Haiga Forest

Day 2 of STEMmerssion 2019

This image was taken by me on day one of STEMmerssion. On day two, I wrote the poem that goes with it.

“Did you notice anything in nature today that you might take for granted or not notice normally."

Haiga Forest-May 17, 2019

Today, we went to Cox Arboretum. The teachers gave us a scavenger hunt so that we could fully explore the area. I discovered a lot about the Arboretum. They have an edible garden where you can taste mint leaves, thyme, roses, and horseradish. I really liked the thyme, it was very savory for something so small. My least favorite plant that I tried was the rose. It was really bitter and left a gritty feeling in my mouth afterwords. Almost like I was eating rubbery sand.

I also got to explore a butterfly garden where my group and I found one huge butterfly. It was probably 5 inches wide with a reddish-brown base and white spots. At first, it kept its wings closed. After a few minutes, however, it opened up to reveal its colors. After that, we took a ton of pictures. I took close to 20 and my group members took about the same (there were 8 of us).

When we got home, we worked on our blogs. I created a haiga poem. This is a type of poem that uses a haiku and an image. I used an image that I took yesterday of a cotton wood plant. The poem tells of a child (the cotton) that clings to the grass (it's mother) and in the end, it lets go and grows up.

I really enjoyed yoga today as well. We did yoga for 51 minutes and I did every bit of it. I was very sore afterwords, though. Even though I got hot, sweaty, and stiff, I had more fun than I have had in a long time.