The Stafford Challenge, Days 37-52

For 16 days, I've been writing a haiku each day, mostly based on prompts from The Solitary Daisy haiku calendar for February 2025. On Day 37, the prompt was "lingering snow" (22 February 2025). lingering snow sky: wide empty whiteboard for geese writing crooked V’s —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Photo by Antranias from Pixabay On Day 38, the prompt was "dandelion" (23 February 2025). Dandelion seeds, two left . . . damselflies. “You go—" “No, you!”            “Together?” —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Photo by Alexas_Fotos from Pixabay On Day 39, the prompt was "tranquility" (24 February 2025). Tranquility Base: first human footprint nowhere on Earth . . . still up there —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Photo by Buzz Aldrin (from NASA) On Day 40, the prompt was "blossoms" (25 February 2025). Hiroshima and Nagasaki — fire blossoms mushroom clouds of shame —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Atomic Cloud Rises Over Nagasaki, Japan. Photo by Lt. Charles Levy (1945) On Day 41, the prompt was "mustard" (26 February 2025). wrote one on mustard gas and war . . . but no, hot dogs are what mustard’s for! —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Photo by meineresterampe on Pixabay On Day 42, the prompt was "pussywillows" (27 February 2025). pussy willow branch sprouting kitty paws . . . where is the rest of the cat? —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Photo by Ralphs_Fotos on Pixabay On Day 43, the prompt was "February" (28 February 2025). February poems: twenty-eight flowers blooming in the blowing snow. —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Photo by leswhalley on Pixabay Day 44 (1 March 2025). I was late starting with haiku prompts from The Solitary Daisy's February Haiku Month, so I'm hitting some of the ones I missed earlier in the month. On 1 February, "early spring" was the prompt. end of the driveway: early spring mud puddles form a miniature lake —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Photo by Robin Olson (TinySky) on Pixabay Day 45 (2 March 2025), a haiku again, but I'm not using one of the haiku prompts from The Solitary Daisy's February Haiku calendar. Yesterday evening, Renee and I went out to view the planetary parade going on. Saw all the visible planets just after sunset except Saturn, which was too close to the sun and below the horizon. Glorious! That was the first time I ever saw Mercury in five decades of skywatching. We also glimpsed a jetplane and a satellite moving through the Big Dipper. My first satellite viewing! last night . . . Mercury, the Moon, Venus, Jupiter, Mars . . . sky's pearl necklace —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Illustration from EarthSky.org on 1 March 2025 Day 46 (3 March 2025). Today, I'm back to the haiku prompts from The Solitary Daisy's February Haiku Month calendar. Using the prompt for 11 February: "bee." A riddle poem . . . I bet a lot of younger people won't recognize this person. "I am the greatest!" "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." Guess who? —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Image from this person's Wikipedia Day 47 (4 March 2025). Today I'm using a prompt from The Solitary Daisy's February Haiku Month calendar: "flying squirrel" (15 February). Like yesterday, I bet a lot of younger people won't recognize this "person" as well. Rocket J. Squirrel — Bullwinkle’s sharp sidekick, but for me, the hero. —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Image from the Wikipedia article about this "person" Day 48 (5 March 2025). The prompt I'm using today from The Solitary Daisy's February Haiku Month calendar is "early spring" (1 February). early spring kiboshed by Old Man Winter today: full-on blizzard whoosh! —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] The view out a side window. Blizzard warning right now, from midnight last night till 3:00pm today. That's a lot of snow piling up! Day 49 (6 March 2025). Today, I'm not using a prompt from The Solitary Daisy's February Haiku Month calendar. Drawing inspiration instead from the dragon poems that have been appearing recently in the Stafford Challenge facebook group and also an aluminum dragon plaque my sculptor daughter Amelia Blue made for me. turquoise blue dragon soars through sapphire sky, her moon a cosmic chrome orb —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Here is Amelia's dragon. Day 50 (7 March 2025). Again, not using a prompt from The Solitary Daisy's February Haiku Month today. Remembering a popular song from the year I was 14 ... 1966. Los Bravos — “Black Is Black” — “I want my baby back” moonless starless BLACK! —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] "Black Is Black" by Los Bravos (1966) Day 51 (8 March 2025). Back to the haiku prompts from The Solitary Daisy's February Haiku Month calendar: "nightingale" from 18 February. A little literary lark (sorry!) from Romeo and Juliet (act 3, scene 5). Nightingale or lark? Romeo and Juliet: birdsong — love or death? —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Book cover of The Lark and the Nightingale: Shakespeare e l'Opera, a book of essays edited by Camillo Faverzani (Libreria Musicale Italiana, 2017). Day 52 (9 March 2025). Not using the prompts from The Solitary Daisy's February Haiku Month calendar, but writing a haiku in the same vein about writing a haiku. To write a haiku, look out at new fallen snow and see a dragon. —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Writing the haiku, I conceived it in a metaphorical way, but when I looked for an image to use here, I found this news article that matched in a literal way. Landscape artist Cary Friar built a snow dragon with his son Andrew in March 2023. Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Ingat, everyone.  ヅ