As Poetry Month looms, it occurs to me I should mention, for the benefit of regular readers who might not be aware, that in addition to my posts here, I’ve been posting haiku (with the occasional haibun or linked verse sequence) multiple times a week at Woodrat photohaiku, a blog I’ve maintained in one shape or another since 2007, with varying bursts of enthusiasm over the years. The current burst started in late December 2020 and shows no sign of letting up, partly because it’s a good fit with my current lifestyle: I spend a lot more time outside than I used to, mostly looking at trees and rocks and such, and I’ve gotten into the habit of taking and processing photos as well as composing and editing haiku directly on the phone, and even blogging the lot from the woods if there’s a strong enough signal. It’s a relatively frictionless experience compared to writing things down on a notebook and then later transcribing them into the computer, then moving the photos to the laptop via cable for processing, all of which requires my butt to be in my chair. With some of the stuff I post at the ‘Rat, I never even sit down.
Which may sound weird, but I am interested in seeing what kind of thoughts might come from a less sedentary, more ambulatory lifestyle. I’ve always liked walking, but over the years did less and less of it . . . and more and more blogging. But mid-way through 2019, when I was still in London, I began to rediscover the joy of long walks, and of course the pandemic situation accelerated that. Last year I made it my goal to spend at least four hours outside every day, and I’ve mostly stuck to that. The Pepys erasure project can only be done from my laptop, but that will wind up within the next couple of years (including re-writes; the diary runs out at the end of May). So eventually I hope to be able to write and post everything from the trail if I want to.
If you follow me on Instagram (or Facebook, where my photos cross-post), you’ll see much of this content anyway, and the website isn’t monetized so I’m not trying to gin up visitors or subscribers; I just want to make sure that anyone who might be interested is aware of the site, since I’m generally so crap at remembering to mention these things.
On which note I suppose I should add reminders that I also still blog at The Morning Porch every day I’m at home, and that after a lengthy hiatus we’re firing up Moving Poems again. All these sites have free subscription options if you prefer reading things in your inbox—though it must be said that the image quality on the email version of the ‘Rat is not great. But look how pretty it is on the web!
