Arizona Weekly Weather Report
Good morning friends, come out to my Prescott patio and listen to the rippling waterfall, windchime, and chirping birds. This week it’s finally warm enough to enjoy. But Vince and I are on a mini-vacation in Scottsdale this weekend where the temps soar into the 100s.
Last on the Card
As I drank my coffee on June 1st, I organized the last few pictures on my card for Brian’s Challenge, Last on the Card. These dessert willow flowers were so pretty, that I snapped a few pictures while Puppy Girl walked along Blooming Hills Drive on May 31st.
Unfortunately, the very last picture I took as a trio picture, and it wasn’t stellar. The one I thought was going to be stellar, the fourth one, was somewhat blurry in the part that was supposed to be the clearest.
“In the faint moonlight, the grass is singing.”
T.S. Eliot “What the Thunder Said”
T.S. Eliot never knew desert grass. The green grass is mostly plastic. The rest is mostly brown or using too much water. We have a tiny green grassy area for Puppy Girl and friends to enjoy. Trust me plastic grass just doesn’t fill the bill. 🙂
Weekly Reading
Did you get weekly readers when you were in grade school? They were news highlights and current events puzzles written months in advance. Those four pages kept us busy for at least a half-hour while the teacher graded papers. I don’t think they taught us T. S. Eliot’s ‘mythic method’ for writing poetry, though, so I’m still learning.
Eliot didn’t want to be understood as he complained that critic, “Edmund Wilson, who reviewed The Waste Land upon its publication in 1922, had ‘over-understood’ the poem (not ‘over-interpreted’, but ‘over-understood’, you’ll note).” Summary and Analysis
“Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood.
T.S. Eliot
Thanks, that’s encouraging, T.S.
I finished (sort of) the book of T. S. Eliot’s poetry even though I didn’t understand the Hyacinth girl with “flowers in her hair, flowers everywhere” (The Cowsills) or Tiresias the blind seer. Apparently, I’m not alone in my lack of understanding judging from the number of analyses that have been written about his poetry. What it did for me is to remind me of how familiar writers are/were with the work of other writers (or should be – or are expected to be).
- Shakespeare
- Homer
- Greek and Roman Mythology
- Bible
- James Joyce
- Charles Dickens to name a few sources Eliot used.
With a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction and a LONG lifetime of reading, I expected more of myself when I started reading T. S. Eliot’s poems. Since finishing this short book, it’s been like buying a new car. Suddenly I see that make of car on the road everywhere. So it is with T. S. Now he is ubiquitous. It may have been worth the wade into the mud called the “Waste Land.”
Other Challenges that Influenced this Post
Brain vacay – a retreat back to the wordless peace of photo challenges.
CBWC – Peaceful
Lakes, mountains, and loved ones.
Thursday Trios
The busyness in the backgrounds makes the three birds hard to see but I thought they were cute and I wanted to include them anyway. Vince asked me who the girls were, and they were a perfect trio sitting there on the curb of Courthouse Square waiting for the band to strike up the music.
LAPC #202 – Minimalism/Maximalism
Sofia created a challenge for us this week that I struggle with. Minimalism is not easy, but to me, it is more striking than maximalism.
I forgot to even take my phone when we headed out practically before dawn to a car show this morning in Scottsdale. Vince took all the pictures, and I came home and played with them while he played poker for a few hours. We both had fun. You will see more soon, but for now, here is my attempt at showing examples of minimalism and maximalism at the car show.
You might recognize the background from one of my April PPAC posts, “What Do Big Cats Eat in a Scottsdale Shopping Center?” In this picture, the cats are part of the maximalism, in my opinion even though I cropped this picture to feature the car.
Challenges that Influenced this Post
- Cee’s Black and White Challenge – Peaceful
- Cee’s Flower of the Day Challenge
- Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge – Macro
- LAPC #202 Minimalism and Maximalism
- Last on the Card
- Natalie’s Weekend Coffee Share #72
- Six-Word Challenge
- Thursday Trios
- Water, Water Everywhere #128
Ongoing on Always Write
- June Story Chat “The Backpack” by Aimer Boyz coming Tuesday, June 7.
- WQW #20 (Writer’s Quotes Wednesdays) – “Vacations that Rocked Your World” The only rule is to have at least one quote in your post about the topic. Remember a song can be a quote, too. Then just post a story, poem, or pictures that tie into and respond to your quote or quotes. The last day to post links is Tuesday at 12:00 noon Phoenix time.
- PPAC (Photographing Public Art Challenge) every Friday at 9:00 (ish). The last day to post links is Thursday at 12:00 noon Phoenix time.
That’s a wrap for today. Cold coffee hit the spot this weekend, and I didn’t lose my cup as we drove to Scottsdale.
Marsha Ingrao - Always Write 
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