The Source of The Nile

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Carpe Diem #808 Ripon Falls, the source of The Nile?

The host of Carpe Diem has brought us on an amazing journey along The Nile.  The final post has us standing at Ripon Falls the possible source of The Nile.  Over the centuries different explorers have searched for the beginning of this immortal river.  One points one way while another points a different direction.  Don Quixote comes to mind.  Men chasing dreams, searching for the unanswerable.

famed river

flowing from who knows where

 Ripon Falls no more

petra domina

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

another anchor thread

Carpe Diem Special #164 Lolly's 6th "another anchor thread"

Inspiration full text here. 

sifting through

the personal effects

of a spider's web

an autumn wind loosens

another anchor thread

© Laura Williams (a.k.a. Lolly)

This past week there has finally been time to sit on the little patio in the relative cool of mornings.  Taking a simple breakfast while surveying the surroundings is so very refreshing for the soul.  However....  Two mornings this week a visitor slightly changed the access.  The first morning a spider had a web strung from the umbrella pole to the love seat.  The web was disturbed before it was seen.  Must get a photo!

Side tracked from grabbing a camera, a later return found both spider and wed gone!  No sign but one single bit of web.  The second morning had the same color spider with a web woven large enough that access was denied to the patio.  Managed to wiggle around enough to water the flowers.  Again retreated to get the camera and again side tracked.  And again upon return no spider, no web.  Maybe it was a no caffeine illusion.....

 gentle morning breeze

strums the orb weaver wheel spokes

melody of change

petra domina

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

Kilimanjaro

Carpe Diem My favorite haiku by ... #3 Adjei Agyei Baah "peak of Kilimanjaro" 

The following haiku is written by an African poet, Adjei Agyei Baah

one nature’s beauty
observed in a single look
peak of Kilimanjaro 

© Adjei Agyei Baah

Toto's song "Africa" spoke of a beautiful place.  Not a 'Dark', untamed frightening place.  A magical place where a mountain can rise from a savanna filled with creatures large and small.  Vast herds of migrating animals seem to be in the rhythmic beat of the song.  The thunder rolling across the Serengeti as the rains fill the streams.  Turning the streams into raging torrents.  And then all is calm again.

one nature’s beauty
observed in a single look
peak of Kilimanjaro 

                                                                                     © Adjei Agyei Baah

 

snow crowned, Serengeti's 

robe spread wide about her feet

                                                                                       ©  petra domina

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

Jade

Carpe Diem Time Machine #15 Jade

For years the simple jade earrings graced her earlobes.   Old fashioned screw back earrings.  She had not done the cool thing of piercing her ears at the time they were purchased.  Eventually with the encouragement of a friend, she went to the local big box store.  There in the jewelry department the deed was done.  And the screw back and clip on earrings were laid aside.

One evening in a moment of clarity possibly induced by a piña colada or two she came to a realization.  Just because she had two extra holes in her head did not mean she could not wear the screw back earrings.  Oh, the clarity of alcohol moments.

immense

 jade colored landscape

heals
petra domina

©  Janice Adcock 2015

jade green fields
healing the distance between
hate and love

petra domina

 

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

Murchison Falls

Carpe Diem #807 waterfall (reprise): Murchison Falls Uganda

kingly beast scans

his mane glistening with river mist

falls respectful roar

petra domina

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge #97

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge #97

Door County, Lake Michigan, 2015
©  Janice Adcock

Reverse engineering is a process where a completed item is taken apart with the purpose of determining how to copy or improve the item.  Typically a tan renga is started with a 3 line haiku or hokku.  Man o' live.  This week Chèvrefeuille has changed the sequence.  He has given the two 7 syllable ending or response stanzas.  We are to come up with the beginning stanzas. Now, let me see if my slightly addled brain can reverse engineer without having a handful of extra parts...

pastel morning

butterfly and bees take flight

nectar scented mist                          
            (petra domina)

where the waters flow afar

the village glows with sweet plum flowers                            (Shohaku)

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

Lake Victoria - Nyanza

Carpe Diem #806 Lake Victoria

Inspiration text in full can be found here.

Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. The lake was named after Queen Victoria by the explorer John Hanning Speke, the first Briton to document it. Speke accomplished this in 1858, while on an expedition with Richard Francis Burton to locate the source of the Nile River.....

