Bronze Morning

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

Darkness on the Edge of Town

It's amazing to me that such dangerous weather can come in such a purely beautiful shade of indigo.

I like the lone billboard pressing up against the clouds. I like that this looks like the Edge of Nowhere, but it's actually part of the Bearden neighborhood.

April Showers

Oh those April showers! I love watching the rain clouds roll in, then watching them get pushed away by the sun. The rain-soaked hiking paths shimmer, changing from gray to silver.

It's a good thing I'm waterproof.

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.

Tail End

A big, bad storm blew through Knoxville last week, swirling clouds and hurling rain sideways, but trailed a momentary rainbow in it's wake.
More skies at Sky Watch.

Glowing Somewhere

Not really clouds, but a contrail that has reflected some sunset glow in a clear winter sky.

There's lots more at Sky Watch.

Orangina

This orange sky greeted me as I rolled into the parking lot at work early one morning in November. You can also see the Smoky Mountains in silhouette peeking over the treeline.
Now go peek at some other fabulous skies at Sky Watch.

Ice Cube Clouds

I love reflections. This one really made me smile, first, because it looks like clouds are frozen in a tower of ice cubes, and second, because the sky around the building looks cloudless - but wait, how did those clouds appear in the reflection? No, they were not photoshopped. It's all au naturel. Happy Sky Watch Friday!

Rising

There's nothing like a beautiful sunrise to life one's spirits.
And if this doesn't cure what ails you, check out Sky Watch for a big dose of beautiful.

Towers and Clouds

The towers of downtown are stretching up to touch the clouds. Perhaps they need to be a wee bit taller.

Lower the Curtain

Here's a recent archive shot of the clouds moving in over the city for Sky Watch. You might recognize the Sunsphere, the pedestrian bridge, and the shiny red bricks of the UT Convention Center from some recent entries this week. I took this while waiting for the elevator in the Locust Street parking garage. I especially like the faint reflection of the overhead light in the window - a stealth flourescent spaceship hovering over the Sunsphere.

Head In the Clouds

This is from a few weeks ago when we had all those huge clouds sailing over Knoxville. The people living in the Holston Building had their heads in the clouds.
Want your head to be in the clouds too? (In a good way, of course) Check out Sky Watch Friday.

Swoosh

I'm going all abstract art on you today. Here's a graceful horsetail swooshing across the sky, not sponsored by Nike.

Sky Watch Friday has hundreds of styles and colors of skies. Go pay them a visit.

Parhelion

I learn all kinds of things about the world from CDP bloggers. Mary Beth at Small City Scenes of Stanwood clued me in to sundogs with one of her photos. I had never heard of or seen a sundog in my life. And let me tell you, I'm no spring chicken.

Maybe I just needed to LOOK UP more. Because when I LOOKED UP last week at World's Fair Park around sunset there it was. A sundog! A parhelion par excellence! A celestial phenomenon! With many exclamation points!

I ran around in little circles shouting, "Look! Look! A sundog!" The man sitting on the bench by the fountain probably thought I was barking mad; he gave me a worried look and sidled away to the other side of his bench as I snapped away.

But as I took a deep, calming breath and walked away to find more photo opportunities, don't think I didn't notice him pulling out his pocket point-and-shoot camera and aiming it at the heavens too.

Look up Sky Watch Friday and see what other folks around the globe saw when they LOOKED UP.

Soaring

These cloud formations just don't quit! We're looking south through the trees of Krutch Park. The sunset colors are reflected on this massive cloud by the Holston Building. I've shown this view before by moonlight. The bird swooping by is a grackle. They are migrating through town by the hundreds right now.

To see more beautiful skies, migrate on over to Sky Watch. It will lift your spirits.

Mountainous

Seattle has its Mount Rainier. Tokyo has its Mount Fuji. Knoxville has...well, this week it had a really big cloud that looked like a mountain. We've had some truly awesome clouds sailing above Knoxville this week, so I'm getting a head start on Sky Watch. This mountainous cloud is framed by the trees in Krutch Park.

Sunscreen

I was sitting quietly at the Crown & Goose beer garden, contemplating life, the joys of summer, and whether I should have that second pint of stout, when I looked up through the mesh umbrella and saw my next Sky Watch photo opportunity.

You'll find opportunities to contemplate the joys of skywatching too, when you visit the Sky Watch Friday website.

And by the way, that second pint of stout was delicious.

Sky Watch Sunrise

I can't say I'm up before the sun, at least not during summer. But I do catch a few nice sunrises during my morning walk.

If you'd like to see more skies than you ever dreamed possible, come visit the brand new home of Sky Watch.  Be sure to thank Tom and the Sky Watch team for a job well done.

Little Black Cloud

Did you ever see someone who looks cranky or sad and hear people say, "she has a little black cloud hanging over her head"? Well, I certainly didn't feel cranky or sad this week, but when I looked up, there was a little black cloud hanging over my head. And since I had my camera, I can give you the photographic evidence. But I'm not too concerned; I see blue sky behind my little black cloud.

To see other celestial marvels from folks who apparently have more cheerful dispositions than I do, visit  Sky Watch Friday. It's guaranteed to make you smile.