A Haiku for All Seasons

I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that most of you are familiar with the poetic form of Haiku. Many of us were taught how to write Haiku in High School English Class - most likely because it seemed like the most accessible kind of poem to our English teachers. If you remember one thing, it's probably that it is a three line poem broken up into lines of 5,7 and 5 syllables, respectively.

I recently read a picture book that I would highly recommend to anyone. It is written in Haiku form, and is intended specifically for young boys. The title? Naturally – Guyku. It's Haiku for guys!

In reading this incredibly well-written children's book, I learned a few additional things about Haiku that I probably should have remembered from class. First, Haiku poems generally have nature as their subject matter. This is one of the reasons that author Bob Racska cites as why he wrote this book: “[H]aiku is an observation of nature, and nature is a place where guys love to be” (Raczka).

I also learned that Haiku poems are written in present tense. Maybe you remember this, maybe you don't. But this also is another reason that Haiku is great for boys. After all, “guys are always interested in what's happening right now” (Raczka). I know that this is certainly true for me (cue the amens from Naomi and my sister, Megan)

The other thing that I love about this book is that it is broken up into four sections – one for each season. Because each Haiku keeps the present tense, the reader gets to progress through the course of the year as the book goes on. It may sound nostalgic, but to me, Guyku evokes the spirit of that wonderful comic strip that lives on in many hearts: Calvin and Hobbes. If you haven't tried to emulate the freedom and imagination of Calvin recently, I suggest you start right now.

You might be able to tell that I am really trying to avoid copyright infringement. If college taught me anything, it is that you should not plagiarize. Ever. Just don't do it. Therefore, let it be known that the following Haiku is written by Bob Raczka in a book called Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys. This book was illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds, and was published in 2010 by Houghton Migglin Books For Children in the great city of Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. You can find it at your local library:

With the ember end

of my long marshmallow stick,

I draw on the dark.

Why it is Better to be Lazy Sometimes

Let me tell you a funny story about keeping track of your possessions and how sometimes being very lax works to your advantage.

This past weekend, Naomi was whisked off to Boston for her work. Her company was putting on a conference about sustainability on Sunday, and every staff member was required to be there. She drove down on Wednesday to prepare. Since I was not doing anything important, and my work does not start until March 18 (next Monday) I decided to catch the Greyhound Bus and spend Saturday and Sunday with her.

It was kind of a stressful trip. The bus had been held up at the Canadian border on its way from Montreal, and it arrived an hour late. I had never ridden a Greyhound Bus before, and my unfamiliarity with the procedures and customs on the bus meant that I was a little on edge. And because it was late, we arrived in Boston at approximately half-past midnight. I just barely missed the last subway train, and thus had to do another first: hail a cab.

I must have looked pretty pathetic, standing there half-heartedly sticking my pointer finger in the air. Lucky for me, a cabbie pulled over and I got in. I'm pretty flustered at this point and all I know is that I'm going to the neighborhood of Jamaica Plain. I tell the cabbie that's where I'm headed and I hastily pull out my Nook for the address. I'm finally able to locate the address and we set off.

For those of you who have never taken a cab before, let me assure you that there is at least one cabbie in this world who fits all the stereotypes you see in books and movies. This guy is loud, boistrous, and peppers his speech with “yaknowwhatI'msayin?” At this point, all I want to do is sit quietly and clear my thoughts, but the cabbie keeps talking. I feel like I need to listen, so I do.

After what seems like an eternity, we arrive at our destination. I pay and exit the vehicle. Whew. End of story. I Wish! Not twenty seconds after the sounds of the cab disappear into the city atmosphere, I realize that I left my Nook in the cab.

I'm pretty mad at myself. I never put a password on my Nook, so theoretically anybody could pick it up on the back seat of the cab and make purchases til my bank account runs dry. Not only that, but I remember that I have other sensitive information available – passwords, usernames, etc. - Basically I am at a high risk for identity theft at this point. As you might imagine it is very hard to go to sleep.

Do you remember what I said at the beginning about being lax working to your advantage. Well my friends, my laziness was rewarded in full when I got a call from a young woman at 2:00 in the morning (I was still wide awake, I might add). She and her friends had been out on the town, and found my Nook when they decided to take a cab home for the night. As I spoke to each of the girls individually, I gradually pieced together the puzzle. In order to find my phone number, they had gone on to my email account and emailed a very random assortment of my friends and contacts. They were able to find my number from Grace Swartzendruber, our wedding planner. I was (and still am) very impressed by their altruism and their ingenuity while intoxicated. There are, it seems, still good people in this world.

After that, it was easy to find the address the next day, for it was amazingly close to a museum Naomi and I were already planning to visit.

So, if you were confused as to why you got an email from me at 1:45 on a Saturday night, I hope this explains the situation. And the moral of the story is don't password protect your stuff because I never would have gotten my Nook back had I done so... Never mind. Just write your phone number on your Nook case. Yeah – let's go with that.

Has Kevin found a job yet?

Yes! He has.

I have to be careful. I don't want to be more excited in this post than I was in the one where I announced our engagement. I don't think Naomi would like that very much. That being said, I am very pumped to have this opportunity to become a children's librarian! I got a formal offer today and I have accepted it. To prove that I'm not just tooting my own horn, I'll let Naomi do it for me. She has written the following segment. If you like it, maybe we can bring her back for a reprise, or she could even be a regular contributer? Who knows:

"So, this is definitely Kevin's deal, and I don't want to impose, but I have to take this opportunity to do a HECK of a lot of bragging.

"Not only has Kevin been WAY more productive during his few weeks of job searching than I was, but he has done such a great job of demonstrating how awesome he is, that he got the job at Montpelier Library!!

"I cannot say how excited I am for him, how proud I am of him, and how lucky I am to have him here with me.  He has been excited about this possibility from the beginning, and it seems to fit his skills so perfectly.  He beat out other candidates arguably more qualified because he was able to show them what we all already know; he will dive into the library and make it as awesome as he is.

"I just wanted to quickly say that I couldn't be happier for him, and that I am just happy that he has such an opportunity to be a part of this community.

Plus, the library is two buildings away from where I work! :)