Jasper Street was where I grew up. When I was a child there, the Christmases were magical! The neighborhood was a combination of German and Italian. My home was more German, and had some of the traditions of Germany. For example, the Christmas tree would never go up until Christmas Eve. A lot of times, we wouldn't see it all lit until Christmas morning. It was just a very special, amazing experience.

Prior to this project, I hadn't written a lot of haiku. But lately I've been very interested in it through my interest in Zen Buddhism. I really enjoy not only writing haiku, but reading it, especially from the older artists, Basho and Issa. It's surprising that they lived in the 1600s, because their writing is so relevant and amazingly right on, even today.