we have the knowledge that all this has happened before and will happen again in the cycles of time !


Look at more haiku about the : Window (mado)

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Look at some of those dragons responsible for the thunder !

Soga Shohaku
Takada Keihoo
Ceiling Dragon 02
Ceiling Dragon 01

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shunrai, spring thunder 春雷
kigo for all spring
Thunder is not very common in spring and usually last only briefly. But with their force they can interrupt a peaceful spring scene in many ways. The thunder also shakes the insects awake and we can see more of them after a thunderstorm in spring.
If it rains before we have the first spring thunder farmers believe there will be a good harvest this year.

thunder in spring haru no rai 春の雷（はるのらい）
first thunder, hatsurai 初雷（はつらい）
(first in the new year)

"bringing the insects out", mushidashi 虫出し（むしだし）
thunder that brings the insects out
mushidashi no rai 虫出しの雷（むしだしのらい）


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April the First

First of April, April FOOOOOOL !



April fool !
looking for happiness
outside !



April fool, a kigo in the database

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Read the Archives of March 2006
3月の日記を読んでください

Read the Archives of February 2006
２月の日記を読んでください


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