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.

Bronze Morning

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

Sugar Magnolia

The two enormous magnolia trees by the parking lot of Church Street United Methodist Church are in bloom, white petals unfurling and lemony scent infusing the air. I took this with my 10x zoom lens.

Helpful Reflection

I love mirrors and reflections. This one made me laugh because it looked so incongruous stuck right up next to this tree. The image reflected is the university's new parking garage in the Fort Sanders neighborhood. The mirror is supposed to help you see oncoming traffic coming down the hill.

A Moment of Serenity

The trees in the early morning sun cast long shadows over the grass. The veterans sleep serenely in their cemetery across the street.

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.

Straight Up

This is the overlook at the top of House Mountain, the highest point in Knox County, 2100 feet high. This natural area managed by the State of Tennessee is only 10 miles away from Knoxville. I could tell you about tectonic plates and synclinal folds that formed the mountain. Or I could just mention that the Overlook Trail is really made for mountain goats that like to climb straight up steep inclines and scramble across boulders. And then they eat their lunch on a sunny rock high above the rolling farmland of Knox County.

Pink Riot

There are white dogwoods and there are pink dogwoods. White ones occur naturally in the wild, and are also cultivated. I've heard that pink ones are also natural, although the natural pink is very pale and not Violently Pink like these cultivated blossoms.

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.

Swarm

It's dogwood time in Tennessee, and throughout the southeastern US. Yes, we have loads of pretty cultivated dogwood trees, but they had to come from somewhere originally. So today I'm showing you a wild dogwood, a volunteer if you will, growing in the woods at Ijams Nature Center. I spotted it on a wildflower walk sponsored by the Center this past weekend. The blossoms on the wild trees aren't as numerous. But that's OK, because these looked like a swarm of butterflies flying toward me.

I'll have a few more wildflower photos to post this week as I work on my macro technique.

Fountainhead

This flowering tree in the Sequoyah Hills neighborhood looked like a fountain spraying blossoms instead of water. Which is why I love spring in East Tennessee.

Curtain of Wood

I took this image with my zoom lens from the other end of Circle Park on the University of Tennessee campus. It's the southbound end of the northbound Torchbearer statue. I just like the way the leafless branches create a delicate gauzy curtain. What's behind the curtain? It's Hodges Library.

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.

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.

Ornamental

This tree at Lakeshore Park hasn't leafed out yet, but it looks like it forgot to take down its holiday ornaments.

Trail's End

We're at the end of the greenway river trail at Forks of the River Wildlife Management Area. And look, here's a park bench so thoughtfully provided for us to rest our feet for the two mile (that's 3.2 kilometers) walk back.

There are trails that go inland, but I prefer to stick to the river during hunting season, as the greenway is off limits to hunters. So let's enjoy the river view and then go back and have a picnic lunch at Ijams Nature Center.

Happy Trails

I'm on my way to the Forks of the River Wildlife Management Area in South Knoxville. What a pleasant trail, as spring brings color to the back roads of the Tennessee Valley. Come walk with me. We'll follow the river trail.

Vernal Equinox

Spring is officially here - and not a moment too soon! It doesn't take much warm weather for the Bradford pear trees to blossom out - here's one framing the Sunsphere.

Fun Fact: According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America's 2009 allergy survey, Knoxville is the second worst city in the US for allergy sufferers. (Louisville, Kentucky is number one this year). This is not a fun fact for people who live here. Please pass the Zyrtec.

Hurry Spring

This week I'm celebrating the first signs of spring - oh, so close now! - and my triumphant and noncontagious return to civilization. This past weekend, the sun was out, the air was warm, and the trees were starting to bud.

I know we'll probably get one more winter storm before March is over, but until then, I'll enjoy the good spring-like weather.

Stripes

The trees along the Tharpe Trace Trail at Ijams Nature Center made stripey shadows in the afternoon sun.