August 6, 2006 - Workshop and Kukai

August 6, 2006 - Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden

The Southern California Haiku Study Group met in the friendship garden at the Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden at California State University, Long Beach. (left to right above) Enrique Souffle, D'Ellen Hutchens, G. Murray Thomas, Wendy Wright, Peggy Hehman-Smith, Vic Gendrano, and Debbie Kolodji (not shown) enjoyed the drip of a shishi odoshi and discussed the August kigo of Southern California:

The Season: long days getting shorter, summer, mid-to-late summer, fire season, coolness, summer breeze

Sky and Heavens: Perseids meteor shower, Sturgeon Moon

Flowers and Plants: crepe myrtle, tomatoes – bumper crop, harvesting vegetables, zucchini, peppers, watermelon, cantaloupe, sunflowers, deep shade, shade of a tree

Birds and Animals: egrets, baby koi, dead cows, ants, sea otter, giant green anemone, insects, moths

Mountains and Fields: dry waterfalls, fires, crowded beach, clear waterfall

Human Affairs: back to school sales, Hiroshima Day, vacation, going off to college, Shakespeare in the Park, concerts in the park, summer fairs, county fairs, sunglasses, marshmellow roasts, baseball, water skis, boating, camping, picnic, electric bills, air conditioning,

Sample haiku from the kukai:

rattle of bamboo
an elderly woman walks
slowly in the wind

--Margaret Hehman-Smith

Hiroshima Day
in the friendship garden
flashes of koi

--Deborah P Kolodji

Looking for quiet
in the Japanese Garden.
Too many weddings.

--G. Murray Thomas

The next meeting and kukai will be on September 16, 2006 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Check back for location information.