Summer's come and almost gone….but

Summer’s a goin', but before it's totally gone, I wanted to talk about one of my favorite Cool Snow Globes, aptly and simply named “Summer”. And while I love the regal effect of the snow globe itself, it’s the haiku on the globe’s base that really caught my attention.

The globe’s base includes a haiku by Buson:

In the summer rain

The path

Has disappeared

The haiku is a fantastic embodiment of Japanese culture. It is terse and highly structured, yet descriptive, and it is beautiful in its simplicity. And this particular haiku is impressive in how effectively it captures the feeling of its author. Summer, a time of clear blue skies, is obscured by the rain falling from the sky, and the clear path has been blurred.

Buson’s apparent confusion is a startling contrast to the contents of the snow globe itself, making the scene with its brilliantly purple trees and august golden statue all the more striking.