a pod of humpbacks

surfacing all around us —

their breaths and our gasps

drenching summer rain —

how many morning songs

will remain unsung?

high on a peaked roof

a seagull faces the sea 

clutching for balance

long summer days —

we turn our alarms off,

place trust in the sun

glimpsing her pulse

just above her collarbone —

the spinning world slows

one last visit —

the bright moonlight 

makes deeper shadows

my mother taught me

long division when I was eight —

what did she see, then?

sodden earth

shot through with unmapped streams —

my sorrow wells up   

momentary hush —

fireflies drifting upward

between cricket songs

three goslings

grown past final fuzziness

ready to fly

the sound of rain

on the leaves and then our roof —

tell me a story

on our way home

we see the fox again

its dinner dangling

how much we missed in just a few cloudy nights! already a half moon

all night quietly pushing up the pine needles — new mushrooms

too close to the bar — the sky slides into the sea darker and darker

a sky full of kites — no one wants to be the first to start reeling in

mid-July — beach sand waits until day's end to slip from our hair

just like last summer and yet we are surprised — how bright these stars are!

gulls and their shadows coming together again on a sandbar

twenty-six years on our two weeks became a year — vacation math

a young camper sings a little wordless song — we can't stop smiling

open-window drive — amidst the rush of wind threads of bird song

instinctively drawn
to the trees with the deep shade —
my father, too

Yes, it's that time of year again... we are heeding the call of the great outdoors! You can leave us messages in the comments below (although we probably won't read them until we get back), or, even better...

Please consider sending us snailmail at camp! Most years we got a lot of mail and it is SO GREAT! Plus, I will of course happily send you a postcard in return. If you're reading this between July 9th and July 16th, here's your big chance to make our day at camp!

Send a little note (and/or dark chocolate!) to:
Riendeau-Krause campers, site 35-C
c/o North of Highland Campground
52 Head of the Meadow Road
P.O. Box 297
North Truro, MA 02652-0297

If that's too much trouble, you can also call the camp office and ask the very nice folks there to leave us a note on the camp message board, which is also a big thrill. That number (good from July 7th through the 19th or so) is 508/ 487-1191, and office hours are pretty much all day with the exception of meal breaks from noon-1pm and again from 6-7pm.

(The message board at camp on a good day)

Even if you don't have a chance to send a message our way, we know we can count on you to send warm and sunny thoughts... right? And a special thanks to the excellent neighbors who are keeping watch on our little house until we get back.

(I'll still be writing at least one haiku each day,

but won't be able to post them while we're gone.

Watch this space for "haiku-palooza" 

once we return!)

in a dark cupboard

vases awaiting flowers —

if we met again now...

stuck in my head —

the song the wind threw at me

all the way home

young girls at the pool

sharing stories of the times

when they were mermaids

halfway to tomorrow —

in our yard’s darkest corner

even more fireflies

Independence Day —

sorting through protest photos

of hand-lettered signs

hot summer night —

talk of World Cup matches

mingles with fireflies

interstellar trip —

confidently coming back

to the Seven Sisters

unplanned good-byes —

I show our overnight firefly

gently to the door