Endings and Beginnings

I took this shot on a recent December hike at Ijams Nature Center, the beautiful park and wildlife sanctuary in South Knoxville, and one of my favorite places in East Tennessee.

This captures my mood at the close of 2008: some light and some shadow, the brown of winter surrounding a late-falling leaf, a tentative shoot of new green life pushing up through the old muck of the trail.

Have a happy and safe New Year's Eve, everyone. I'll see you tomorrow in 2009, good Lord willing and the creek don't rise!

Clever Moggy

Yes, kitty, I'll never see you hiding behind that twig in the wilds of South Knoxville!

Fire In the Hole

I've finally downloaded all the photos that have been sitting comfortably in my camera for the past couple of months (!), so I have a bit of catching up to do. Think of it as a year's end retrospective. These are shots from November, when some friends and I helped local potter Peter Rose with his semi-annual kiln firing. Basically, I shoved wood into the kiln at timed intervals for six hours. Except when I was taking photos. Ahem. You can see some of the future pots in the inferno here:

This was the first time I've had anything to do with pottery apart from buying the finished product. And no, I didn't have any pots in there. We had a very big breakfast at Cracker Barrel when our shift was over. I think I smelled as wood-smoky as the bacon.

Heavenly Peace

An archived image, but still lovely and peaceful: sunset and moonrise over Old North Knoxville.

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.

Comfort and Joy

To all my CDP friends around the world, my friends in Knoxville and Tennessee, and my family scattered across the US, I wish you and your loved ones peace and the blessings of the season, no matter where you are or what you celebrate.

Happy Holidays from Knoxville Girl!