Category: Louisiana

Facing the Sun

On By Al W GalliaIn Beauty, Faith, God, Haibun, Haiga, Haiku, Louisiana, Nature, Peace, Senryu, UncategorizedLeave a comment

It is only February and yet it feels like spring here in south Louisiana! The smell of early blooming flowers and greening trees lifts my spirit with hope for a good year ahead. I think about the snow and ice just about a days drive north and wonder: Is climate change real and is this the new normal? Whatever the case, I know we cannot control it and thank God for His many blessings, trusting Him to lead me on. Blessings and peace, my friends.

blooming azaleas…
birds at the feeder oblivious
to lawnmower noise

Al Gallia

Is It Spring Yet?

On By Al W GalliaIn Acadiana, Haibun, Haiku, Louisiana, Nature, Uncategorized2 Comments

In the cypress swamp the approach of Spring promises renewal of life and spirit, warming air and water, nesting birds, and budding trees and flowers; all creatures wait in anticipation of rejuvenation. The little blue heron stalks along lapping wavelets, watching… for careless minnows or frogs, its feathers ruffled by the southerly breeze. It is s good time to be alive.

a fresh breeze carries
the smell of bedding fish…
nesting egrets

Al Gallia
Anticipation

Just Us Two

On By Al W GalliaIn Beauty, Haibun, Haiku, Louisiana, Nature, Senryu, Serendipity, Simplicity, Sunset, Thoreau, Uncategorized

quivering sawgrass
focused on the same spot
we wait, the hawk and i

Al W Gallia
Sunrise

How gorgeous the red-shouldered hawk looks in the morning sun, so intent and alert to its environment! Yet it allows me to stare and marvel at its uniqueness and beauty without any apprehension. I am so thankful whenever Serendipity chooses to expose her hidden secrets to me as she did at this moment.

“A taste for the beautiful is most cultivated out of doors”

Henry David Thoreau

No Squirrels Out

On By Al W GalliaIn Beauty, Haibun, Haiku, Louisiana, Nature, Sunset, Uncategorized
Winter Interlude
bare cypress quivering…
tireless wavelets scurry
before the icy wind
Al W Gallia 12-31-2022

Lake Martin, Louisiana in the winter! Not an egret, heron, or alligator in sight. Sunsets, cypress trees, blowing moss, shadows… all provide such beautiful settings and colors for poetry and photos. Love it!

Summer Respite

On By Al W GalliaIn Acadiana, God, Haibun, Haiku, Louisiana, Nature, Peace, Spirituality, Uncategorized, Water4 Comments

Nothing is more peaceful in the summer than a cypress swamp in the dead heat of day. The stillness is broken only by cicadas harmonizing, peepers chirping, and occasional egrets calling. Nature’s pungent perfume wafts on a random light breeze that gently moves a few lily pads. Sweat drips from my brow onto my camera. I love it! okay

in the duckweed

a gator’s eye twitches…

foraging wood ducks

©️Al W Gallia 2021

Thank you, Lord, for this moment of your peace in our troubled world.

Haiku: Lazy Summer Day

On By Al W GalliaIn Haiga, Haiku, Louisiana, Nature, Uncategorized6 Comments

A hot mid-summer day at the beautiful Cypress Island Wildlife Preserve near Lafayette, Louisiana. Not much is stirring on this ‘dog day’ as I walk quietly along, under hanging moss, listening to the cicada chorus in full voice with a random peeper chiming in. It hasn’t rained recently and the earthy smells of sun baked swamp, moss, and duckweed drift heavy in air.

feeding whistling ducks…

a nearby alligator quietly

submerges

©️Al W Gallia

Trickles of sweat run down my neck, but I am happy passing the afternoon capturing nature’s unscripted haiku moments with my mind’s eye and camera. Such moments abound as Serendipity exposes them one by one with each turn in the path. I loose myself in nature,.. some call it ‘forest bathing’.

blazing sun…

the soundless swish

of a gator’s tail

©️Al W Gallia

Finally I am reminded of reality when a mosquito buzzes my face and a nearby owl hoots! A peaceful stillness gradually settles with evening cooling as my day closes with a chug of much needed water and a silent prayer of gratitude to God. In evening’s waning light, a young raccoon ambles across my return path with hardly a sidewise glance and our eyes meet for a brief second. I smile.

A Spring Day

On By Al W GalliaIn God, Haibun, Haiga, Haiku, Louisiana, Nature, Uncategorized, Walkabout2 Comments

Spring has sprung here in south Louisiana and it is so welcome! As I walk along the gravel road bordering the cypress filled Lake Martin, almost every step exposes another sign of new life! My camera stays at the ready as my eyes search out Mother Nature’s fresh tidbits of color and textures. Wildflowers with their faces turned sunward, greening trees and lotus pads, the calls of nesting egrets and herons, a sunning alligator, and smell of bedding fish overwhelm my senses. Thank you, Lord, for this day!

spring morning…

flooding the cypress swamp

sunlight and birdsong

©️Al W Gallia 2021

Haiku: Watching and Waiting

On By Al W GalliaIn Haiga, Haiku, Louisiana, Nature, Uncategorized4 Comments

an egret fledgling

totters limb to limb

the gator’s eye blinks

©️Al W Gallia 07-17-20

Many thanks to a good friend and excellent nature photographer, Moura Maun, for her inspirational photo of roseate spoonbills. They seemed to be apprehensive about something… perhaps a young egret trying its shaky wings out, oblivious to a hungry alligator waiting below!

©️haiku: Al W Gallia; photo: Moura Maun

Haiku: The Store Window

On By Al W GalliaIn Acadiana, Haibun, Haiga, Haiku, Uncategorized, Walkabout

The streets in one of my favorite walkabout areas, a business and professional community called the Oil Center, are lined with upscale cafes and shops. I never know what or who I might see while roaming the landscaped sidewalks. Celebrities often visit too and and don’t hesitate to greet common folk like me!

storefront window…

smiling through the glass

familiar faces

© Al Gallia 2019

Marilyn, Elvis and Elvira!

The Dead Leaf

On By Al W GalliaIn Acadiana, Haiga, Haiku, Louisiana, Nature, Photography, Uncategorized3 Comments

One of my greatest joys is wandering along trails in Louisiana’s swamps and woodlands, always with my camera and hiking stick in hand. Meandering and communing with God amidst nature’s solitude and beauty almost always brings my soul the peace, quiet and happiness it seeks. It is winter now and, after several frosts, the deciduous trees and shrubs have shed most of their leaves. A fresh north wind carries the scent of a campfire as it swirls the dry leaves. A single leaf struggles to hold fast to a cypress branch…

a dead leaf

hanging from the bare cypress…

gusting wind

Al Gallia