the cod are gone ...
long ago, young folk
moved to the city

The photograph in this haiga was taken in Red Cliffe, Newfoundland & Labrador, on June 21, 2012.  The  haiku is based, in part, on the song "Make and Break Harbour" by Stan Rogers and is intended as an homage to Mr. Rogers, to Newfoundland's outports, and to the people who lived in the outports.  

Here are some of the lines of Mr. Rogers' song:  "And the young folk don't stay with the fisherman's ways / Long ago they all moved to the cities." And the chorus: "In Make and Break Harbour the boats are so few / Too many are holed up and rotten. / Most houses stand empty old nets hung to dry / Are blown away lost and forgotten." Stan Rogers can be heard singing it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E2DFa18kYI

blue iris
and red rock grotto ~
our guide sings
of Tickle Cove Pond

Tickle Cove is a place on the island of Newfoundland. A 'tickle', in the local dialect, is a narrow passage of water. A 'pond' can be a large lake. The song is about a Newfoundlander who was hauling wood with his mare, Kit, late in the season and decided to a shortcut across the frozen pond. Our guide sang unaccompanied by the grotto; she had a beautiful voice.
 

Originally posted on Facebook's NaHaiWriMo page on 4/14/2013.  Prompt was pond.

You can listen to one version of Tickle Cove Pond here.   Sadly, it is not our guide singing.

Our guide's blog, Adventures on the Eastern Edge, is well worth a visit for views and stories of the Canadian maritime provinces.  

Earlier this year ...

Newfoundland's 

pitcher plant ...

so welcoming to bugs

 

The pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea) is Newfoundland's provincial flower.

 

life in the

coastal barrens ...

tolerance for salt

tucamore ...

trees pruned and shaped 

by wind and salt

"Tuckamore is a Newfoundland term for gnarled and tangled stands of stunted spruce and balsam fir. Individual trees are dwarfed and weathered into swept-back, sculptural shapes by harsh coastal growing conditions. Most of the growth occurs on the lee sides, the windward branches having been nipped and wrenched by wind, salt air, and cold."  — Charles Frazier

Unfortunately, I have no photos of tucamore, but some good ones can be found here:  http://www.flyfishing-tuckamore.com/html/tuckamore.htm

Posted on Facebook's NaHaiWriMo page on 3/09/2103.  Prompt was salt.

landing in fog

without instruments ...

a puffin

he'll dig a burrow

three feet deep ...

his nest

Posted to NaHaiWriMo on 8/18/2012.

The photo was taken in Newfoundland near Ferryland on July 21, 2012.  Puffins nest underground in deep burrows.  Both birds dig the burrow about three feet long using the claws on their feet.  The male prepares a nest, and the female lays one egg.

limestone barrens

smll flowers bloom

amid the rocks

Posted on Facebook's NaHaiWriMo page on 8/04/2012.  Prompt was karumi (lightness).