Wednesday Medley

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Everything below this line is from the (USA) NationalDayCalendar.com

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NATIONAL HAIKU POETRY DAY – April 17

NATIONAL HAIKU POETRY DAY

Observed annually on April 17, National Haiku Poetry Day encourages all to try their hand in creativity. Haiku poetry is a form of Japanese poetry that is non-rhyming and normally consists of 3 lines with a syllable pattern of 5-7-5. Haiku poems are usually inspired by an element of nature, a season, a moment of beauty or an individual experience or event. Sensory language is used to capture a feeling or image.

From Haiku: This Other World

Richard Wright (1908-1960)

Whitecaps on the bay:

A broken signboard banging

In the April wind.

English haiku does not always follow the strict syllable count found in Japanese haiku. The typical length of haiku found in English language journals is 10-14 syllables, versus the 5-7-5 syllables used in the Japanese language.

HOW TO OBSERVE

Celebrate National Haiku Poetry Day by creating a haiku poem of your own! Post your Haiku poem on social media using #NationalHaikuPoetryDay.

Educators, visit the National Day Calendar® Classroom for a project linked to

National Haiku Day. 

HISTORY

National Haiku Poetry Day was registered by Sari Grandstaff in 2007 and implemented as a project of The Haiku Foundation in 2012.

http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/national-haiku-poetry-day/

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1. Haiku poetry is actually pretty easy to write. Give it a try right here...

Spring has arrived here

In it's glory for all to see

drink in the beauty now!!

I can hardly believe that  the first blast of springtime color has come and gone and today I cut back the dead  blooms to make way for the new!!

I used to teach my third graders to write Haiku... they loved it because it  was  easy and  they just got into it!!!

2. Haiku poetry aside, have you ever written a poem? Will you share it with us? 

When I retired from  teaching in 2003 it just happened to be the year my daughter left home for college..  not great timing!  I suddenly seemed to live in a tomb... I learned quickly to spend my quiet time  with the Lord in praise and worship and I  broke in several journals writing prayer and praise poems to  God.  Those journals are all packed away  and I would  say those words  were  for  He and I alone..anyway.. but I do highly recommend  that  keeping a prayer/ praise journal   is a marvelous way to  dig deeper with  God the Father!!!!

3. Do you have a favorite poet or does poetry usually make you yawn? I love poetry and have taken some classes...I love to find   poetry collections  in old book shops..  I have found books by Whittier, Dickinson, James Whitcomb Riley, Robbie Burns,  and several anthologies of British poets.ie, Browning , and Scott.I got started as a teen  reading Kahlil Gibran.. perhaps his writings more than any one' 's have   formed the Romantic  p.o.v. that  I continually seek in all writing and art!

4. April 17 is National Ellis Island Family History Day, too, Did any of your ancestors or relatives immigrate through Ellis Island from another country?  

I have a great affinity for  all immigrants  who passed through Ellis Island.. although to my knowledge my ancestors too,  arrived  much earlier,  as well as, our host's. Genealogy has always meant  a lot to me.. I find it fascinating to know  the hsitory of my forebears! My  maternal lineage  actually arrived  circa 1620's   through both Plymouth and  the settling of  the  1620  founders of  Northumberland County near the Rappahannock River in the Tidewater Virginia..  Or another line on my mother's side   were sired  by  a Tory  captain fighting for the British during the Revolution.  Captain Blair was fighting in  the battle of King's Mountain in NC. , was  injured, left for dead and  finally made his way to the southern border of SW Virginia where he  eventually erected an iron forge.  He and another  pioneer  established the county of Grayson . My father's lineage were  German immigrants who sailed here, arrived in NC.  Were transported to Randelman County in the  late 1700's and I am 10th generation  ..  I know the  final resting grounds for 7 of those forebears.

5. We also celebrate National Cheeseball Day on April 17th. Do you have a favorite cheeseball recipe to share with us or have cheeseballs basically disappeared from parties today? I stopped making cheese balls a few years back, but I will share this great favorite and hit at parties..

Three-Cheese Walnut Spread

Ingredients:

1/2        cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted

1            package (8 ounces) cream cheese

1/2        cup (2 ounces) crumbled blue cheese

1/2        cup (2 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese

1/8        teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

1            tablespoon snipped fresh parsley

               Apple wedges, pear wedges or assorted crackers (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place walnuts in Small Oval Baker. Bake 18-20 minutes or until lightly toasted.

Meanwhile, in Classic Batter Bowl, microwave cream cheese on HIGH 1 minute or until softened. Add blue cheese, mozzarella cheese and black pepper; mix well.

Remove baker from oven to a cooling rack. Carefully pour walnuts into cheese mixture; mix well. Spoon cheese mixture back into baker, spreading evenly.

Bake 8-10 minutes or until cheese is slightly melted. Garnish with parsley. Place baker on serving platter; surround with apple or pear wedges or assorted crackers, if desired. Serve spread using Spreader.

Yield: 16 servings

This warm spread is delicious!!

6. If you want to share, please tell us something random about your week. 
Yesterday Hubs and I drove a couple of hours up the Shenandoah Valley to Harrisonburg..our intention to find a replacement for my  precious  statuary  boy  I have  had for  almost a decade

The  harsh winds  blew him over  and his head  broke..  I was  heart broken.. and  readily set about finding how to go about  replacing him...  Alas, there were no Lil gardeners to be had,  but I did find a sweet little boy and his puppy!

Ever since my  daughter and grands  moved  so far  north I have  had   garden "Kids" who actually have  salved the wounded heart..

 Yesterday, I also  lost my heart to this handsome  jack rabbit...  I  love rabbits  and he  grabbed my heartstrings right away!!

And  we, also, had lost   the bowl  of our   birdbath to the wind so when we saw this delightful froggy dish,  well, it found it's way into the car, as well..  I'd say it was a very  productive  afternoon!

Now I have many new bedding plants to  get  planted  ... Getting this  back yard ledge  by our garage adorned is always our first attempt to bring the yard back to life in Spring!