Sunday, May 2, 2010

Floodwaters and The Lady of Shalott



Hello all.  I am a little distracted as I live in the center of the flash flooding going on in Tennessee right now.  The disintegrating building in the video at that link is not many miles from my home and a place I am very familiar with.  We are experiencing the kind of disasters that usually have greater national coverage but the oil spill and apparently Times Square bombs are receiving bigger coverage.  I agree with the former and wonder at the latter....

I'm posting because some friends are aware that this is the area where I live.  Me and mine are dry and safe and in our homes, but many are not. 

I, of course, was inspired to go looking for flood stories--Noah being perhaps the most famous--but then felt inspired by Waterhouse's The Lady of Shalott since boats are the theme of the weekend here.  Her despair and curse are unrelated, but the image conveys many similar thoughts to what is all over the local news at the moment.  Looking at her again this morning, she inspired new perspectives for me, at least.

I hope all of you dear readers are safe and well and if I am gone for a few days--although at this point I don't anticipate as such, if anything being stuck at home may give me the much needed time to write many upcoming posts--I will return once the flood waters have literally receded. 


3 comments:

  1. Stay safe and stay dry! My husband and I were supposed to drive down from Louisville to the Frist Center yesterday to see the European painting exhibit, but decided not to go when we saw the weather report.

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  2. Hey there! I'm new to your blog but absolutely love it! I taught The Lady of Shallot to my 7th graders last year. I showed them the picture and asked them to tell me about it,then I paraphrased the story, and finally they read along quietly while listening to the song. It was perhaps one of my favorite and beloved lesson! (Oh that, and my fairy tale unit of course!)

    I'm glad that you are dry. I'm in Florida and am quite nervous about this summer's weather already.

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  3. Be safe where you are! Friends in Nashville are keeping me posted...meanwhile, I was just reading an interview with Colin Farrell (on salon.com) about his new 'fairy tale' movie...about a selkie...not exactly flood-themed, per se, but certainly watery! Hope all your friends and neighbors emerge unscathed.

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