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.

A Thousand Words

Placid

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

Monthly Theme Day: Feet

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

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Leading You Down the Garden Path

I just liked the way it curved.

Drowsy

This kitty has the right idea: drowsing on a warm afternoon.

Doors of Maplehurst 5

I couldn't decide which one of these I liked better, so today you get a twofer.

I like the monochrome for the framing of the university tower. I like the color for the shaft of sunlight that peeked through the clouds at that moment, and for the rich contrast of brick/ivy.

This concludes your tour of the doors of Maplehurst. I'll be back tomorrow with our regularly scheduled program, whatever that might be.

Relic

This is one of the oldest buildings downtown, reportedly built around the time of the Civil War in the 1860s. Poor old sagging thing - it looks tired.

Down the Tracks

This is a quick one from the archives for today: the World's Fair Park was built on an old railroad yard. There is still one active track left that slices through the park between the art museum and the Sunsphere to remind us of this legacy.

Another note to the CDPB world: these past few months have been so hectic, I regret that I haven't had time to visit your blogs. I'm often surprised that I can still sustain this one. Thanks to the three or four of you who still drop by! No worries, I'll be back.

My cup runneth over. But the good news is, my cup is full of red wine.

Boardwalk

The Riverwalk trail at Ijams Nature Center includes a boardwalk along the Tennessee River. There is no gently sloping shore there, only vertical towers of limestone. The boardwalk hugs the cliffs and juts out over the river on long pilings. I like how the builders were sensitive to nature by building around this tree.

Ribcage

These limestone rocks along the banks of the Tennessee River looked like a dinosaur's ribcage. But the ribs were created from millennia of water erosion. The rocks are now well above the water line. You can see them on the Riverwalk trail at Ijams Nature Center.

Ghostly Bloom

This is from my March archive. The daffodils are just about done for the spring down here. I tried a shot in monochrome, and like it better than I thought I would. It looks ghostly.

Gaging Station

This is an old gaging station tower that still stands along the banks of the Tennessee River near downtown Knoxville. The US Geological Survey folks use them to monitor water height, temperature, and water chemistry. I don't know if this one is still in service - it looks old and abandoned.

Of course, if the water level ever reaches the height of the tower, I'd say we wouldn't need a gage to know we were in deep trouble.

Bait and Switch

I don't know who painted this mural or when it was painted. As you see, I am not the fountain of information today. I just find this mural so poignant when I step back and view it in its full context:

This is the old swimming pool for the patients at Lakeshore Mental Health Institute. I don't know if they still use it - it looks pretty run down. And maybe that's where my pathos radar kicks in. The fantasy is a white sand beach with sunbathing babes and surfer dudes. The reality is a rectangle of chlorinated water behind barred gates.

California Dreaming

The South has had some severe storms again. Batten down the hatches, y'all. And it's supposed to turn cold again next week.

So here's a photo to match my mood: bare trees, roiling clouds, and the spire of the chapel at Lakeshore Mental Health Facility are crowding my headspace with some major California dreaming.

Lots more skies at Sky Watch. Go have a look-see.

Isengard

Here's another moody scene: the smokestack at the Lakeshore Mental Health Facility towers over me and touches the stormclouds. The angle I photographed makes it look like the smokestack is curved, but it's really not. We're in for more stormy weather today.

Out Like a Lion

You know the old saying: if March comes in like a lamb, it goes out like a lion. Actually, I don't remember how March came in, but yesterday, we got whacked upside the head by the lion's paw. Knoxville was cold, wet, windy, and gray. Only a lunatic would be out in this weather.

So naturally, I went out to take some photos at my beloved Lakeshore Park.

I'm telling you, this one would have looked the same in monochrome or in color.
I love a leaden sky, in a makes-a-dramatic-image kind of way. Not so much in an about-to-rain-on-my-head kind of way.

Treaty of the Holston

The Treaty of the Holston was signed in 1791 by representatives of the United States and the Cherokee Nation. It ended the hostilities between the two nations, set boundaries, and allowed settlers to travel down the Tennessee River. In return for safe travel, the Cherokee nation received a one thousand dollar annuity and trade goods.

This monument by the point where First Creek empties into the Tennessee River is very close to the actual spot of the treaty signing. Here is the full view:

This speaks to the people of East Tennessee, as many native East Tennesseans today have a mixture of Scots-Irish and Cherokee ancestry.

Where Seagulls Dare

I will never understand how seagulls find their way this far inland - we're eight hours from the nearest coast - but there's another one soaring above the Gay Street Bridge.

I've been kind of scarce on the Internets these days again, I know - work, work, work. And glad that I have a job.