Tanka: First Greens

a brindle whippet in a yellow jacket running up a bank in the forest

first green shoots
between the last brown leaves
how smooth
your beautiful otherness
changes with the season

© Xenia Tran

leafless birch lit up by the winter sun

Wishing you all a happy Thursday and a peaceful rest of the week,

with love from Misty and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Weekly Prompts Wednesday Challenge: Change

Haiku: Circle of Pine

close up of a smiling brindle whippet in a yellow jacket striding forward on a forest trail

circle of pine –
within each smile and breath
a space for dreaming

© Xenia Tran

a lochan in winter surrounded by scots and caledonian pine

Wishing you all a happy Thursday and a peaceful rest of the week,

with love from Misty and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

CMMC: February Pick a Topic from my Photo (brown, green, rocks, water)

Tanka: Ocean Colours

a smiling brindle whippet in a yellow jacket running on the beach towards the camera

ocean colours
in the sky and mountains
even the wind
pocks the sand with hoofprints
where no deer have been

© Xenia Tran

beach and dunes in the foreground with a small lighthouse on the pier in the distance

Wishing you all a happy Thursday and a peaceful rest of the week,

with love from Misty and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

CMMC: Calypso (Ocean) Colors

Haiku: Silvered Beech

a smiling brindle whippet in a yellow jacket running across a forest trail

silvered beech –
a mountain stream sings
to the snow moon

© Xenia Tran

a mountain stream full of snow-melt rushing through the forest

Wishing you all a happy Monday and a peaceful new week,

with love from Misty and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Jez Braithwaite’s Water Water Everywhere #164

Tanka: Imbolc

Cairngorms National Park

a smiling brindle whippet in a yellow jacket on a forest trail

Imbolc –
the waters of
our heart
awaken in the glen we walk
a deep sense of belonging

© Xenia Tran

a mountain stream flowing through the forest and glen

Imbolc is a Celtic holiday that honours the halfway point between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox, celebrated in Neolithic Ireland and Scotland.

To celebrate we are delighted to share the video below featuring Am Monadh Ruadh by the Calum Stewart Quartet:

Wishing you all a blessed Imbolc and a peaceful rest of the week,

with love from Misty and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Weekly Prompts Wednesday Challenge: Belonging

Haiku: Messages

a brindle whippet in a yellow jacket walking beside a stream in a winter forest towards wind-blown lichen

sniffs and smells
a smile from the stag
in the lichen

© Xenia Tran

close up of lichen resting on fallen pine needles on the forest floor in the shape of a heart

Wishing you all a happy Monday and a peaceful new week,

with love from Misty and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #234: Messages

Haiku: Sheltered Wood

a smiling brindle whippet in a yellow jacket on a forest trail in winter

sheltered wood
from the bend a glimpse
of snow falling

© Xenia Tran

haikuKATHA, Issue 16, February 2023

view across brown heather and golden grass towards mount cairngorm

Wishing you all a happy Monday and a peaceful new week,

with love from Misty and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Weekly Prompts Weekend Challenge: Bend

Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #233: One Lens Walk

Tanka: Winter’s Music

a brindle whippet in a yellow jacket walking on dried grass in the forest

the stream
glides by in gurgles
where grass sleeps
a blackbird silver sings
through winter’s forest

© Xenia Tran

a woodland stream seen from a forest trail on the higher ground

Wishing you all a happy Thursday and a peaceful rest of the week,

with love from Misty and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

CMMC: January – Pick a Topic from my Photo (green, grass, silver, weather)

Haiku: Snow Melt

a smiling brindle whippet in a yellow jacket walking across a wooden bridge

snow-melt …
how clear a stream can flow
beneath our new-found bridges

© Xenia Tran

a mountain stream full of snow-melt flowing through the forest

Wishing you all a happy Monday and a peaceful new week,

with love from Misty and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #232: Looking Back

Jez Braithwaite’s Water Water Everywhere #161

Haiku: Sharing Our Journey

a smiling brindle whippet in a maroon jacket walking across dried marram grass in the dunes

sharing our journey
through the grass
a lone goose

© Xenia Tran

a solitary Greylag goose in the dunes

I was at first concerned when I saw the Greylag goose on her own and was later assured by other walkers that a large flock had landed half an hour earlier in the grass behind her.

Wishing you all a happy Thursday and a peaceful rest of the week,

with love from Misty and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

CMMC: January Amber Colors