That would be my suggestion to you, then. Make sure you have as few typos as possible. I realize that you JUST wrote exercise 2 just now. But every misspelled word or typo is jarring to me, as a reader.
Oh, there were two things in the first. "It was tall." What was tall, now? And I'm not sure you can bask in shade. I think you can only do that in the sunshine.
"Hammered fast into the pillar was a rusty nail. The pilgrim removed a couple of things from his pack, a deck chair and a smaller object, and then hung the pack on the nail" this reads odd to me in the context of the writing around it
@KitFox Yes. Or else identify the pillar-structure as one object. Actually I think that without a roof or at least some kind of horizontal structure at the top, you'd get shade at some point in the day.
@Mr.Shiny, "To be honest, “garden” was a strong word for it. I never weeded it or planted things. Stuff simply grew there; that stuff wasn't grass, thus it was a garden." My absolute favorite!
"...removed a couple of things from his pack, a deck chair and a smaller object, and then hung..." I expect to read more like "...removed a deck chair and a can from his pack and then hung..."
> He unslung his folding chair from his shoulder and set it aside; hanging his pack on the rusty nail he reached in and grabbed something, then unfolded the chair and sat in the shade
Also, I'd split this sentence in twain: "After consuming about half the can, he placed it beside the chair, stood up, went over to the pack, and rummaged around, withdrawing three more small objects..."
Yes. I like the idea of permanent shade, but I can't see how that would work. It adds to the surreal feel, but it niggles in my head and makes me want to draw diagrams.
@KitFox if the pillars are tall enough, then they will cast a pretty long shade during nay time of the day (even noon), since the sun would have to be directly above the pillar in order for the shadow to be straight down
@KitFox It's ok, they can already spy on my using my google-talk-enabled webcam and tablet and phone(s) so I am not concerned if they read the drafts of my writing exercise that will ultimately be published on their own blogging platform anyway :)
OK, then for next Tuesday, let's write a paragraph or two. The paragraph(s) should have no dialog, and contain a rusty nail, a tulip, and the word "spangled."