Haibun-Haiku: In my backyard

crabgrass is growing
the pink oleander dead
white flowers in bloom

I stood in the kitchen, looking out the window, while waiting for the microwave to heat a mug of leftover coffee. I noticed the crabgrass green and growing, taking over my backyard. The pink oleander is dead, but the white oleanders are still blooming oblivious to the death of one of their garden mates. I also think that the red oleander is in the process of dying, at least one of its branches has turned brown and there are no flowers.

I have to find another yardman to remove the crabgrass and the dead oleander. I am not removing the other oleanders until they die. I have had living oleanders removed before, but they just come back. Weeds are like that no matter how much I pay to have them removed the keep coming back. I will have someone pull the crabgrass; however, I am letting the oleanders remain while they live, but if they die like the red one then I will have them removed.

I think this time I will consider hiring a professional gardener. I know it cost more then hiring the homeless men I have hired, but professionals are dependable. I am tired of having to look for a new yardman every year or every other year.

Haibun-Haiku: White Oleanders on the first day of fall

white oleanders
glisten in the morning light
mostly cloudy day

Even with the clouds covering most of the sky enough sunlight gets through to cause the white oleander blooms outside my living room window to glisten. There is a slight wind, just a small breeze rustling the oleanders and the trees. In my yard are oleanders, a pine tree, and the remains of an olive tree. The neighbor next door  has an oak tree in his yard, while the neighbors across the street have pine, olive, and oak trees.

Sunday Scribbles: White Oleanders

White oleanders

Their boughs waving in the wind

A warm afternoon

Mundane Monday: April wind in Las Vegas

March is usually associated with wind, but this year April began with high winds. The wind began blowing either Friday, Mach 30, or Saturday, March 31, it is still blowing all though not as hard as it was two or three days ago. The wind reached about 40 miles per hour in some sections of Las Vegas.

I remember hearing the wind Saturday evening. It sounded strong and it carried all sorts of noises. I heard the wind blowing my patio door open and closed. I also heard music, somewhere there was a party going on and the wind carried the party noises all over the neighborhood. The wind blew so hard that I though it would take out the pine tree. I felt relived the next morning to find the pine tree, minus a few branches, still standing.

The wind is not blowing as hard as is it was, but it is still moving the branches of trees and scattering trash across everyone’s yards. I looked out the kitchen window earlier and saw a plastic trash bag snagged in one of the oleanders. I will have to get it out of the limbs, but I am not sure how. It is higher then I can reach, so I will have to use the latter or find something to hook it. I am not looking forward to getting up on the latter, at least not while my right leg is still bandaged.

Plastic grocery bag

Caught in oleander bush

White flag in the wind

Haiku of the Day Thursday, May 19, 2011

Oleanders wave
At the partly cloudy sky
Will it rain today

The Oleanders are beautiful this year

The white and the red oleanders are especially beautiful this year. Yesterday morning I noticed the white oleanders seemed to glisten in the morning light. This morning, the red oleanders were bright scarlet in the light of dawn. I have not noticed pink oleanders this year, but not all the oleander bushes in my yard are blooming.

Oleander blooms
Scarlet and white weeds blossom
My backyard fence line

Oleanders prove that weeds are just a beautiful are non-weeds. Of course, I may be one of the few people in the world that thinks oleanders are weeds. However, just because I think they are weeds does not mean they are not beautiful.

The Arrival of Spring

Spring is almost here, in a few days, the sun will cross the vernal equinox and spring will arrive. Days are growing longer, temperatures are rising, and there are green plants growing in my yard. All right, the green plants in my yard are weeds.

I have difficulty growing anything except weeds, even the flowering plants in my yard are weeds. We call the flowering plants oleanders and they are weeds. Since I can't get rid of the weeds, I'll write about them.

Oleanders bloom
Spreading their pollen abroad
Echoing a sneeze