September Letter From Jason

                                                                                                                                                September 2015

Dear Honey Run Friends,

Five years and eleven months ago the dream of owning and running The Inn at Honey Run came true for me. On September 17^th I am blessed to have another dream realized, the opening of the Holmes County Open Air Art Museum. Since the first day I toured the grounds I knew I wanted to build an open air art museum at Honey Run. While museum may be a bit of a stretch today we will live it to its definition in the coming years. September 17^th marks the opening of the Haiku Walk that comprises of 30 haiku written by members of the Haiku Society of America. We have another exhibit opening in late October and we are seeking to partner with 5 more artists for 2016 openings. What excites me about our opening exhibit is that I never considered having poetry as part of the open air museum concept, it found us. The Haiku set the tone connecting nature with human nature. This captures the essence of everything I hoped for with the art in a natural setting. I hope you enjoy sharing in this exciting time with us and have an opportunity to come to visit soon and experience for yourself this gift of poetry and nature.

Your honorary curator,

Jason

P.S. – Please see this article that shares the story of how the Haiku Walk came to be at the Holmes County Open Air Art Museum.

http://www.tuscbargainhunter.com

HAIKU – Definition from The Haiku society of America

(1) An unrhymed Japanese poem recording the essence of a moment keenly perceived, in which Nature is linked to human nature. It usually consists of seventeen onji (Japanese sound-symbols).

(2) A foreign adaptation of (1). It is usually written in three lines of five, seven, and five syllables. (See also HAIKAI, HOKKU.)

NOTE TO (2):

That part of the definition which begins “It is usually written” places a heavy weight on the word “usually.” We depend on that word to provide latitude for variations in syllable count and in number of lines or other external aspects of “form” providing they meet the primary stringent requirements expressed in the first part of the definition. Though 17 syllables is still [in 1973] the norm in English language haiku, it is more and more common for a haiku to consist of fewer syllables. Rarely is a haiku [in English] longer than 17 syllables.

While all Japanese classical haiku, as well as most modern ones, contain a kigo (season-word: a word or phrase indicating one of the four seasons of their year), extreme variations of climate in the USA make it impossible to put a recognizable “season-word” into every America haiku. Therefore, American adaptations are not so concerned with season-words as are most Japanese haiku. (See revised “haiku” def.)