With record warm temperatures in February and the valleys free of snow, I am tempted to go hiking (rather than skiing). The problem is trying to access trails further up in the mountains or in shady valleys. The hillsides themselves may be free of snow but the trails covered in patchy but very slick ice, making footing a concern, especially going downhill.
Midwinter hiking
Ice, snow, and sometimes bare ground
Searching for traction
The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches which I mentioned in my previous post contains a lot of the poet Basho’s prose in addition to his poems. This is very interesting as it allows the reader to understand the context in which each poem was written which I find really helps me appreciate his frame of mind. One thing that struck me was that most all of his poems were written in response to simple, even trivial events or situations. They basically document a stream of consciousness. He changes his clothes; he writes a poem about it. He was invited to a party; he writes a poem about it; he stops for lunch; he writes a poem about it. He failed to come up with any inspiration from a famous site; he writes a poem about that too.
I was thinking about this poetry of the ordinary while walking the other day and found trying to follow suit a good way to acknowledge one of the experiences of my own day:
Hints of spring abound
Under receding snow banks
The smell of dog shit.
[Warning: this post has essentially nothing to do with photography.]
I have for quite a long time had a sporadic interest in haiku poetry; an interest which seems to lie dormant for years only to emerge again. I am in such a period of interest now as I have been reading The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches by that most famous of all ancient haiku poets, Matsuo Basho (translated by Nobuyuki Yuasa).
I occasionally try my own hand at haiku and it is helpful to know that there is more of an “anything goes” attitude about it that I had once thought. That silences some of my own self-criticism about my attempts. Nobody else besides the extremely reassuring Fashion Queen has ever read my haiku but I’m thinking I’ll post a few of my attempts on this blog which has me squirming a bit about it’s reception. (Trust me, I’m a much better photographer than I am a poet.) So, before posting any of my haiku I feel compelled to set the stage with a little background.
Writings about what haiku is and how the Japanese form is best translated into English abound and contain much disagreement. A useful but overly simplistic summary of the traditional form is that a haiku poem consists of 17 syllables in three phrases of 5, 7 and 5 syllables each. In terms of subject matter, haiku contains the juxtaposition (ahem) of two thoughts or images that are different yet related, a seasonal reference, and a subject related to nature (often with only indirect reference to humans).
Suffice it to say that every aspect of the above simplistic description is either not entirely correct, or less strictly adhered to in modern haiku and some translations of the traditional poems. It is also the case that even the ancient poets such as Basho did not always strictly follow the “rules”.
Why does this matter to me? First because taking a looser attitude toward the actual rules allows me to not get hung up on form when I’m trying to appreciate haiku that does not toe the well-defined line. This is certainly the case in The Narrow Road to the Deep North as Yuasa’s translations typically contain four lines and more than 17 syllables. Not only that, but Basho talks a lot about himself and his friend in the included poems in violation of the scant reference to humans idea. It also matters to me because if any of the haiku I post seems to stray from the “true” form, I hope readers will assume I did it on purpose!
With that preamble, I’ll present a haiku in my next post.
Standout
Beartrap Canyon, Montana
2015
Other than the color, this rock looked very much like the others it was nestled among.
What, Me Worry? #2
Bozeman, Montana
2015
Another barefoot shot from our unseasonably warm weather this weekend, this one from Main Street. One of the businesses on Main used to include the phrase “on the sunny side of Main” in their advertising–a feature that is much appreciated in February.
POTD: What, Me Worry? #2 Read More »
What, Me Worry?
Bozeman, Montana
2015
The Fashion Queen sporting the latest in February outdoor attire on our patio yesterday morning. If you ignore the pending summer fire risk, melting ice caps and the like, what’s not to like about climate change?
POTD: What, Me Worry? Read More »
Solid Flow
Beartrap Canyon, Montana
2015
The blurry parts of this photo are actually flowing water, but even the ice maintains a sense of fluidity.
Blind Abstract
Bozeman, Montana
2015
If you read anything at all about the ideal room environment for processing photographs on a computer, you will soon come across the advice that the room lighting should be dim and most of all controlled to a constant level and color temperature. This means that windows, especially ones that are not suitably draped are a no-no. The changing conditions of daylight can affect how photographs and prints look.
So, that’s the advice. The problem is I don’t like working in windowless rooms, so in my studio I have four 4’x5′ windows and a set of full-glass patio doors. I enjoy the full view of the Bridger mountain range these windows provide me. Does it affect my photography work? No doubt, but I can close the blinds to dim the room when necessary and my computer is in the back half of my studio, away from the windows so that helps too. (This doesn’t really help the change in color temperature of the light in the room but then I mostly work in black and white anyway.)
One upside of the windows (besides the great view) is that they wrap around the large work table where I mount and frame prints. The more light the better as far as those activities are concerned. And of course the windows sometimes afford yet another photo opportunity such as today’s POTD.
POTD: Blind Abstract Read More »