The following is copied from Wikipedia:

Geological cores taken from its bottom show Lake Victoria has dried up completely at least three times since it formed.^[8] These drying cycles are probably related to past ice ages, which were times when precipitation declined globally.^[8] Lake Victoria last dried out 17,300 years ago, and it refilled beginning about 14,700 years ago. Geologically, Lake Victoria is relatively young – about 400,000 years old – and it formed when westward-flowing rivers were dammed by an upthrown crustal block.^[8]

Our host's haiku:

clear cool night
the pale light of the full moon
ripples on Lake Victoria

© Chèvrefeuille

a mystic sound

Nyanza whispers her name

African night breeze

©  Janice 'petra domina' Adcock

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

Did Something Ever ....

The morning's devotional words jumped off the page.  Well, not literally, but figuratively for certain.  "Pray for someone who has never read the Bible."  Having never read the Bible is an alien concept.  One needs to ponder on that.  Is it a child learning to read?  A person never before exposed to the actual Bible?  Is it the Christian that has looked at the words but never really allowed the words to have the real meaning of the Creator's love for all creation?  Certainly the same could be asked of all sacred writings in all beliefs.

With the recent fall and 'mild' concussion, reading is being a treasure right now.  If more than 20 or so minutes are spent reading or writing a headache will begin.  Keep reading or writing and the headache gets worse.  Oh, how one can miss the interaction with other bloggers by reading their posts, their souls.  Which makes one wonder, are all writings both sacred and secular, just blogging from another era?  Thoughts placed on paper, bark, papyrus, clay tablets or the nearest cave wall someone sharing their life experience?  Sharing what life has taught living on this marvelous sphere we call earth?

the cosmic questions

searching through ancient texts

answers begat thought

©  Janice 'petra domina' Adcock

Canadian Highway 17 between Bissett Creek and Deep River, 7/28/2015

When was the first time you read the Bible or other influential text in your life.  I cannot even the first time I read it.

Check our other firsts over at The Spin Cycle

Thanks to The Spin Cycle Host Ginny Marie

White Nile

Carpe Diem #805 White Nile

This month the Carpe Diem Haiku Kai has been journeying in the footsteps of the Pharaohs.  A great deal of learning has been gained about the areas of Africa once ruled by the Pharaohs.  Most of the challenges and the haiku have been missed by me due to my own trip, a "trip" and family responsibilities.  This week my husband and I attempt to get back into a routine.  One such routine is the visiting and commenting of haiku poets work on the Carpe Diem site.

You may have noticed a second trip in quotes.  While visiting Montreal I managed to fall, cutting an area above my left eye and get a bit of a (later diagnosed) concussion.  That bit of trauma leaves me able to read and or write for only about 20 minutes at a sitting without developing a headache.  Today I think my brain cells figured out to just read or write a little then do something else for a while.  Hopefully this will allow me to participate on a more regular basis, visit sites and comment.

mighty rivers meet

 with a turbulent crash

white waters roar

©  Janice 'petra domina' Adcock

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

safflower glow

Carpe Diem #801 Khartoum

The full text for this prompt is available here.

Our host chose a talented modern poet's work as an example!  Bjorn is a frequent contributor to the CDHK group.

safflower field
beneath the periwinkle sky –
sight to dye for

© Björn Rudberg

©  Janice 'petra domina' Adcock 2015

boarding Mesektet

Ra spreads a safflower glow

across his kingdom

kissing each possession

with flaming lips of passion

©  Janice 'petra domina' Adcock 2015

As we watched the glorious sunset bathing everything it touched in a golden beauty, haiku after haiku came to mind.  It was enthralling to watch the light dance on the river at the Soo Locks.  To see an ordinary plume of smoke look like spun yellow gold.  A bridge turn from a steel structure to a golden highlighted necklace for the evening sky.  No wonder the ancients worshiped such a sight.  

©  Janice 'petra domina' Adcock 2015

©  Janice 'petra domina' Adcock 2015

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

how long

Carpe Diem On The Trail With Basho Encore #12 How Long

A gardener in mostly zones 5 and 6, oleanders were not shrubs in the landscapes of her homes.  A more southerly migration into zone 8 brought a change in landscapes ... and seasons.  Gone are the snowy winter days and colorful weeks of autumn.  Enter long, hot summers that cook the once green fields to a brittle tan.  Succulents and other drought loving plants and flowers dot the August landscape.  The oleanders that seemed stunted in the cool, rainy months of the spring have burst into flower.

resting for long flights

monarchs turn trees to fall

how long

©  Janice 'petra domina' Adcock

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

Eden

Carpe Diem #802 Blue Nile

A portion of the inspirational post from our host:

