My friend and writing companion, Sheri Eichhorn, and I have a lot of fun writing haikus for just about any word. Haiku is a writing pattern of 17 syllables divided into 3 lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables. Here are a few summer time haikus…I wrote a few and so did Sheri.
Shade from the hot sun
Wonderfully delicious
and very welcomed. (VB)
Bright, sunny flower in a garden in Colorado.
Sparkles in the night
There is magic in the air
Twinkling fireflies. (VB)
Fireflies at night
Blinking in the forest glen
It is enchanting.(VB)
This is a unique card, received from a friend.
Bicycles ask us
to be both the passenger
and provide the fuel. (SE)
Two wheels on a frame
Around and around they go
Bicycles are fun.(VB)
Bicycles never
run out of fuel until
you climb off the bike. (SE)
And since this is the summer of the pandemic, a few haikus about that…
A “masked statue” in Golden, CO.
Pandemic. That word...
it hurts to hear it, it hurts
to know—it lives here. (SE)
Global pandemic
Novel coronavirus
Took us by surprise.(VB)
The distance we’ve come
from normal with this virus
feels too much too far. (SE)
Each year I have a book printed of my blog postings as a birthday present to myself. March 31stis my cut off for the previous twelve months so I wanted to record a little of what’s been happening in our world with this global pandemic.
An example of “social distancing.” I watched these two friends keep their distance as they chatted after putting their groceries in their cars. They walked toward each other but stopped to keep at least 6″ distance and visited for several minutes.
Life as we knew it changed dramatically this month (March 2020). About March 13 the WHO (World Health Organization) declared a Pandemic. Within two weeks we went from normal, busy activities to being ordered, on March 27 (State of Minnesota), to “stay at home” to keep the COVID-19 virus from spreading. Restaurants have closed and non-essential businesses have closed. People have been asked to work from home. Schools have gone to online teaching…no children are meeting in schools. Our church services have been cancelled and services are online now.
We’ve learned new terms such as “social distancing” – keeping six feet away from others when talking with or meeting a person, and “flattening the curve” – trying to slow down the number of people who are getting infected with the virus to avoid overloading the medical system. We are learning how to use online video applications such as Zoom to stay connected with others.
Some activities in our personal world right now…jigsaw puzzles, the game Bananagrams. And see “Cool Blue” the blue kangaroo in the window? People are putting stuffed animals in their windows so children can have stuffed animals to look for when they go for walks. I love that idea.
I’m grateful we are allowed to get outside and walk and bike. I walk daily. Gary continues to either bike or walk.
Many of us are experiencing grief…the loss of control in so many areas of our lives. No one knows what comes next. And no one has the answers. This is unprecedented.
There will be many financial repercussions too. This is a difficult story.
I lean on one of my favorite scripture verses:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, Lean not on your own understanding Acknowledge the Lord in all your ways And he will direct your paths. Proverbs 3: 5-6
Coloring is another calming activity for me.
An article I read recently labeled the next generation as “Gen C’s”… C for coronavirus… since the world will never be the same from now on. Gen C’s will only know life after the coronavirus… life after the ”new normal” sets in.
Our world has turned upside down! I wonder what the new normal will be…
