A Big Minnesota Welcome

(Big Ole, Alexandria, MN, photo copyright 2012, Jane Heitman Healy)

On a vacation to Minnesota this summer, we were heartily welcomed wherever we went, but never more warmly than by the two big guys in Alexandria and Bemidji.

Big Ole, above, spearheads visits by watching over a small park on Lake Agnes' banks and keeping track of Broadway traffic. Born in 1965, he stood as mascot to the Minnesota Pavilion at the New York World's Fair. Big Ole's shield informs us that Alexandria is the birthplace of America. Not what you learned in history class? Me, either, but if you visit Alexandria's Runestone Museum, you may become a believer.

The highlight of the museum is the Kensington Runestone, unearthed by a farmer in rural Alexandria in the 1898. It has been dated back to 1362. The real question is, how did it get there? Did Viking explorers "plant" it? Did they settle in the area for awhile and carve it then? Were they merely passing through? The museum presents evidence to help visitors decide. The gift shop carries many books about the runestone and Vikings in general.

(Kensington Runestone, Alexandria, MN, photo copyright 2012, Jane Heitman Healy)

Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, Babe, greet visitors in Bemidji. Paul Bunyan is a lumberjack of tall tale fame. Paul and Babe are faster and stronger than anyone else! Read more about them at AmericanFolklore.net.

(Paul Bunyan and Babe, Bemidji, photo copyright 2012, Jane Heitman Healy)

Paul and Babe, created for a Winter Carnival, are enjoying their 75th birthdays this year. These senior citizens were placed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1988. If you want to celebrate Paul and Babe, wear plaid on Wednesdays this year like the folks of Bemidji.

What big welcomes have you encountered this summer?

Summer Is...

(http://www.keloland.com/weather/)

Summer is hot!

This summer is also dry. How can we have 41% or more humidity and still face drought conditions?

In spite of that, summer is also flowers...

(copyright 2012 Jane Heitman Healy)

and produce...

(photo http://www.flickr.com/photos/krossbow/4896048130/sizes/m/ by F Delventhal)

and Shakespeare in the park...
(and here's Falls Park, the old mill, before the play.)

(copyright 2012, Jane Heitman Healy)

Summer is upcoming concerts in various parks around town....
First up at Music Monday at McKennan Park on July 16 is the Crabgrass Crew.

and vacation...


and, of course, reading!

(photo http://www.flickr.com/photos/brewbooks/2449070766/in/photostream/ by brewbooks) This is someone else's stack, but you can keep track of my current reading by viewing the Shelfari widget on the right side of the screen.

What defines your summer this year? Do post a comment and let me know!

June's Perfect Summer Days

(Knot Garden, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, copyright 2012, Jane Heitman Healy)

What is your idea of a perfect day?

Here is James Russell Lowell's:

And what is so rare as a day in June?
Then, if ever, come perfect days;
Then Heaven tries earth if it be in tune,
And over it softly her warm ear lays;
Whether we look, or whether we listen,
We hear life murmur, or see it glisten;


(Isle Royale trail, copyright 2008, Jane Heitman Healy)

Every clod feels a stir of might,
An instinct within it that reaches and towers,
And, groping blindly above it for light,
Climbs to a soul in grass and flowers;


(Clematis, copyright 2012, Jane Heitman Healy)

The flush of life may well be seen
Thrilling back over hills and valleys;
The cowslip startles in meadows green,
The buttercup catches the sun in its chalice,
And there's never a leaf nor a blade too mean
To be some happy creature's palace;

(pronghorn antelope, http://www.public-domain-image.com/fauna-animals-public-domain-images-pictures/antelope-pictures/pronghorn-antelope-pictures/pronghorn-antelope-runs-gingerly-across-a-meadow.jpg.html)

The little bird sits at his door in the sun,
Atilt like a blossom among the leaves,
And lets his illumined being o'errun
With the deluge of summer it receives;
His mate feels the eggs beneath her wings,
And the heart in her dumb breast flutters and sings;
He sings to the wide world, and she to her nest,
In the nice ear of Nature which song is the best?

(Song Thrush, © Copyright Brian Robert Marshall and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence, http://www.geograph.org.uk/reuse.php?id=682555)

Read the entire poem, "The Vision Of Sir Launfal," from which these selections were taken. Learn more about James Russell Lowell . And do let me know your idea of a perfect day or which of Nature's songs you think is best.

Haiku: Nature is Our Playground

(© Copyright Rich Daley and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence)

Many of us learned haiku poetry in elementary school because its three-line form reinforces the concept of syllables. Of course, this is pure mechanics. True haiku is usually about a season in nature and is written in the present tense. When you read a haiku, whatever you read about is happening now. Haiku often contains opposing ideas, giving this short poetic form a complexity not immediately evident.

The ancient poetic form began in Japan in the 1600's. The master Basho is still read and highly regarded today.

An example of Basho's haiku:

old pond . . .
a frog leaps in
water’s sound

Frog in garden pond in Davington, Faversham (pam fray) / CC BY-SA 2.0

Here's an example by Issa:

A red morning sky,
For you, snail;
Are you glad about it?

