Of haiku and bald eagles

If not for the cat,
and the scarcity of cheese,
I could be content.

That’s one of 17 haiku in a charming book for children – and obviously, for adults too.

Children “3 and up” might like the images (paintings by Ted Rand), though I wonder about their “getting” words like “raucously” and “burgle” and “dominion” and “gelatinously.” Maybe worldly 3-year olds could figure out some words from their (brief!) context. (haiku by Jack Prelutsky)

As for the haiku, what a great way, and time, to at least introduce the word and the concept to kids -- a poem, a short kind of poem invented by the Japanese, a poem about animals, a poem that doesn’t rhyme . . . and so on.

I spend all my time
Picking ants up with my tongue.
It’s a busy life.

One of the haiku is about bald eagles. Which reminds me of two eagle cams recently in the news.

One is at ConserveWildlifeNJ.org/education/eaglecam/ The second is at http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles (excellent picture quality, plus sound, plus infrared at night, reports Karen Linder, a viewer in Kingston)

She also suggests handling a video cam this way: “I keep mine on in the background with the sound low and visit it periodically. When I start hearing a lot of peeping, I take a look, as it may be dinner time. A loud noise might indicate the other bird is landing.”

On to big-bird watching!
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