WYSIWYG-s

haiku

rock scissors paper

an age-old game people play

I like the rock best

I have been thinking about my friendships and the people I love in this life and what I admire and respect the most, in them all, is WYSIWYG. A computer term to be sure, but one that I like to apply to people. Wysiwyg-s are genuine, they pull no punches, they can tell you what they think honestly but with kindness. They are authentic, sincere and open. Their friendship is to be valued among gems; as my late husband would say, "they are a diamond in a bed of coal."

If you are reading this you are a wysiwyg - I would not have given you access to my blog otherwise. I value the place you all have in my life and want you to know that. In the words of the song, "Stay as sweet as you are, don't let a thing ever change you."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3UEk2axNUw

(WYSIWYG = what you see is what you get)

Supermoon Reflections

sunday haiku

supermoon sinks low
with orange glow of morning
cloud wisp waves goodbye

A lot of fuss in the press about the supermoon. Cloud covered it for most of the evening on Saturday but I did get a peek as I went to bed; without my specs it was fuzzy and somewhat insignificant. However, when I got up on Sunday morning it was setting off to the west and against the navy blue sky it was ethereal and exquisite. I grabbed my camera and went outside in the cold to get some photos.

One of the things about the moon that I love is, wherever we are, we know that those we love are looking at the same moon and it connects us by a thin thread. As my dear friend Lorrin Walker once said, we are attached to those we love, heart to heart, by a thin thread.

Certainly I have a lot of thin threads going out to the japanese people in the form of prayer. In a few moments many of them had their life changed forever. I may hurt with my grief, but I am thankful for my home and familiar things around me for comfort; the tsunami victims do not have either home or family in many cases. Surviving children may be unidentifiable as to who they are. My heart goes out to them.

pray for endurance

for the people of japan

enormous sadness

Middlemarch Warmth

daily haiku

as ice melts ground shows

plants respond to the sun's warmth

my mind and body too

Several days in the 50's and the ice melts on the rivers and creeks; maybe my winter depression will melt away along with it, I sure hope so. The crested wheat grass popped up in the last few days, and if we have rain, the Stars of Bethlehem will show up too - such a lovely harbinger of spring.

The roads are drying out and I am able to drive anywhere I want to again - the only problem being that my brain still has a winter mindset, and I have yet to fully realize the freedom I now have.

The warm weather is bringing insects and animals out once more. A raccon decimated the bird feeder, and as I was sitting outdoors after lunch something tickled my arm pit and I found a young bumblebee there! I managed to get rid of it without being stung. Later I was the subject of numerous "fly-by's" from a couple of early wasps that seemed very interested in my embroidery!

But the real measure of warmth - Snowy the cat napping on her back flaunting her white furry underside. Hmm....I am happy she has been neutered.

I just gave the link to my blog to my dear friend - Sharon.

Sharon - this blog is dedicated to you and what better way to dedicate it than with chocolate!

A chocolate a day

helps you work, rest, and play

when you are tired of chocolate

you are tired of life

you can lead a horse to water

but it will prefer chocolate

work expands to fit

the time you have to eat chocolate

anything that can go wrong will

but then you have chocolate

a bird in the hand

doesn't give you much chocolate

a friend in need

is one who needs chocolate

I think you'll probably get the picture. Take care Sharon and remember

"Life is just a bowl of chocolates"

Chris

February Coldth

Battered weather syndrome

Affects us Montanans this year.

Get hit by minus twenty

and minus twenty six,

followed by a honeymoon period

in the fifties. All sunshine and light.

We revive with new hope

only to be hit once more

by sub-zeroes, wind and snow.

Deja vu all over again

February Warmth

daily haiku

sixty four degrees

have I died and reached heaven

or is it february

Today it reached 64° - a wonderful feeling - I think I may survive the winter! Walking around outdoors on the south side of the house, the sun, in the past few days, revived a few plants such as the little Grape Hyacinths above and a few miniature iris are showing green leaves close to the ground. The hills are almost bare and the driveway turned to mud. Hanging Woman Creek is flowing swiftly and carrying sheets of thin ice down to the beaver dam where they get hung up until liquefying.

As I stood on the bridge I heard a schluffff sound; the sound of ice melting on the bank and falling into the stream. Soon that sound will indicate that carp are back. I hope, like last year, I have the wonder of seeing them mate again. All golden and turning circles for the lady carp.

I wonder if someone will turn gold and spin for me this spring :) One can always hope.

Last Year's Mint

daily haiku

odor of comfort

the smell of mint from my tea

memories of you

Gardening in this arid area is difficult to begin with, but when your well gives you methane water full of salts, that complicates the issue. Over the years I have planted many beautiful annuals and perrenials and lost them to climate or water, and now work with the survivors - daylilies, russian sage, meadow sage and mint.

Today's photo shows dead mint against yesterday's snow. If you crush the leaves between your fingers, the sweet aroma is still there. And so it is with our memories. Death takes the living but the sweetness remains.