Egret

DSCN0828 crp sepia shad
Originally uploaded by jhhymas

This fellow was at the Japanese Friendship Garden scoring morsels in the pond for a long time today. We had our annual haiku reading, a haiku workshop and a really good visit with people who came from Southern California, Walnut Creek, Livermore and all over. I read some of the prose pieces I have been working on, that are lightly studded with haiku. Three other people were featured readers and we had a round-the-circle open reading afterwards. These prose pieces interspersed with related (but not containing the same information) haiku are called haibun, a word from Japan formed from the word haiku the same way as the word haiga, which means artwork with haiku as part of the art.
More and more, my respect for the haiku tradition--and the possibilties of expression in this simple-seeming art form-- is growing. And so to bed.

December Light

History Park in Early December
Originally uploaded by jhhymas

This was a lovely foggy day at San Jose History Park and perfect for infrared photography. I am learning what has to be done to make the pictures look the way I want them. I took the color cast out and increased the contrast in Piknik, a nifty online free photo-fixing program that anyone can use on the Web without installing it on her own computer.

I know you don't care what I had for lunch (not so into me, are you?) but coming downstairs to get a sandwich, I lost my focus (I was complaining to my husband downstairs about a phone call) and tumbled down half a flight of stairs. Fortunately, I didn't break anything, but I have huge bruises (the major one will darken my leg clear to my foot) and I know I will be stiff, stiff, stiff, in the morning. Oh, not THAT stiff, but very sore. Good night.