Bamboo Puddle

After another typical ferocious afternoon thunderstorm, I saw a Japanese print in this puddle in the road.

Urban Window

This lovely apartment has a beautiful view of Krutch Park downtown. I took a shot in color, but for some reason loved the monochrome better, so that's what you get.

Market Music

There are always lots of buskers at the Market Square Farmers Market. These guys actually sounded pretty good playing some jazz standards.

Market Saturday

The Market Square Farmers Market is bigger and better than ever. Local organic produce has never been easier to find.

Moth Rocks

I think that all the rocks are distracting me from seeing the moth at the center, but I think that's why I like it - I have to work to see the prize.

Bronze Morning

The sun burns through summer morning haze. It's the Bronze Age in Knoxville.

Macrolily

My supermacro lens gets to the heart of this daylily.

Daylilies

The daylilies are at their blooming peak right now. These have just survived another summer afternoon thunderstorm.

Finding Hope

I've had some technical difficulties with my computer since last week, but hopefully things are fixed now. So that's the theme for today - looking for the feature, not the problem.

And here's the feature - an advertisement for hope here and now is an odd sign to post by a cemetery. Well, I guess I hope I don't end up there anytime soon.

Gate

The wrought iron gate to the Crown & Goose beer garden casts a long shadow.

Clockless Hours

Dear friend now in the dusty clockless hours of the town when the streets lie black and steaming in the wake of watertrucks and now when the drunk and the homeless have washed up in the lee of walls in alleys or abandoned lots and cats go forth highshouldered and lean in the grim perimeters about, now in these sootblacked brick or cobbled corridors where lightwire shadows make a gothic harp of cellar doors no soul shall walk save you.

-Cormac McCarthy, Suttree

Viva Garbanzos

There's a new Cuban restaurant on the 100 Block of Gay Street downtown. I can highly recommend the garbanzos fritos.

Big Sky

The lake at Victor Ashe Park reflects a very big sky.

A Thousand Words

Tin Roof Rusted

Not very far outside of Knoxville, going for a drive along the back roads of Knox County, I stopped to admire this old barn.

Macro Shell

Here's a shell I found in Beaver Creek as I was sitting on a log pondering life, the universe, and everything. Any excuse for a macro shot.

Beaver Creek

Beaver Creek twists its way through Knoxville and Knox County. This particular spot is very shallow and cool. So take off your shoes and socks, have a seat on that rock, and enjoy one of the pleasures of an East Tennessee summer.

Dual Phoebes

My friend in Solway, just outside of Knoxville, has a phoebe nest right above her front door. Two of the chicks popped up to see what I was all about. Of course, I'm all about the photo.

Canine Thoughts

Cute dog contemplates pottery at a local festival this weekend. So tragic, he doesn't have opposable thumbs.

Placid

I saw the moon through a grime-caked window in the Old City. It seemed content to hang there.

Justification

This really is how I spend my time at the Crown & Goose beer garden in the Old City.

'Shine

This is an authentic moonshine still collected probably from the Back End of Nowhere, Tennessee, now residing in the Museum of East Tennessee History.

I won't go all Dr Science on you and tell you the chemical reactions involved in the making of moonshine. I will say: respect and handle with care if you intend to consume any of the product.

Not that I'd have first hand experience or anything...

Cupola

The Howard H. Baker Federal Courthouse downtown was originally built for the Whittle Communications company. When Whittle went out of business, the Feds took over this neo-Georgian building. The tower with cupola is now a familiar part of the downtown skyline.

Debord Falls

Honestly, sometimes a Knoxville Girl just needs a break from city life. So today I'm offering a photo from one of my recent hikes at Frozen Head State Park, which lies in Morgan County, just a bit northwest of Knoxville. This is Debord Falls, an easy quarter mile walk from the Emory Gap trailhead.

Llama Llama

Knox County Public Library sponsored the fifth annual Children's Festival of Reading at the World's Fair Park this past Saturday. There were all kinds of family-friendly activities going on all afternoon to help promote reading and literacy. This photo shows the literacy parade, featuring eight foot tall characters from the popular "Llama Llama" childrens book series. The guy in the suit is Tennessee Senator Tim Burchett, a local advocate for children's literacy.

The festival was a great success - an estimated 10,000 parents and kids showed up. I was volunteering in the Friends of Literacy booth doing face painting. Just in case you wanted to know, the most requested items in face painting are dolphins for girls, and Spiderman masks for boys.

p.s. oops, I had my post for theme day in draft form and forgot to publish it. Oh well, it was a rerun anyway. I have been greatly distracted lately by ... life.

Monthly Theme Day: Feet

I know, I know: I posted this one before. But look! It has feet! And inches too!

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