spirit clouds drifting with the light say goodbye
Another recent sunset at Ricketts Point. We never know what will happen until the last few minutes of sunset.
floating
Tag: clouds
Mount Fuji
fuji san shinkansen window look up up up
My first glimpse of Mount Fuji was in May 1990 from a shinkansen window as we travelled from Hiroshima to Odawarra. I almost missed it because of the distractions flashing past outside the train as it hurtled along. Suddenly the cloud cleared and through the smog Japan’s sacred mountain appeared, hovering in the sky. Close up there is something awe inspiring about Fuji San
water cycle
falling rain
escaping through drains
to the sea
The water cycle comes to life in my response to Ronovans Haiku Challenge words Drain and Rain. See many other responses from around the world at Ronovan Writes #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #293 Drain&Rain
The images are from top to bottom 1. Rain in Sydney at Circular Quay. 2 and 3. Two Stormwater drains carrying rain water from our local streets down to Port Phillip Bay. Environmentally this is a disaster to the life systems in the bay unless there are filters on the drain outlets and they are effectively managed. Neither of these drains are filtered hence unimaginable items go into the bay. 4 and 5 Storm clouds forming over the bay.
wintery weather
winter evening shrouds
smoke like cloud
Some bad weather coming up from down in the Southern Ocean a few weeks back. Usually we get a lot of rain in Melbourne when clouds this dark arrive. The sun was setting across Port Phillip Bay as we looked out towards Geelong with apprehension. This is my contribution to Ronovan Writes #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #276 Smoke&Water by hitting this link you can see all the other creative haiku shared from around the world.
When I first saw this challenge I thought Ronovan was calling out to all those Baby Boomer Rockers from the 1960-70’s. My memory went back to Smoke on the Water, the classic Deep Purple anthem written one confusing night on Lake Geneva. So I came up with another themed haiku for all those old Rockers.
smoke on the water
hotel burns
I have a Japanese friend who thinks he may have been at the Osaka leg of the famous Made in Japan tour on the 15th August 1972. They don’t create music like this any more. Do they?
fuji san
glimpse of white
shedding winter snow
fuji san
Mount Fuji seen from across Lake Hakone. At the top of that wooded mountain in the middle foreground one looks down across a valley to the city of Gotemba nestled at the base of Fuji and then your eyes are drawn upwards to the majesty of that Japanese icon. More images of that view at sunset will come.
Returning
shades of grey
reflecting coldness
lonely times
In the depths of Winter 2019 Haiku Hound returns to the blogging world. I have missed my blogging and the wonderful bloggers I have met. Nia of sunset and cat blogging fame from Istanbul recently prompted me to return. Thank you Nia. Much has happened since Maggie and I bid Sayonara in November 2017. Plans rarely come to fruition and time gathers speed when it seems to be unplanned. My novel is still drifting along as a draft and has had many about to starts. Another is just around the corner. Maggie is now two and a half years old and finally beginning to settle down. Most of my time and energy has been used up on Maggie who has had a series of health issues caused by her seasons. We decided to trial a contraceptive implant to control her hormones 6 months ago and she has blossomed. More posts will follow and cover the last missing months.
World politics has reached new depressing lows in these past 20 months. Australians recently re-elected a conservative government that has no heart, no policies and no understanding of our country and refuses to acknowledge the dangers of Climate Change . As for Trump’s tweets and Boris I will remain silent. A glimmer of hope for the future comes from New Zealand, where Jacinda Ardern leads with compassion and honesty.
sayonara
writing calls
sayonara now
for a while
These latest sunset images are from two nights ago when the sun bade its glorious daily farewell to us at Ricketts Point. I have to bid a temporary farewell to you my blogging friends who have been sharing such creative and educational haiku plus poetry, photos and stories with me during these 3 years I have been blogging.
I have to stop procrastinating about completing the initial draft of my first novel. That means I have to seriously rationalise my time and that in turn means minimising my time spent on the internet. Thus a halt to blogs and blogging and all those other fascinating things the internet throws up daily.
So its Sayonara, a longer goodbye as the Japanese would say until we meet again in WordPress space towards the end of our HOT Australian Summer in 2018.
lake
journey break
lake provides calmness
and surprise
Whenever we travel to the Grampians or very occasionally Adelaide a lunch or coffee break at Lake Wendouree in Ballarat is planned. Charlie had many picnics by the lake and now Maggie has experienced her first two. The circumference of the lake is around 6 kilometres and it sits in the heart of this city so there are always joggers, dog walkers, cyclists or strollers on the path or adjacent road. Ballarat is the home city of my mother who was born and educated there and my father also went to boarding school there and rowed on the lake. When the Melbourne Olympic games were held in 1956 Lake Wendouree hosted the rowing events. Ballarat is freezing cold in Winter and it usually snows. Spring and Autumn are the best times to experience the city and lake. There are many nesting waterbirds on islands in the lake and this beautiful Cygnet and its sole sibling paddled past while we ate lunch recently.
This is my contribution to RonovanWrites weekly haiku poetry prompt challenge 171 Lake & Calm. To access a multitude of haiku responses to this prompt visit https://ronovanwrites.com/2017/10/16/ronovanwrites-weekly-haiku-poetry-prompt-challenge-171-lakecalm/
golden light
golden rays
casting spring calmness
naturally
The sunsets across Port Phillip bay from Ricketts Point at this time of the year are often golden like this one. We captured these images 4 nights ago. There were many photographers scattered across the point as it was low tide. These two in the images had a camera mounted on a mini tripod right down on the water level. The seagulls as usual glided around as they settled in for the night.
what a view
sharp eyesight
seeks pleasure afar
to excite
Maggie and I went walking down along the Black Rock coast path late yesterday afternoon. She had grown up in the bushland hills North of Melbourne but soon took a liking for the sea. Afghan Hounds are sight hounds and have an amazing ability to spot objects, (often small and furry ) at extreme distances. Her latest tricks down here are climbing up onto rocks along the cliff and looking out to sea or getting up on the seawall to investigate closer. Her fascination for water is becoming obvious with her water bowl foot dipping games at home. Is she thinking of seeing how deep the bay in front of her is? I am glad my Pentax DSLR has anti shake as I was holding Maggie with one hand and manipulating this camera with the other. All the while other walkers and their dogs were passing by. Shadows were deep and the light was failing however we managed to catch a couple of candid shots.
I am finally able to contribute to a double challenge again.
First the image for the one a week Photo Challenge word challenge and this week it is Maggie’s eyesight being extra SHARP. This is my contribution . For this years 52 weekly challenges planned by Cathy and Sandra visit Cathy’s blog at https://nanacathydotcom.wordpress.com/one-a-week-photo-challenge-2017/
Secondly this is my contribution to RonovanWrites weekly haiku poetry prompt challenge 164 Pleasure and Excite. To read all the other haiku responses to Ronovan’s challenge visit https://ronovanwrites.com/2017/08/28/ronovanwrites-weekly-haiku-poetry-prompt-challenge-164-pleasureexcite/
Haiku hound 