scratch paper haiku, written with the shaft of a feather,
Minneapolis, Minnesota, Summer Solstice 2008, all photos © 2008
by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
ONE 1 frog + 1 toad =
2 reams of good luck
Saw two frogs last weekend. One was this size (a toad). And one looked like this (a frog). The tree frog hopped out of the pond at Summer Solstice and spent some time with us on dry land. I now know the difference between a frog and a toad.
TWO 2 insurance adjusters + 1 friendly couple + 1 smiling contractor =
1 new roof
The toad appeared right as our contractor and two insurance adjusters (a husband and wife team from Kansas) arrived on the scene to inspect the roof. I saw that as a good omen. The toad’s skin looked like the bark of a tree. I thought it was a moth and brushed it off the deck table. It jumped. That’s when I knew it wasn’t a moth. I slid the slick, 4-color binder with the roof estimate under her belly and moved her down under the garden day lilies. She had bright orange skin where the leg meets the body, the same color as the day lilies.
THREE 12 hours + 1 summer storm + 1 green tree frog =
13 moons + 100 rocks + 1 gargantuan chorus
The second frog was a single green tree frog. She strolled proudly by the Solstice fire ring near a tumbled pile of birch, calling back and forth to her friends in the pond. One frog sang out. A few thousand returned the favor. This continued long into the night.
FOUR 1 summer solstice here =
1 winter solstice there
Self-explanatory. We are one world.
FIVE 1 fireside story from 2 shaman lips =
4 Tibetan nagas
Nagas are snake spirits, cobras. They live in or near water — deities of the primal ocean and of mountain springs; also spirits of earth and the realm beneath it — dragons of lakes, ponds, and oceans. They protect the Buddha and like to come up through the feet. Buddha took his sword and cut a valley into 4 parts = 4 Great Nagas. Nagas eat frogs.
SIX 1 drumbeat in the rain =
10 drums in dry heat
It poured in the middle of Solstice. We stood under a cluster of cedars, watched sheets of rain crest over the pond, and kept drumming. The skin of a hand-stretched drum changes tone with the humidity. When the air is saturated with water, one beat can resonate deeply and hang in the air. Close to the fire again, the skin pulls hard at the wood frame. The mallet bounces off hide in short bursts of sound.
SEVEN shedding 1 old skin =
much harder than you think
EIGHT 4 marshmallows + a 2-pronged stick =
3 marshmallows splat on the ground + 1 mean S’more
Hershey’s S’mores (Indoors or Outdoors)
4 graham crackers, broken into halves
2 Hershey’s Milk Chocolate bars (1.55 oz), broken into halves
4 marshmallows
Outdoors: Place chocolate bar half on graham cracker half. Toast marshmallow over grill or campfire (supervise kids if they’re doing this); place over chocolate. Top with second graham cracker half. Gently press together. (Recipe from the cardboard on the inside of a Hershey bar)
Indoors: Place graham cracker half on paper towel; top with chocolate bar half and marshmallow. Microwave at Medium (50%) in 10 second intervals until marshmallow puffs. Immediately top with remaining graham cracker half. Gently press together. Repeat, serve immediately. Makes 4 servings.
NINE 1 alligator + 1 panther =
get along just fine 😉
TEN 25,000 humans + stones aged at 3000 years B.C. + 1 Salisbury Plain =
Summer Solstice at Stonehenge
Some people’s Solstices are way wilder than mine! Stonehenge, on the Salisbury Plain about 90 miles southwest of London, was built over three phases between 3,000 B.C. and 1,600 B.C. Cremated remains and burials continued for at least 500 years. It is estimated that at least 240 people were buried at Stonehenge. More than 750,000 people visit every year.
BONUS: Incubate magic
train whistle marshes
summer solstice grabs the light
and turns it to dark
-posted on red Ravine, Friday, June 27th, 2008
redravine.wordpress.com 