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A Sample: OLATHE Haiku

I often think about "Kansas", my home state, in terms of how to describe it to others.  What "is" Kansas?  Surely, this is right:

But does that say anything about "Kansas"?  Not much.

What about the role Kansas played in period leading up to the Civil War?  John Brown?  The border wars?  Quantrill's Raiders?  We were known as "Bleeding Kansas".  Does this go into a description of what Kansas "is"?

What of the name itself?  It's Native American, and this land belonged to the Native Americans for who knows how long.  How is this included in a summary of what "Kansas" is?

Kansas became the nation's 34th state in 1861, though the territory itself became US territory as part of the Louisiana Purchase.  When I describe Kansas, is this a part?  Is the Spanish and French ownership to be included?

Agriculture is king in Kansas.  Surely this belongs in any description of what Kansas "is", though it in itself does not explain they "why" behind the agricultural phenomenon in Kansas.

In the 19th century, the Santa Fe Trail found itself winding from Missouri through Kansas on the way to Santa Fe.  The Commerce Connection.  Surely this is an important aspect of Kansas history.  Is it included?

History.  Culture.  Geography.  Politics.  Economics.  It all plays a part. 

Visual Explanations

Let's go one step further.  Rather than explain in words what Kansas "is", let's restrict our explanation to an image.  How would we do it?

Given the toughness of the challenge, let's first look at what others have done in this regard.  After all, isn't this what a flag is - a visual representation of what something really means?

Let's look at the Kansas flag?  What have our flag-makers said Kansas "is"?  What's important about us? 

What do we notice?

Purple mountains.

A sunflower.

A blue and gold bar.

34 stars.

Native Americans chasing buffalo.

A farmer and plow.

A prairie schooner.

A sun appearing behind the mountains.

A ship.

The Latin phrase Ad astra per aspera.

All of these are there for a reason.  But what reason?  What events took place by which these visual items are intended to summarize a massive amount of information?

Let's look at the Prairie Schooner as an example.  The Prairie Schooner?  What on earth is it, and why was it in Kansas?

At this point, there is a ton of research to be done - about this one simple element of the flag.  The Prairie Schooner.  The Santa Fe Trail.  Mexican independence from Spain.  Commerce.

The why and the how.

But why stop at the logical explanation of "the Prairie Schooner".  Let's incorporate the "logical haiku" process to describe this element of our Flag.

A formal explanation of the "logical haiku" process can be found here ...

The Goal of It All

I've learned a lot about Kansas, merely starting with my flag and investigating one element on the flag.  What else will I learn about my state while researching what's on our flag?  What can I learn from others doing similar research on their own state flags?  Their country flags?

This is the goal of GLOBAL HAIKU - to understand the wonder of the globe as explained by people living there.

How does this differ from what exists on Wikipedia or a number of other sites?  Can't we simply consult an almanac for this information?  Is my logical explanation above anywhere in an almanac?  Does an almanac include the thoughtful creation of the beautiful Japanese Haiku?  Does an almanac include descriptions from many perspectives from many children?

The goal of Global Haiku:  the logical-haiku description of a country's flag.  Many elements.  Many children. 

This is just the start.

What common elements do we see when investigating what's important on flags?  Independence?  Commerce?  Agriculture?  Religion?  How are these depicted?

What do the colors mean?  The shapes? 

For example, above the Louisiana Purchase was mentioned as an important feature in the history of Kansas.  Why was this encoded in our flag as a twisted blue and gold bar?  What significance does the bar have?  The "twistedness"?  The colors?

So much to learn - and so much time!

What is there to write about?  If I lived in Kansas City, here are some important visual representations of my "home".  Others include Coats of Arms, logos, and, of course, money!  A lot of historical information is encoded in money.