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

In the Still of the Night

This is what I do when insomnia sets in at 3 a.m.

Dogwood Winter

Well, the weather forcasters didn't lie. We had cold temperatures and snow flurries - you might see a little snow action in the glow of the streetlight. But the snow only dusted the tops of roofs and cars. This is what is charmingly known around these parts as "dogwood winter."

Private Entrance

Kendrick Place, a block of elegant old townhouses downtown, keeps the peace with a discreet sign.

Wheee!

Here's my parting shot of holiday lights, post-Christmas, dashing through the Old City as a passenger in a moving vehicle.

And To All a Good Night

It's a silent night in the Old City on Christmas Eve. But for the first time since the downtown has become popular and prosperous again, the city has decorated this part of town by cleverly transforming the lamp posts into candy canes. I showed you some in monochrome on Monday, which were atmospheric, but lost their context. Business owners and residents in the Old City have felt like the neglected step-children of downtown for the last few years, so I'm glad the sparkly lights have come here at last.

Christmas Goose 2

The life-sized porcelain goose that resides in the window of the Crown and Goose pub is decorated for the season. A Christmas goose indeed.
I'll be away from the Internet for the next couple of days, but I'll have some timed posts to share with you.

Christmas Goose

I'm easing back into a few more holiday shots because, you know, the holidays won't last forever. But I'm still on the monochrome train. The Crown and Goose pub in the Old City is looking mighty festive these days, although the black and white gives it a bit of an Alfred Hitchcock twist.

Volmania Never Sleeps

Football season may be over (thank goodness!) but basketball season has begun, and the University of Tennessee Volunteers mens and womens basketball teams are starting their seasons. So Volmania, that peculiar affliction and affection for UT sports, is never far away. Even the holiday banners on Gay Street have been known to sport the Big Orange "Power T" on occasion. And here's a case in point: look what's floating through a snowy sky banner against the black nighttime sky. For more skies that probably aren't painted or dark, head on over to Sky Watch.

Sparkly Park

I just can't get enough of those sparkly holiday lights in Krutch Park.

You Better Watch Out

Yeah, and you better not cry either if you don't like your seats. Santa is taking tickets at the outside box office of the Tennessee Theatre. Here's the long view:

Now be good girls and boys and enjoy the show.

Winter Rain

Cold winter rain drums a staccato beat on the roofs of cars as they hiss and splash through leaf-choked puddles. They disappear down the street, and I'm left with sodden trousers and a beautiful shot of holiday gold.

Center Stage

The decorated Christmas tree on the Market Square stage is a thing of beauty, but I like the array of red and green stage lights even better.

Festive

Look at those festive ribs - I mean decorative metalwork over the entrance to Krutch Park - all decked out for the holidays. And bonus - there's the horse and carriage waiting to take some riders on a short sightseeing trip around downtown. The lighted tents in the background are part of the ice rink on Market Square.

Ribs

Ribs festooned with festive lights always put me in a holiday mood. How about you?
Is it a dinosaur on a pedestal? Maybe. I'll show you the big picture tomorrow.

Inflation

I'm not Sky Watching today because I'm too busy watching this inflatable Santa at the ice rink on Market Square. He looks more like Yukon Cornelius to me. Bet he has a pick ax behind his back too.

Skating Away

For the past few years, the businesses on Market Square have sponsored a huge ice rink for the holidays. It's quite popular with families and teens. I am content to remain an obesrver, as I spend most of my time on the rink either clinging to the wall or dusting ice shavings off my rump after another fall. I'm just impressed that an outdoor skating rink exists in the Mid-South, where temperatures often remain above freezing during the winter.

I Am a Camera

All right, I'm ready to stop the humbuggery and post a holiday snap or two. Unfortunately, the ones I just took are still sitting all cozy and pixilated in my camera, so until I can get them downloaded, I'm digging out some from last year's archive.
And to start it off, here's a self portrait from a cooperative ornament on last year's tree in the Krutch Park extention downtown. You can see Gay Street in the background. Yes, I am so photogenic, as long as I have that Fuji in front of my face.

Drink Down the Moon

We'll drink up the sun,

We'll drink down the moon.

Let the people say little or all.

- traditional folk song

For more skies, visit Sky Watch. It's become a Friday tradition.

Midnight Train To Knoxville

The Louisville & Nashville passenger depot, built in 1905, is still standing despite road construction and downtown development. This is a detail of the neon sign that hangs outside of the building.

The L&N was a grand station in its heyday, with stained glass windows, tiled floors, and a separate Ladies Waiting Room. But everything changes, time moves on, and the last passenger train rolled out of the station in 1968.

Salvation came with the 1982 Worlds Fair, which was built on the site of the old railways, and used the depot as one of the focal points of the fair, full of shops and restaurants.

The main section of the depot doesn't have a restaurant in it currently, but the space can be rented out for special occasions. I have a couple of shots that I'll share with you in the next few days of some interior details.