Meditation

(Written yesterday afternoon)

This is the last day of summer, but it is not the ending of anything, nor a corner sharply turned. It is but the wide, slow turning of the year. There will still be summer-blue skies and bursts of warm air. And yet, soon there will be hints of winter's approach: frost on the pumpkin vines or snow on Halloween.

This afternoon, the seed-laden heads of the sunflowers are bowed in patient, harvest-ready, meditation, beneath this year's last sky of summer.

Sunflower Photos by Aisling, September 20, 2007

Poetry Thursday - Sijo (Again!)

Taking a couple of weeks off of Poetry Thursday was apparently not a very good idea. Rather than picking up with my next child's "namesake" poetry, I accidentally researched Sijo again and wrote another. I thought things sounded awfully familiar, but since several of these Asian poetry styles are similar, I didn't realize my mistake until this evening. Since I wrote this today, I will go ahead and share it, and begin with Tanka next week. (If I post Sijo for three times in a row, start to worry about me! *grin*)

So, with all of that said, here is my second attempt at Sijo:

Oh swift running time slow down; I'm leaving unfinished days behind.
I will sit beneath the elm tree, and rest my eyes for a while.
Let the wild grape vines grow, and tie me to this earth while I dream.

~ Aisling, Sept. 20, 2007

I read the following Sijo on the aforementioned website. It takes my breath away.

Oh that I might capture the essence of this deep midwinter night

And fold it softly into the waft of a spring-moon quilt

Then fondly uncoil it the night my beloved returns.
~ Hwang Chin-i (1522-1565) most revered female Korean classical poet

photo by Aisling, September 20, 2007, late summer re-bloom

Last September's Garden...

For the past year, I have been sharing little glimpses of my Quiet Country Life through photos and prose. September 13th was my "One Year Blogiversary." In honor of that, I am sharing a few photos from last September's garden, and a link to my first post on this blog. Thank you for reading!

Read my first post here: The Quiet Country House

photos by Aisling, September 16, 2006: 1) Seashells Cosmos 2) Heavenly Blue Morning Glory 3) Blue Scabiosa "Pincushion Flower"

A Rainy Monday Afternoon...

Hello Friends!

I cannot believe that I have not posted to my blog yet in September. With five children in the house and the school year underway, my role as "social director" and chauffeur has become busier than ever. In addition to getting everyone to their activities, I have one college course this autumn and will be beginning a part time job. I have some training sessions this week, and then next week will begin my role as a one-on-one aide for a student in a nearby school.

I was sorry to miss posting for Poetry Thursday last week, and will have to miss it again this week because of a busy agenda for the day. I hope to resume my exploration of various types of poetry next week.

It is rainy and cool this afternoon. I don't mind. If it was warm and sunny, I would have wanted to spend the morning in the garden instead of indoors doing housework, college course work, and reading with little Tanka. He wrote his name independently for the first time today. It is wobbly and so cute, and some of the letters are "inside out and backwards." (Yes, I dated it and set it aside to save!)

My clock tells me it is about time to make another run to the bus stop, so I'll bring this to a close. I hope to catch up on reading blogs and emails soon! Take care!

Sunflower Field just over the property line, September 8, 2007, photo by Aisling

Full Moons and Perseverance

In January, I decided to write a post each month about the full moon. All year I have struggled to take a good photo with my inadequate equipment, and I have struggled with posting the following day. Certainly next year, I will choose something new to comment on each month, but in the meantime, I will persevere!

My Campfire Girls resource refers to the August full moon as "The Green Corn Moon." This looks more like an orange corn moon to me! Despite the difference in color, this moon did rise over fields of ripening corn, sunflower heads heavy with seeds, and trees lightly touched with autumn color.

One of my favorite things about my family is that we will actually shout to each other in excitement over the beauty of the sunset or the luminous moon. "Look at the pretty moon!" one of us shouted the other evening as this circle of tangerine light penetrated the dark wisps of cloud. Rainbows stir up a lot of excitement too. Yes, it really is a little "uneventful" here in the quiet countryside, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

Poetry Thursday - Sijo

I found the best explanation for writing Sijo here. According to writer Elizabeth St. Jacques, A sijo is a 3-line poem,14 to 15 syllables each, for a total of 44 to 46 syllables. In the first line, a problem or theme is stated. In the second, the idea is developed or the thought is "turned." The third line provides a resolution. According to St. Jacques, the first half of the final line should introduce a "twist by means of a surprise in meaning, sound, tone or other device." She emphasizes that the sijo should end with originality, using either wit, emotion or profound observation. This is a traditional Korean form of poetry, which has recently begun to be explored and adapted by western poets.

Here is my first attempt at writing Sijo:

The little one has a voice like vivid fireworks bursting.
Over-loud and under-modulated, it wakes the dreamers.
To quiet him I tell a story, whispered yet colorful.

Inspiration for this sijo was provided by four-year-old Tanka disturbing, with his very loud voice, the late-morning sleep of three teen-aged girls who stayed up late watching scary movies. Sometimes I think that the name of my blog should imply a house in the quiet countryside, not a quiet house in the country!

photo by Aisling, August 6, 2005, fireworks over the lake

Growing Things...

Our family is growing! After Senryu's year in Taiwan, we heard that our community was having trouble finding host families for the exchange students coming here for the upcoming school year. So, we offered to open our home to one of the students. This evening, we will be bringing our new daughter home. I'll write more after I've had a few days to get to know her. In a nutshell, she is from Turkey and is in between Senryu and Haiku in age. She seems to share their many of their interests, in music and art for example, and we are so eager to welcome her.

photo, wild asters growing in the dry creekbed, by Aisling, August 22, 2007