Snail on flowers by Jon Sullivan

Writing haiku well demands that the poet observe quietly and be mindful of all his or her senses.

This by no means reaches the master level, but is my own example:

luscious lilacs burst
into big purple bouquets
spreading scented spring

(copyright 2012, Jane Heitman Healy)

Monika Thorpe / CC BY 2.0

Author Bob Raczka and illustrator Peter H. Reynolds recognized haiku as a poetry form that boys can enjoy. Here is Raczka's introduction to their book Guyku:



The book features each season's outdoor activities, such as kite flying, rock skipping, listening to crickets, and looking at constellations, in haiku form. It's a fun book for all ages of boys AND girls. However, since some girls felt excluded because of the title, this author-illustrator team is at work on a version for girls.

A fun international haiku site for kids is Children's Haiku Garden. You can read haiku written by children around the world and submit your own (if you're a child).

Outside Japan, most haiku is written in English. There's even a Haiku Society of America!

What did you notice about nature today? Can you turn your observations into a haiku? Please share your observations and creativity in the comments. If you need some inspiration, see Round of the Seasons in Japan blog for beautiful pictures of that country and its gardens.

To E-Read, or Not To E-Read

(photo by Rin Zebramädchen, Creative Commons 2.0, http://www.flickr.com/photos/zebramaedchen/4208666959/)

Is that the question? I am one of those people who likes books. Having favorite books around me is like being surrounded by friends. However, books do not equal reading. Like many of you, I read all the time--newspapers in print and online, magazines in print and online, and books, until recently, in print only.

(photo by April Younglove, Creative Commons 2.0, http://www.flickr.com/photos/aprily/2631023481/)

Friends and coworkers got e-readers as gifts. I did not covet them but saw them as convenient gizmos. Besides, the array of choices is overwhelming, and as soon as you buy one, a newer, better model is released. How can you keep up?

This is the 21st Century, though, and we are well into it. Recently, I ran into a great deal and took the e-reader plunge. My local library offers downloadable books, so I'm off and reading. What I discovered is that author, blogger, librarian, and Cengage executive Stephen Abram is right. I credit him with coining the phrase "format agnostic," meaning that the format in which we read doesn't matter, as long as we can read. He was writing about this at least as far back as 2004.

With my first ebook, the story captured me, and I was as hooked in that format as I would have been in traditional print. When I finished that book, I looked online for reviews to see if other readers had similar reactions to the book. I learned then about an advantage to ereading that I hadn't considered--no back jacket flap to give away key plot points! Several reviewers had been disappointed because their print covers gave away too much in advance.

I see the main advantage of an ereader as its ability to hold many books, making it a good choice for travel, as opposed to lugging several print volumes. On the down side, print books never need to be recharged or turned off during flight take off and landing.

How about you? Are you reading print and e? Are you format agnostic, enjoying a good story however it appears?

(photo by Morten Oddvik, Creative Commons 2.0, http://www.flickr.com/photos/mortsan/5127797721/sizes/z/in/photostream/)

Fickle April: National Poetry Month

T.S. Eliot called April "the cruellest month." Geoffrey Chaucer referred to it as a "time of sweet showers." Toubadours Simon & Garfunkel note April as a time "When streams are ripe and swelled with rain." Even cartoonists recognize April's split personality.

I posted this poem on David L. Harrison's Word of the Month site, where I've participated regularly for over a year. A word is chosen each month, and the challenge to poets is to create a poem using that word. This month's word, "detour," seemed just right for April.

Contradiction

April detoured from
luscious lilacs and
sun-soaked skin to
cold cloud cover,
wicked wind and
fiendish frost.
Even the showers shiver.
(copyright 2012, Jane Heitman Healy)

What do you think about April?

Hear Eliot himself read from "The Waste Land":


Hear Chaucer's "General Prologue" to The Canterbury Tales read in Middle English:
The Canterbury Tales - General Prologue -... by poetictouch

An Easter Carol

Sunburst over a crest of a hill by C. E. Price

It's Easter and National Poetry Month! Enjoy this selection from Christina Rossetti. Wishing you Easter joy!

An Easter Carol
by
Christina Rossetti

Spring bursts to-day,
For Christ is risen and all the earth’s at play.

Flash forth, thou Sun,
The rain is over and gone, its work is done.

Winter is past,
Sweet Spring is come at last, is come at last.

Bud, Fig and Vine,
Bud, Olive, fat with fruit and oil and wine.

Break forth this morn
In roses, thou but yesterday a Thorn.

Uplift thy head,
O pure white Lily through the Winter dead.

Beside your dams
Leap and rejoice, you merry-making Lambs.

All Herds and Flocks
Rejoice, all Beasts of thickets and of rocks.

Sing, Creatures, sing,
Angels and Men and Birds and everything.

All notes of Doves
Fill all our world: this is the time of loves.

Botanic Gardens - Easter 2009 (William Murphy) / CC BY-SA 2.0

(This poem is in the public domain.)

I've known about Christina Rossetti since I was in first grade, memorizing her poem "Who Has Seen the Wind?," a poem any prairie child can understand. Read more about Rossetti, a 19th Century poet, here. See more of her poems here.