YEAR OF THE RAT

Today is the start of The Rat year, 4706.

I was born in a Rat Year.

I have most of the good and not so good aspects. Some good ones are: charming, passionate, practical, hardworking, intelligent, quick witted, well yes i liek tot hink i have these. Not so good are: greedy, miserly, secretive. But it says i will give all to those i love, yes that is true. Especially Monkey or Dragon peple with blue irises, and of course Rat persons with dark eyes like mine!!

Oma will call soon and tell me the never-ending story of my birth. The Baltic was pounding at the house, there were no lights, no power. I was born in candle light. At day break my Mother saw me for the first time. A wild Viking scream filled the room. What is that, take IT away, she yelled. Well, i was covered in balck hair, had black darting eyes. Yes, i looked like a rat. Every morning the midwife would find a rat curled up with me in my cradle. They could not keep it away, well they brough in a huge cat and that was the end of the poor, wee rat. All of this is the truth!!!

My family will go out for a Chinese meal today. i am the only single person, so i will get more of the "Lucky Money" red envelopes. Greedy old me!!!!

It is traditional in China to buy new shoes and clothes, and get a haircut. I will do all that today. Chinese Wu clan colours are red and black, as are the First Nations clans here on the island. My artist friend Sandra designs wonderful First Nations capes in those colours. There is a Red night at the art gallery. I have given them Sandra, HER art and MY haiku cards to display.

Perhaps someone will buy some....greedy again!!!

Some haiku and tanka
Free form, not 5-7-5 or 5-7-5-7-7...just too lazy this morning.

Wild Baltic night
the baby covered in hair
a woman's screamm

A Rat-woman
searching for a Dragon-man
must have blue irises

Chinese New Year
red packets of money
on her door-step
she rushes to the mall
and calls her hairdresser

Her beloved cats
born in the
Dragon, Monkey and Rat years

Have a wonderful Rat year.

Mozart and Shakespear were Rat persons, no wonder i love them so much!!!

CARNIVAL TIME

It is Carnival time and today is the last day. Shrove Tuesday is always fun...all those big, fat pancakes with maple syrup here in Canada. Here on the island not much is realy going on. I will make pancakes for myself, Mischi and Bling. I have a mask i made last year.

I heard that a man in Rio fell under a foat and died. All that crowing adn drinking, well the poor man had fun until the last moment of his life. My prayers go out to his family and friends. "Moderation in all things" is not in affect during Carnival.

My Nordic Uncle went to Carnival in Southern Germany, when he was young and did not return until the Summer.

Shrove Tuesday
pancake after pancake
scent of maple syrup

Carnival floats
song, dance and beads
rainbow on her neck

Behind her mask
her brown eyes blue
Carnival magic

Grey sea and sky
rain on the cedars
on the intenet
Carnival in Rio
colour, music and Samba

HAPPY NEW YEAR OF THE RAT 2008

I am keeping the 12 days of Christmas, so my decorations will stay up until January 6. My NOBO haiku group has exchanged the Japanese traditional greeting card (Nengaijyou). about 60 of us have done this. There is wonderful creativity in these cards. Some are hand-made and all have a New Year haiku on them together with the Japanese New Year greeting (*Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu*) It is great fun to receive these cards each morning. We are an international group of haiku poets and the stamps alone are wondeful. I have been a member of NOBO ( Shiki) since 2000 and have made some dear friends during these past 7 years. The old Shiki and the current NOBO haiku are kept on-line, so it is nice to see them for the last 7 years. The on-line data base is housed in Japan. Do have a look. This is the YEAR of the Rat. I was born in a Rat year, so this year will be special for me!!!! I wish you all a wonderful year, especially my Rat friends!!!! My New Year haiku I sent this one to all NOBO memebers: Midnight bells Rat chases Pig into the night I woke up to the sound of power saws yesterday. The city workers were sawing down two wonderful, old Weeping Wilow trees. I was very destressed. These were wonderful tress with a bench under one of them that i sit on and look out over the sea very often. I will call the city to see why this was done as soon as thier office opens today. Chinese New Year starts on February 7. I always take my family for a Chinese buffet on that day. Weeping willow trees only stumps remain sound of saws The Wheeping willow she sits under it as her tears fall Danish Christmas dinner -- the smell of red cabbage and a fat goose rice pudding with cherry sauce fat marzipan pig prize At 12:01 he sits in last year's bath water

HAPPY CHRISTMAS SEASON

I wish you all a wonderful holiday season.

My family celebrates a Danish Christmas with goose and red cabbage. Dessert is a rice pudding with an almond in it. Whoever gets the almond wins the marzipan pig.

