This is the 2nd week of the Light Snow season for Colleen Chesebro’s #TankaTuesday challenge based on the 24 Japanese seasons.
Colleen gave us our kigo phrases for this week, as well as the poetic form. We were to write three dodoitsu, a form of Japanese poetry, following a 7-7-7-5 syllable count pattern.
- #1: “early winter dusk”
- #2: “chilly north winds blow”
- #3: “warmth around the hearth”
###
afternoons lose light sooner
coyotes prowl for dinner
gloom collects in my kitchen
early winter dusk
###
chilly north winds do not blow
we balance in luxury
no longer hot, but not cool
air gentle to touch
###
though today’s weather is fair
tomorrow will be chilly
and then we’ll be grateful for
warmth around the hearth
###
Care December will be starting day after tomorrow at Everything Art. Every year, Kasia who runs EA offers this free self-care and intuitive art “course.” Every day we get a video with art prompt and self-care tip as well as a brief nature experience. The only thing she asks is that we donate what we can to Action Against Hunger.
In preparation for the Care December experience, I made myself a little junk journal with a pretty cover. For the journal, I used a New York Life brochure. The staples didn’t hold so I bound it with a shoe lace. The cover is denim from an old pair of jeans, plaid fabric from a dress Grandma made for me when I was twelve, and an applique I had for my daughter’s wedding junk journal that I did not use. I wish the colors came out truer in the photo, but it’s this early winter daylight, I guess. The applique and lace are the same hunter green. The greens in the plaid are rich. And the denim is a true dark denim blue. So this image is a dud, clearly.

Each page is prepped for usage with gesso or collage.