Soil is everywhere, beneath your shoes, under your car, hidden under buildings and houses. It is something so ubiquitous that we take it for granted, but without soil, we would have no food and no environment.
An indispensable part of the natural environment, soil is important to plants, animals, rocks, landforms, rivers, etc. and it determines the distribution of plant species and provides a habitat for a wide range of organisms.
We need fertile soil to grow our food, and the food of our livestock. Without fertile soil, we would all be starving.
For #MYWriters weekly poetry prompt last week (26 October 2016), the challenge was to write a haiku inspired by the word ‘tear’. I wrote a haiku about rain, which are the ‘tears from heaven’.
Rain
Tears fall from the sky
Blessing the earth with rebirth
Life is thus renewed
It has been 2 weeks since I wrote some poems for my blog, I think. It’s about time to get back to my poetry writing every week. 🙂 I took my parents and brother to Bali for a family holiday last weekend, and the beautiful Balinese landscape and greenery has inspired me to come back to write anew. 😀
For RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #116, the word prompts are ‘home’ and ‘leaves’. I wrote a haiku about the little garden in my parents’ front yard that is overflowing with all kinds of plants.
Dreams of Home
Dreams of home sweet home
Where leaves flutter in the wind
And flowers glitter
Today’s poetry topic is about the dreaded environmental condition known as drought. It plagues many parts of the world, and leaves lands barren and cracked. I wrote a series of three haikus on it.
Haiku Horizon’s prompt for this week #121 is ‘time’. I wrote about having hope with the passing of time. Sometimes, having hope is all the reason one needs to wake up and get up every morning.
Attractive montane flowers
New hope
With each day new hope Better than the day before
But time waits for none
Fresh new beginnings
Fly by on the winds of change
To scale greater heights
Khor Hui Min
16 June 2016
Let’s look forward to a better tomorrow, and actively and collectively work towards making today better than yesterday, and tomorrow better than today. If everybody does a little good, no matter how small, it will contribute directly or indirectly towards the well-being of oneself and the collective well-being of others in the long term. This is because doing something good not only benefits the recipient of the good deed, but it also makes us feel good about ourselves. 😀
For my second post for the Blogging A to Z Challenge, I am writing a piece on Bukit Gasing, which is a favourite hiking place for residents of Petaling Jaya.
B for Bukit Gasing
In the Malay language, ‘bukit’ is the word for ‘hill’, and ‘gasing’ means ‘spinning top’. So, directly translated, Bukit Gasing is Spinning Top Hill! Indeed, if one is not familiar with the paths that go round, and criss-cross all over the hill, that would cause one’s head to spin like a top, and the unfortunate person(s) would spend the greater part of a day there. 😉 Therefore, it is best that visitors and hikers new to the area embark on their hike with friends who are already familiar with the paths and terrain therein.
The official entrance to Bukit Gasing. Photo by Levine Lee.
There are lots of little paths and tarred roads in the Bukit Gasing area, offering difficulty levels ranging from easy walks to challenging steep climbs. A new friend told me he had started hiking there over 40 years ago! He said it was quiet there at the time, and there were few visitors to the area. Often, he and his friends had to use machetes to make their own paths.
View from the top of Bukit Gasing. Photo by Levine Lee.View from the top of Bukit Gasing. Photo by Levine Lee.
Nowadays, Bukit Gasing attracts hikers by the dozens. During the weekends, large groups can be seen waiting outside the main entrance at 7am to have a healthy group activity together. Sometimes, groups of schoolchildren can be seen. At other times, there will be groups of working adults, and even senior citizens who look like seasoned hikers.
View of Kuala Lumpur City at sunrise. KL Tower and the KLCC Twin Towers can be seen. Photo by Levine Lee.
However, the issue of safety has been in the news headlines in the past few years, as robberies and snatch theft cases have been reported every once in a while. We hope that hikers will leave their valuables at home before coming for their hikes and the relevant authorities will help to keep an eye on the security of the area for our peace of mind. Last but not least, please don’t hold your shiny new iPhone or Samsung Galaxy smartphone in your hand while you are hiking. Keep it out of sight in your bag, pouch or pocket. There was an unfortunate case last year of a lady’s phone being snatched from her hand!
Landscaped grounds near the suspended bridge
I shall end my post for today with a haiku:
Hiker’s Haunt
Hikers throng the hills
In search of fresh challenges
Test of strength and will