It is Bling's first Christmas, so he is having fun crawling into the boxes and trying to climb up the two Christmas trees in the house. Mischi, being more used to all the glitter and fun is quite calm.

WE had a bit of snow, but it did not stay. Too warm in this rainforest.

In the snow
foot prints melt
in the sun

Snow on cedars
in the rainforest
it slowly washes away

A new nutcraker
i wait at midnight
where is the prince

In the harbour
boats with Christmas lights
sail slowly by

Christmas buffet
too many choices
sound of groaning

In the church
His light bright tonight
Christmas time

HAPPY NOVEMBER

Ah, November is here...it has always been my favourite month along with December, for selfish reasons. My birthday and that of my soul-mates who are also fellow Sags.
A few are scattered around the world. My wish is to have a huge party one year and invite them all to Hawai'i with me so we can all celebrate our birthdays together there. Christmas officially begins in Honolulu right after Thanks giving with the Santa parade. The large hotels do a wonderful job in decorating. Yes, it is a wonderful time!!

My friend Ian MacDougall has shot a few very nice photos on Vancouver Island for you to see here.

Winter begins on December 22, so there are still many weeks of Autumn left to enjoy this colourful season.

Some tanka and haiku for Autumn:

Trees from Italy
yellow leaves falling
near the cedars

In the midst
of yellow and red leaves
a palm tree

The black kitten
chases a grey squirrel
in the misty garden

Purple leaves
of a tree in a field
i know not what kind

Autumn cranberries
beyond ripe for picking
bird's food supply
for the coming Winter
full of vitamin C

A county lane
fencing the horses in
Autumn sunshine

On the lonely path
red and gold leaves
she walks on them
crunching in delight
with a giggle too

In the distance
mountains now touched with
the first snows of Winter
nature has left her
first mark behind

NEW MAN IN MY LIFE

He has black hair and large emerald eyes. He is taking up all my free time. He will not leave my pc alone. He sleeps on my pillow, not his own. He sleep most of the day and eats for the rest. HIs hair is so very soft and long and i wonder if he will loose it like so many men. We do not speak the same language so it is a bit hard to communicate fully. He has very high cheak bones and his eyes have a Mongolian slant to the. Perhaps he is part Hungarian like me? The two males next door speak the same language, so he goes over to Raymond's house a few times a day.
Mischi hisses at him and swats him when he passes by her. He likes to share my coffee too much. He is already hyper, so i try and keep him from doing that. He is very noisy and has looked in all my closets. He has a fondness for shoes, especially designer ones. So, he is a bit vain or perhaps just has a taste for the finer things in life. To celebrate his moving into my house i served my usual celebration bottle or two of Veuve Clicquot and smoked salmon sandwiches, well he did not like the bubbly, but eat most of the salmon. He enjoys my many silk kimona very much, perhaps he is part oriental in orientation. He also has insommnia as i do, but he will not take any sleeping mediction. It is early days yet, i do hope he will fit in with the rest of my household soon. His name is Jet. I love him very much indeed!

HIs black hair shines
in the Autumn misty day
sounds of hissing

On my silk kimona
many long black hairs
rustle of old silk

We share a glass
of the old bubbly wine
in Irish glasses

Mischi, the old female
her blue-green eyes flash
at his large emerald ones

My blue silk pillow
a new shiny black head now
little room for mine

In the long dark night
a new heart beat next to mine
i go to sleep with a smile

TODAY IS AUTUMN (AKI)

I woke up very early this morning for some reason. I have actually slept 7 hours a night for the last couple of months, not today. I then realised it is the first day of Autumn.

Autumn always gives me a restless feeling, perhaps itis my Maygyar DNA. An urge to go off to Winter hunting grounds?

For weeks now it look as if someone has used a paint brush on the trees and bushes during the night. The old oak trees have rusty leaves and the acorns are on the ground.

I found an interesting and useful piece of rock art. Rocks have spaces where you put tea lights inside them. They warm the rocks...a wonderful spot to put cold bare feet.

I have never been to Eastern Canada or the USA for Autumn and one day i really must go and see all those red Maple trees. We do not have mnay of them here.

Autumn haiku and tanka

Rusting oak trees
guarding the harbour entrace
spaces to see through now
the ships pass behind them
to Alaska and Vancouver

Red and yellow leaves
float on the blue ocean
where do they journey to
if i were an insect small
could i catch a ride

On this pacific island
reds and yellow leaves
foat here and settle there
i feel ready to travel
with them right now

A weeping willow
still full of green leaves
the old man's memories

The old man
lights a Churchill
to keep wasps away

Half the boats
in the harbour now gone
more space for my dragonboat
to reach the other island

In Mother's garden
sound of many crickets
singing old songs

In the kitchen
a cricket in a cage
keeping Aki time