Desert Heats Up (Language)

WTForecast for Wednesday July 8

Too hot to think straight
Does this verse have any chance
Inspiration wilts

Yesterday my evil twin posted the WTForecast for Buffalo, NY, complaining of the heat. Before I checked it for Arizona I wrote the verse for the #haikuchallenge word chance and then had a good laugh – I think I did describe the hot weather in words. I also told Kati she cannot complain about heat to me; and she returned with, but it’s hot and humid here. Yes, I enjoy my dry heat it is nice to step outside and not have your clothes stick to your body. It’s also nice to not have my knee ache nonstop.

Arizona is going to really heat up this weekend we are on a heat advisory through the weekend which is nothing new for the summertime. Most summers we are able to escape the heat for a little while. Last July we were able to go up to the Grand Canyon.

Photo by Gretchen Hosking July 2019

Drive along Canyon
Chance encounter with wildlife
Brings cars to a halt

This year we have to wait until August before we can escape the desert heat. Hopefully we’ll have a smooth trip up to Oregon to drop Robin off at school.

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#NaPoWriMo 2018 Day Twelve

Palo Verde in Backyard

Backyard Oasis

Temperatures soar in Phoenix and like the bird, I rise out of the heat. In my backyard, the palo verde blooms. I sit outside soaking in the beautiful spring day. Where I was raised is seeing snow in April – too cold for me. My desert home may not be lush in green, but the springs are bright. When I head outdoors, I am able to stay cozy in shade.

Welcome warm sunshine
Green tree boasts yellow flowers
Snow long forgotten

NaPoWriMo Prompt – Today’s (optional) prompt picks up from our craft resource. We’ve challenged you to tackle the haibun in past years, but it’s such a fun one, we couldn’t resist again. Today, we’d like to challenge you specifically to write a haibun that takes in the natural landscape of the place you live. It may be the high sierra, dusty plains, lush rainforest, or a suburbia of tiny, identical houses – but wherever you live, here’s your chance to bring it to life through the charming mix-and-match methodology of haibun.

Good Morning and welcome to day twelve of #NaPoWriMo remember it is DEAR day in honor of Beverly Cleary. Drop Everything And Read. My readers may remember at the end of January, I was complaining about being chilly despite our Sunny Desert Winter. It doesn’t take a huge temperature drop to make me cold as I’ve acclimated to the desert heat. Well this past Tuesday, Phoenix recorded its first official 100 for the year. Yay! I still think it’s better than the snow they’ve gotten in Buffalo this month. Well I hope I was able to bring the desert to life in my offering today. I am off to get some housework done before I have to log into work. Then hopefully I’ll be able to dear.

One Year Later – Nasty Women Poetry Reading

Reading order last night

After long first year
eclectic voices speak out
how we will survive

 

Last night the Nasty Women Phoenix poetry reading invited the women who read last year to come back and give their perspective on how the year went. It was not as well attended as last year’s reading, but this meant I actually could sit through it. I told Shawn I didn’t think it was as long as last year’s reading, being able to sit down may have been helpful. I’m not suppose to stand for too long. And almost all the poets returned to read again except one who moved out of state.

Shawn had a couple of his photos bought in support of Planned Parenthood. His mother’s art piece was still there. Shawn took my picture by it, but it’s still on his phone. Maybe I will share it here later.

I found out yesterday that February has been national haiku write month (NaHaiWriMo) for quite a few years as haiku is a short poetry form and February is the shortest month of the year. Today’s #haikuchallenge word on twitter is after. I’ve been pretty good at writing at least one a day so far this year. I’ve missed a couple, but I’ve written more than one some days. I also have been writing other poems, both haiku and other forms, for submissions. Here is a place to submit traditional (as in about nature not necessarily syllable count) haiku on AZ nature. Sorry it is only open to AZ residents and closes on February 9th. My AZ poet friends should have time to write something. Happy haikuing!

Summer Fun

Death Valley Summer 1990

Seen in Bad Water
Puggle, odd little creature
Tours southwest desert

While Gretchen was attending classes at EMCC, I’ve been hiding out in the house posting about the scorching hot summer. June was a hot one in Phoenix this year. We hit a record high of 119 on Tuesday June 20th. It didn’t beat the big record for Phoenix of 122 on June 26, 1990 but we’ve gotten close on more than one day just this past Friday we broke another record with a high of 118. Since I’ve been following all the heat stories in the comfort of my AC, I noticed tourists out at Death Valley were getting out for photos next to the digital thermometer. It read 130 in the article. I had to go dig up the pictures we took the first time we came out west. And yes, it happened to be the year Phoenix holds the all time record high. It was HOT but I don’t think it was 130.

In the photo above I am holding my puggle. And no it is not a mix between a pug and a beagle. It’s a stuffed animal that now has inherited a new guardian. I still have the puggle and when Gretchen saw it, she fell in love.

