gingko, Lambton Quay (05 June 2015)
After a simple lunch of donburi chicken from Wasabi Sushi in the James Cook Arcade, I returned to Lambton Quay and found myself standing under a canopy of gingko gold.
The photograph below – taken a little further down the street – is exactly thirteen months old. Click on it for a look at the piece I posted on 08 May 2014.
autumn reflection (05 May 2014)
This fine mamaku, growing close to the house in a friend’s Eastbourne garden, was planted many years ago by his father. A second, much younger specimen growing elsewhere in the garden was transplanted as a seedling from a bush garden in Kelburn, where I used to live.
“Cyathea medullaris, popularly known as the black tree fern, is a large tree fern up to 20m tall. It is distributed across the south-west Pacific from Fiji to Pitcairn and New Zealand. It is called mamaku, katātā, kōrau, or pītau in the Māori language.” (Wikipedia)
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On the scented tree
four orange butterflies rest –
and now, six, seven …
(09 March 2015)
Some weeks ago, striped caterpillars stripped bare the swan plant one of my neighbours had planted. We thought the ravening gluttons must have been eaten by birds. Somewhere nearby, however, certain of their relatives must have survived, pupated, then hatched.
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After yesterday’s
rain, this morning’s air is sweet.
My neighbours have a
fragrant tree … and no, I don’t
know its botanical name.
(08 March 2015)
Tanka consist of five units (often treated as separate lines when romanized or translated) usually with the following pattern of on: 5-7-5-7-7.
The 5-7-5 is called the kami-no-ku (上の句 “upper phrase”), and the 7-7 is called the shimo-no-ku (下の句 “lower phrase”). (Wikipedia)
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Dawn. A south wind. Leaves
tap the glass. The rain drops in
monosyllables.
(15 February 2015)
Two mornings in a row, the leaves of the Cordyline banksii outside my window have awakened me early. Wellington’s summer has been fine and warm, so these few cool days, with their southerly air flow, seem like a harbinger of autumn.
fallen nīkau frond (01 February 2015)
There are nīkau palms in a number of locations around Wellington city – as well as the iconic sculptural versions which feature in and around Civic Square.
The fallen nīkau frond shown here is from one of the palms in a paved area on the corner of Victoria and Manners Streets.
“The nīkau (Rhopalostylis sapida) is a palm tree endemic to New Zealand, and the only palm native to New Zealand” (Wikipedia).
Posted on 12 September, the first of the two haiku presented here was my attempt at reconstructing the verse I believed I had written on 08 September, on a piece of paper I had subsequently misplaced. Having now (on 13 September) rediscovered the original, I am amused to see how poorly my memory had served me.
Brushed by tree branches
the moon, clear and bright, escapes
the billowing clouds.
Brushed by tree branches
another full moon, bright and
clear among the clouds.
(11 September 2014)
black lace (01 August 2014)
A preoccupation with the scantily adorned winter forms of trees has me discovering afresh their intricate beauty.
Willis Street tree #105 (18 July 2014)
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There’s nowhere you can be that isn’t where you’re meant to be.
(from “All You Need Is Love” written by John Lennon Paul McCartney Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC)
Willis Street tree #106 (18 July 2014)
winter, day one (01 June 2014)
Standing at a pedestrian crossing on Cambridge Terrace (Wellington) this morning, waiting for the green man. Glancing up at the blue sky. Is that something leaping about in my shoulder bag?
“It’ll only take a moment.” (Did I hear a voice?)
“Okay then … but be quick.”
Out comes the camera, set to auto.
Can’t beat Wellington on a good day … even in winter.
