Category Archives: Observations

High Coo – Nov 7 – National Book Award Week

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What is one of the best books you’ve read this year?

A helpful reminder of well-thought-of books would be those that receive top recognition.

“National Book Award Week is held from November 7 to November 13 each year. It focuses on America’s future authors, books, and literature in general. The National Book Award is a set of annual literary awards in the United States….The National Book Foundation also awards two-lifetime achievement awards each year: the Medal for Outstanding Contribution to American Literature and the Literary Award for Outstanding Achievement to the American Literary Community.” https://nationaltoday.com/national-book-award-week/

After the Nobel Prize for Literature and the Booker Prize, the National Book Award is considered one of “the world’s most prestigious literary prizes” according to the NY Times.

Today’s haiku: National Book Award Week

honoring the “best”

is a noble attempt to

increase readership

One of my favorite books read this year is “It’s Not About the Wine!” by Brian Metters (aka Dr. B). Check it out!

High Coo – Nov 5 – National Redhead Day

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Established in 2011, National Redhead Day is celebrated to recognize this rarest of hair colors. Not always appreciated, redheads have been sometimes labeled as fiery, hot-tempered, nymphomaniacs and/or witches. Well, today they are labeled beautiful. https://nationaltoday.com/national-redhead-day/

Some Famous Redheads in History include:

  1. Cleopatra
  2. Judas Iscariot
  3. Queen Boadicea
  4. Richard Lionheart
  5. Genghis Khan
  6. Christopher Columbus
  7. King Henry VIII
  8. Queen Elizabeth I
  9. Galileo Galilei 
  10. Oliver Cromwell
  11. Vivaldi
  12. George Washington
  13. Thomas Jefferson
  14. Emily Dickinson
  15. Mark Twain
  16. Vincent Van Gogh
  17. Vladimir Lenin
  18. Winston Churchill
  19. Marilyn Monroe
  20. Prince Harry

(https://discover.hubpages.com/entertainment/Top-20-Famous-Redheads-in-History)

Today’s haiku: Love Your Red Hair Day

don’t hide it, flaunt it

uniqueness is your beauty

better red than dead

High Coo – Nov 4 – National Day of Community Service

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Whether you’re “giving back” or “paying it forward”, volunteering is a great way to contribute to your community.

There’s only one country in the world that dedicates a day for the whole nation to volunteer to their community. Maybe we should follow their example? https://nationaltoday.com/national-day-of-community-service/

Today’s haiku: National Day of Community Service

we need each other

we are smarter together

be a volunteer

“NATIONAL DAY OF COMMUNITY SERVICE FAQS

What are the advantages of volunteering in the community?

Volunteering can help you gain more self-confidence. Self-confidence, self-esteem, and overall life happiness can all be improved by participating in volunteer activities. Depression can be alleviated by volunteerism. Volunteering can also help you maintain your physical health.

What is the significance of community activity inside a community?

It is the goal of community action to place communities at the center of their local service delivery. It is possible to achieve some objectives by engaging communities in the planning process. These include, for example, constructing a sense of community and social capability – assisting the community in exchanging knowledge, skills, and ideas.

Why is it vital to aid others?

Volunteering provides people a feeling of meaning in addition to health benefits. Giving back to society and making a difference is incredibly satisfying. Volunteer work is a terrific way to meet your neighbors. Volunteering gives you the chance to meet new individuals.” https://nationaltoday.com/national-day-of-community-service/

High Coo – Nov 3 – Thor’s Day

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The Norse God of Thunder is today’s namesake. Thor is derived from the Germanic Thunraz which is equivalent to Jupiter in Roman mythology.

Why do we still use this name? Haven’t we progressed from Norse gods?

Why not use a note of the musical scale or an element on the periodic table?

Today’s haiku questions: Thor’s Day

Are names important?

Would today be different

if it were renamed?

Just asking …

High Coo – Nov 2 – Day of the Dead

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Dead Guitarist at The Blue Habanero in Richmond, VA – photo taken by author

Today’s haiku: Day of the Dead

Let us remember

loved ones departed – and our

future reunion

“Day of the Dead, or Día de los Muertos, is a traditional Mexican holiday celebrated November 2. On this day, it is believed that the souls of the dead return to visit their living family members. Many people celebrate this day by visiting the graves of deceased loved ones and setting up altars with their favorite foods, drink, and photos….The main tradition for Day of the Dead sees families gather to honor and remember their loved ones who are no longer with us. Celebrated as a sacred and joyous occasion, there is plenty of food, lots of flowers, visits with family members and nostalgic stories about those who have died.” https://nationaltoday.com/day-of-the-dead/

Today, I honor my departed ancestors, friends and teachers who have “crossed over” and “continued” to the next phase of their life journey. I’m especially remembering my grandparents, father and younger brother today. I look forward to our reunions.

I respect that your experience may be different from mine. Many cultures honor their ancestors with holidays like the Day of the Dead. For example, see the chart below:

La Catrina mural at The Blue Habanero in Richmond, VA – photo taken by the author

High Coo – Oct 30 – Visit a Cemetery Day

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“Visit a Cemetery Day is a holiday that takes place every last Sunday in October. This year it falls on October 30. It is a day that allows us to honor the life of those who are gone. It is a chance to admit that, though they’re no longer physically with us, we still have them in our memories. It is a day when people go to the gravesite of friends and families who have left this world.