Melt Down

I think I may be the only person dressed for winter in Germany later this month. Be sure to watch my blog in August. I’m sure I’ll have lots of photos to post.

Nasturtium

CC BY-SA 3.0, Link Wikipedia

Nasturtium leaves
add some zing to salad greens
with hint of radish

NaPoWriMo Prompt Day 5 – In honor of Mary Oliver’s work, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem that is based in the natural world: it could be about a particular plant, animal, or a particular landscape. But it should be about a slice of the natural world that you have personally experienced and optimally, one that you have experienced often. Try to incorporate specific details while also stating why you find the chosen place or plant/animal meaningful.

Here we are on day five of NaPoWriMo. On the first day I told you Rachael is taking an outdoor eduction course at ASU. She is also taking a garden class. She learned about the nasturtium flower and told us how it tasted like radishes. Well Mom wanted a taste and she brought home a couple leaves last week. Whew! They definitely have a kick.

Meanwhile Gretchen is not feeling well and stayed home from school today. Poor girl has slept the morning away. I need to get set up to work, the new adventure I told you about the last day of March. It is online so I am able to work from the comfort of home. Great gig for someone who can’t drive. I need to check on Gretchen to see if she needs anything before my work day begins.

If the little American sentence was not enough poetry to satisfy your nature needs, here is one I wrote on Desert Spring Silver Birch Press published a couple years ago. Enjoy the rest of First Contact day.

End of March

End of March

Single file march
over to the park
children laugh
and dogs bark
outside to play
before it gets dark
she tries to teach
and ignite a spark
for the water cycle
this last day of March
but it is dreary
the wind picks up
students grow weary
looking for desert
plants and animals
how do they adapt
to dwell in the desert
where rain seldom falls
leaving them parched
a hare hops across
their path unexpected
sign of rebirth
or cruel April fool

 

Welcome back everyone! It’s day one of NaPoWriMo. This is my interpretation for the prompt at napowrimo.net: our (optional) prompt. In honor of today’s interviewee, I’d like to challenge you to write a Kay-Ryan-esque poem: short, tight lines, rhymes interwoven throughout, maybe an animal or two, and, if you can manage to stuff it in, a sharp little philosophical conclusion.

Yesterday, Rachael took Gretchen and me over to the park to teach us about the life cycle in the desert. She is taking a course in outdoor education and had to write and teach a lesson plan. It was in the mid 60s yesterday, and for us desert dwellers it’s chilly. I was cold anyway. When we came to the part of the lesson where it asked us to walk around and find plants and animals who live in the desert. I said, the only animals I see are children and dogs. Rachael said to find, draw and write about the plants then. A few minutes later, she pointed out the rabbits. Her first teaching experience didn’t end up being all about flora after all.

Flat Stanley’s Stay in Arizona

Over Memorial Day weekend we played host to Flat Stanley.  You know my husband is sooo infatuated with his car, he said we had to drive Stanley around in it.  Well how does one explain a paper character driving in a 280Z?  Since Avondale, AZ is the home of the PIR, I figured Stanley needed to be seen at the raceway in style.

 

Flat Stanley arrives safe in Arizona.

 

Making sure Flat Stanley remains safe securely buckled in for his car ride.

 

Flat Stanley posing in front of Estrella Mountain.

 

He made it safely to pose in front of PIR.

 

Stanley enjoyed a much slower ride on the back of a tortoise as well.

 

Stanley

Sight seeing
Through
Arizona
Nice time
Learning about
Estrella mountain and
Yucca trees

NaPoWriMo Day Eighteen – Ruba’i

Every morning I wake to greet
The sunshine and love my retreat
Back east they’re still dealing with snow
My desert spring lush in dry heat

 

Picture taken by Shawn Hosking on Camelback Mountain

NaPoWriMo Prompt – And now for our prompt (optional, as always). Today I challenge you to write a ruba’i. What’s that? Well, it’s a Persian form — multipe stanzas in the ruba’i form are a rubaiyat, as in The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Basically, a ruba’i is a four-line stanza, with a rhyme scheme of AABA. Robert Frost’s famous poem Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening uses this rhyme scheme. You can write a poem composed of one ruba’i, or try your hand at more, for a rubaiyat. Happy writing!

Yesterday, I was busy writing tweetkus.  Tweets written as haiku. I heard Western New York had gotten more snow. I thought I better threaten the sun to get with the program.  I don’t want to deal with snow when I visit Buffalo in July. 😉

I’m no fan of snow
Summer better warm July
Sun has been forewarned

 

Then today I check the writer’s digest PAD prompt more weather poetry.  I decided to write a ruba’i on my beautiful Sonoran Spring. And now I have miles to go before I sleep… I need to get ready for the weekend.