This year's theme of “healthy living” piqued my interest and challenged my imagination! How do you condense lifestyle choices that reflect physical, emotional and spiritual well being into a haiku! There are so many ways to enjoy healthy living in CNY — we walk, run, lift weights, practice yoga and play sports; we sing, dance, play an instrument and listen to music; we write poetry, go to a play, paint canvases and putter in the garden; we cook up a storm, we eat, drink and gather with friends!

One way I enjoy healthy living is by keeping my morning routine as simple and as nourishing as time allows. Finding balance and comfort in a good cup of coffee ensures a good day ahead at the office. Come summertime, when I can take my coffee outside on the back deck, there is nothing better than watching the birds as they gather at the birdfeeder or feeling the warmth of the sun on my face all the while drinking in the sounds of the world coming awake around me.

Our family moved to the Syracuse area in 1996. My husband was doing a lot of traveling back then, while I was here taking care of our new home and our two young boys. I came to learn that Syracuse winters could be brutal what with lake effect snow, howling winds and endless days of grey skies. In fact, the first few winters here, it seemed like my husband was always traveling when Syracuse was hit with a snow storm!

We did not own a snow blower at the time, so it fell upon my shoulders to shovel us out. The year I wrote this Haiku was especially snowy...and I was shoveling a lot!! With my husband out of town so often that year, my shovel became my next best friend!

This haiku is one of my earlier pieces. Soon after reading about Thornden Park's famous rose gardens, I learned that the park was inaugurating a Shakespeare-in-the-Park program. I love rose gardens and have always had a deep affection for Shakespeare. The idea of Thornden Park's rose gardens, coupled with the Renaissance man, sparked my inspiration for this haiku.

Haiku has always been of interest to me and I enjoy its challenging format. I've written poetry since high school, but about four years ago, I thought it would be fun to submit a few haiku in the annual New Times Syr-Haiku Contest. When one of my haiku placed third, I was hooked! Now I find myself always at work on a haiku, constantly jotting down ideas, particularly when I go walking. I find that nature and the outdoors, history and events going on around me ignite my imagination!

I am always inspired by the change of seasons. That's where a lot of my haiku come from. This one I wrote in 2010, towards the end of what was an especially beautiful and bountiful summer.

I've always loved little roadside farm stands that dot the countryside. I enjoy stopping by to see what earthly delight might await me there or at the farmers' markets that sprout up in village squares all around Syracuse during the summer. It's a pleasant surprise to see the seamless transitions at these farm stands as the seasons change—when all kinds of berries and delicate, young greens welcome spring, while cherries and zucchini herald in summer. And, of course, there's the first telltale sign that fall is coming when fresh, sweet corn, apples and pumpkins make their appearance.

This haiku also seeks to wake a sense of pride in, and gratitude for, the simple unassuming beauty that's found on the shelves at every farmers' market—that we are so fortunate to have a wealth of fruit and vegetables that come from the earth, and thankful, too, for the folks that till the fields and share their bounty.

I have a wonderful, mostly secluded, backyard. It faces a large wooded area of tall trees, while giant pines form a fence-line on either side of my house. It is home to hawks, crows, an owl and many beautiful songbirds who frequent our bird feeder. Regardless the season, I've developed a special fondness for cardinals-so much so, that they have inspired several of my haiku! On a quiet winter morning, it's stunning to see the striking red brilliance of a cardinal perched upon a rooftop blanketed with snow, his loud cheery song brightening even the grayest of days. When we've flung bedroom windows open in summer, it's the cardinal, whose unique sing-song breaks through the trees, wakening me each morning. It begins around four, when daylight first brightens my room; a flutter of wings, a choir of songbirds, each with a tweet louder than the others, until only the cardinal, with his red bushy crown and the beautiful song, is left to answer the rising of the sun — and, the ringing of my alarm clock! It's a very pleasant way to start the day!

I wrote this haiku in the Fall of 2014. It's one of many haiku I've written while walking or riding my bicycle along the Old Erie Canal Trail. For me, the Canal paths running through DeWitt, Minoa and Kirkville, offer many opportunities for peaceful reflection, a peek at history, a chance to be inspired—all the while getting a good workout!

My inspiration often comes from watching and listening to the busy hum of traffic of the diverse wildlife who call the Erie and its widewaters their home. Depending on the season, or the slant of the sun when it sparkles at the water's edge, catching the flash of Sunfish darting through the Canal's murky depths, never fails to surprise me.