WHY VISIT A CEMETERY DAY IS IMPORTANT

  1. To honor the dead – On this special holiday, we get to honor those who have gone before us. It is good to cherish the memories they left behind.
  2. Understand life better – When we visit the cemetery, we get a better insight into life and appreciate that we must cherish it.
  3. Helps to remember the dead – On Visit a Cemetery Day, we get to recall the times we spent with departed loved ones. We remember all the things they’ve done for us and the memories we shared.” https://nationaltoday.com/visit-a-cemetery-day/

Today’s humble haiku: Visit a Cemetery Day

There for us in life

we are there for you in death

Together we rest

High Coo – Oct 20 – National Day On Writing

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Vermont Public Radio

For eleven years now, the National Council of Teachers of English has celebrated a National Day On Writing. In a 2018 position paper, the group updated their definitions of writing, writers and the principles and purposes for writing. For example:

Principle 3.2: Writers grow when they broaden their repertoire, and when they refine their judgment in making choices with their repertoire.

Writers need models and strategies—to find topics, issues, and questions to write about, to revise, to contextualize and connect their piece with others, to give and receive feedback. However, collecting those strategies is not enough; writers need practice not only in choosing a strategy to fit a particular purpose and context, but they also need practice in explaining why they made the choices they did.

See https://ncte.org/statement/teachingcomposition/.

I enjoy the challenge of seventeen-syllable haiku because the structure requires brevity. Someday I will attempt the Six-Word Story format. 🙂

Today’s haiku: On Writing

words, words and more words

often dilute our message –

simply, less is more

Learn more about this holiday at https://nationaltoday.com/national-day-on-writing/

blackstone.edu

High Coo – Oct 17 – Black Poetry Day

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Gorman in 2021 at the inauguration of Joe Biden delivering “The Hill We Climb“

Since 1985, October 17 has been celebrated as Black Poetry Day “to honor all the talented African American poets, both past and present. If you’re a literature enthusiast, poet, or writer — no matter your race — you’ll absolutely love Black Poetry Day where you can celebrate black heritage and history. Black Poetry Day is celebrated in commemoration of the birth of the man popularly referred to as the father of African American literature, Jupiter Hammon, the first published black poet in the United States of America.” See https://nationaltoday.com/black-poetry-day/

Famous black poets include Langston Hughes, Alice Walker, Maya Angelou and more recently Amanda Gorman, pictured above. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Gorman

Today’s humble haiku: Black Poetry Day

different voices

reveal a loving spectrum

for all to adore

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter_Hammon#/media/File:An_Evening_Thought_-Jupiter_Hammon-_1761.jpg

High Coo – Oct 9 – World Hospice & Palliative Care Day

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“Throughout time, people have suffered life-limiting illnesses but there wasn’t always a system in place to make sure that their last days were comfortable….In 1967 Cicely Saunders influenced the modern concept of Hospice Care. Dr. Saunders directed St. Christopher’s hospice in England and she was a champion in developing the philosophy of end-of-life care and hospice practices that spread globally….The first World Hospice and Palliative Care Day was held in 2005.” For more information see https://nationaltoday.com/world-hospice-and-palliative-care-day/

Dame and Dr. Cicely Saunders (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicely_Saunders)

“Dr. Saunders developed breast cancer but still continued to work. She died aged 87 in 2005 at St Christopher’s Hospice.” (See  Saxon, Wolfgang (31 July 2005). “Cicely Saunders Dies at 87; Reshaped End-of-Life Care”. The New York Times.)

Today’s humble haiku: World Hospice & Palliative Care Day – Thank You Dr. Saunders

it’s true, we all die,

yet our lives can help others –

die with dignity

lawinquebec.com

High Coo – Oct 2 – Guardian Angels Day

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Robert William Service, British-Canadian poet, b. 1874 d. 1958

Three things regarding Guardian Angels Day:

  • Jews, Christians and Muslims believe in guardian angels and the Hindus and Zoroastrians before them.
  • The Feast of Guardian Angels was first authorized in 1608 by Pope Paul V.
  • According to surveys, more than 75% of Americans believe that guardian angels exist.

 For more information see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guardian_angel and https://nationaltoday.com/guardian-angels-day/

And here’s a provocative poem from “the Bard of the Yukon“:

My Guardian Angel by Robert William Service

When looking back I dimly see
The trails my feet have trod,
Some hand divine, it seems to me,
Has pulled the strings with God;
Some angel form has lifeward leaned
When hope for me was past;
Some love sublime has intervened
To save me at the last.

For look you! I was born a fool,
Damnation was my fate;
My lot to drivel and to drool,
Egregious and frutrate.
But in the deep of my despair,
When dark my doom was writ,
Some saving hand was always there
to pull me from the Pit.

A Guardian Angel – how absurd!
I scoff at Power Divine.
And yet . . . a someone spoke the word
That willed me from the swine.
And yet, despite my scorn of prayer,
My lack of love or friend,
I know a Presence will be there,
To save me at the end.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_W._Service

Here’s my humble haiku response: Guardian Angels Day

Is it you or me?

a gentle voice, touch, or breeze –

my confidence grows

A popular source for more information is Irish author, Lorna Byrne:

See https://lornabyrne.com/about-lorna-byrne/