What an idea that this part of  The Nile is seen as the river Gihon which once was flowing out of the Graden of Eden. It's possible because their have been scientifical projects that stated that the Garden of Eden once was somewhere in Ethiopia. Isn't that great. We are sailing over the river that once was flowing through the Garden of Eden. This must be a mystical experience.

vague images
I feel the Garden of Eden
sailing The Nile

© Chèvrefeuille

paradise ..

eternal companions

forest and river

©  petra domina

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

the winds

Carpe Diem Special #162, Lolly's fourth haiku, a one line haiku

It is such an enriching experience to be able to read and share the talents that participate in the Carpe Diem Haiku writings.  Lolly is one of the many gifted poets that choose to share their talents on this sight. Here is this episode's featured haiku from Lolly:

wind though the gaps in the cabin walls ... an eagle's cry

© Laura Williams (a.k.a. Lolly) 

 mouse squeaks between the wall boards .. winds give chase
© petra domina

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

footprints

Carpe Diem Modern Times Haiku #2 Margaret Chula's "following my footprints"

The host of Carpe Diem has introduced those who visit and participate to yet another wonderful haiku poet, Margaret Chula.  I bow to the beauty of her poetry.

following my footprints
of fifty years ago
those endless summers

© Margaret Chula (1947 - )

Fifty summers ago I was 18 years old and had just graduated from high school.  That is the 12th grade for readers from different schooling cultures.  Young, full of a desire to leave home but no funds for higher education, I simply took a job with the same company where my mother worked.  That company had thousands of employees.  I left no footprints there.

Lake Michigan, 2015

the lake waves

leveling the shore sands

nature's rolling pin

© petra domina

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

out of the washbowl

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge #96 Sumitaku Kenshin's out of the washbowl

Click here to read the story of today's haiku author. 

Out of the washbowl
I scoop up,
my distorted face                                     (Sumitaku Kenshin)
gathering the parts
of an unraveling soul.                               (© petra domina)

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

 

scarecrow humor

Carpe Diem Special #161 Lolly's third "new scarecrow ..."

Inspiration in full for this haiku can be found here. 

Here is the haiku to inspire you. It fits the theme humor very well, because of the scene she describes. I hope this haiku by Lolly will inspire you and will bring a smile on your face.

new scarecrow ...
already a field mouse pokes
around its fly

© Laura "Lolly" Williams (published in Lovely Things, CDHK- e book)

corn field sentry

fluttering straw fingers

shoot the bird

©  petra domina

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI

What an Adventure!

A 5300 mile road trip from Austin, Texas, to Montreal, Quebec and back is something even for young folks. The emotions ran from highs to lows during visits with family, dear friends from our past and connecting with a new friend.  It was like a lavish 7 course dinner.  One I am still digesting.  It is almost too soon to really begin to recount to others the beauty, the tastes, the excitement, the pleasures and a few scares.

To start a trip with the fear of losing one's oldest nephew is a low.  Two days supporting my sister at his bedside was heartrending.  Only a transplant will resolve the issue.  From there to visit friends in the area from which we just moved was a high.  A low came as a close friend was put on hospice the day we left to begin the drive to a family reunion in Minnesota.

Spirits improved as we began to see the fields of grains nearing a time of harvest.  We visited some of the bridges from the movie, The Bridges of Madison County.  Homes and hotels designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in a small town in Iowa were a splendid surprise.  Picnics, family dinners, horse races and just being with my husband's far flung family was a definite high.

Post reunion activity started in Wisconsin.  Say cheese!  What beautiful terrain. The Dells, the dairy farms, more cheese and beer!  Five days we spent enjoying the fun of all things Wisconsin.  Mauston, The Dells, Madison, Milwaukee, Door County and Green Bay for a shot of the location of The Ice Bowl.

Crossing into Canada our hotel overlooked the Soo Locks.  An evening spent watching the sun set on the river was amazing.  The large container ships rising and falling in the locks is something to behold with nothing but the lights of the behemoths glowing.  Canada is splendid in every inch we have seen.  The fun of experiencing local eateries and foods to the natural beauty to all the historical buildings.  Wow.

And then came Montreal.  And our newest friend.  A fellow sister poet and sister of the soul.  What joy to sit and visit.  To relish the newness, yet feeling of forever in another person.....  For now that is all I can share of this glorious adventure.

a gaggle of geese

waddling along the shore

at sunset

Thanks to The Spin Cycle Host Ginny Marie