Photo Friday: BEST OF 2006

One of my favorite photos that I took in 2006. I call it Autumn Falls. It was taken at the end of October 2006 at Suck Creek in the Prentice Cooper Wildlife Management Area approximately a mile from where the creek empties into the Tennessee River.

Christmas Fun

For Christmas Eve night my daughter Tiffiny, son-in-law Jeff, and grandsons Blake and Braxton came over to spend the evening with us. Susan found some wierd rubber wig things and here's Braxton and me giving them a test drive. Are we not cool?
I bought Susan an old 1940's telephone which had been restored. We plugged it up and gave a test spin (ie: called a few folks). It works beautifully and has that sweet old ring that makes you think you're back at your grandmothers' house. Blake and Braxton couldn't seem to get over the fact that it was so large, had no buttons, and was not cordless. And to think, I still remember having telephones such as this one as a child!

Photo Friday: Weather

My submission for the PHOTO FRIDAY subject for 12/22/06 entitled Weather. I took this shot at approximately 7:45am last January 28, 2006 while standing on the roof of my back porch.

Zzzzzzzz

Sshhh..............sleepin' here.

Happy Birthday, Lisa

Cumberland Trail

Today we took another hike this time going a couple of miles up the Cumberland Trail. This shot is of the North Suck Creek Bridge which is approximately 1.4 miles from Highway 27. From left to right: My son-in-law Jeff, his brother-in-law Tom, my grandsons Blake and Braxton, and their cousing Austin. We estimate this bridge to be about 245 feet long not counting the ramp on the far side. Believe me when I say that this bridge does sway quite a bit as you cross it.

The picture above which was created from three seperate shots was taken by my son-in-law Jeff. He's taken some great shots that give some good perspective to the bridges' length and height above the water.

We had a little of excitement during this hike. I saw an old rotted pine tree that was on the brink of falling and decided to give it a kick or two to help it along. I gave up so Tom and Jeff both took a few turns attempting to bring it down with Tom delivering the fatal blow. My grandson Braxton had gone a short distance up the trail and when the tree did start its' fall it was dropping right straight toward Braxton. I screamed for him to run and his eyes got big as half dollars as he backed away just as the forty or fifty foot tree slammed to the ground right in front of him. He started talking excitedly about how neat this was while I was thinking that if he had gotten squashed I'd never be able to go back home and face his mother and grandmothers. I told him that if he spoke of this not to mention that he almost had a tree dropped on him. His response was that "this was one of the neatest things that happened and that he couldn't wait to tell everyone back home that this was the day that he almost got killed by his Pop".

Kids say the darndest things!

Photo Friday: STILLNESS

Mullins Cove, on the Tennessee River west of Chattanooga, TN

Illustration Friday: INVENTION

A quick sketch / collage combined with a bit of "scanner art" for this weeks' Illustration Friday subject INVENTION. I chose the acorns as a representative sampling from the greatest inventor of all.

Aahhh...Mother Nature!

Today I did something that I've been promising myself that I'd do for years. Today I hiked through parts of the Tennessee River Gorge to the base of the cliffs overlooking the Tennessee River. Me, my son-in-law Jeff, grandsons Blake and Braxton, their cousin Austin, and their friend Tyler all hiked to the cliff faces. We were guided by my son-in-laws brother-in-law Tom Ritchie. Tom grew up the Tennessee River Gorge and took us to some pretty interesting rock formations, cliff faces, as well as some very small old coal mines that used to be in operation at the base of the cliffs. We're going to try to hike to a different interesting place within the River Gorge, Prentice Copper State Forest, or along the Cumberland Trail every weekend (weather permitting). Click here to see a few more pictures that I posted on my Flickr page.

The Tennessee River flows northeast to southwest through East Tennessee. Near the southern border of the state, the river abruptly turns west, carving its way through the Walden Ridge portion of the Cumberland Plateau and creating the Tennessee River Gorge, one of the deepest canyons in the eastern United States. Where the river cuts through the plateau, two mountain remain on each side: Signal Mountain on the north and Lookout Mountain on the south. The latter mountain is a prominent peak overlooking the river and forming a backdrop for Chattanooga, which grew up at this passageway west.

Back To Nature

Today I took another hike up the creek in the Prentice Cooper State Forest. The trees have already lost their brilliant coloring from a week or two ago but this is still a great area to hike and enjoy nature. This is one of my favorite areas near Chattanooga. There are several parking areas from which you can start your hike, although I have to admit that some of them are difficult starting points as there are very steep slopes to tackle before getting on easier trails. Even with the somewhat difficult starting point that I chose today the hike was well worth it. There's something about being in this place far from traffic and other humans that is extremely relaxing.

Happy Birthday, Mother

A MOTHER'S LOVE

A Mother's love is something that no on can explain

It is made of deep devotion and of sacrifice and pain

It is endless and unselfish and enduring come what may

For nothing can destroy it or take that love away . . .

It is patient and forgiving when all others are forsaking,

And it never fails or falters even though the heart is breaking . . .

It believes beyond believing when the world around condemns,

And it glows with all the beauty of the rarest, brightest gems . . .

It is far beyond defining, it defies all explanation,

And it still remains a secret like the mysteries of creation . . .

A many splendoured miracle man cannot understand

And another wondrous evidence of God's tender guiding hand.

~Helen Steiner Rice~

Fall Is In The Air

Today I spent just a little time in the woods watching the water cascade over the rocks as it runs down Signal Mountain through the Prentice Cooper State Forest. This one of the more beautiful spots to hike through near Chattanooga. The Cumberland Trail actually runs through here and there are miles of scenic views. The river is freezing cold even in the heart of summer.

The last photograph is at my daughter Tiffiny's house. Her back yard adjoins the state forest and the nature views are magnificient there.

Photo Friday: INNOCENCE

My entry for Photo Friday 10/20/06 challenge INNOCENCE.
My granddaughter Micah.
With special thanks to Raphael.
I will gladly remove this image if it in any way violates any copyright laws.

Happy Birthday Dana

Happy Birthday to my baby sister Dana. I guess you're not a baby any more. I hope that you have a wonderful birthday. And you can still put just three candles on your cake if you want.

Photo Friday: BRIGHT

My submission for the Photo Friday challenge BRIGHT. For anyone interested there are a couple of trade organizations and government agencies that assign numbers to metal finishes. The finish shown above (which most would call Bright Brass) is designated US3 by the American National Standards Institute and designated 605 by the Builders Hardware Manufacturers Association. And now you know..............

Just For Fun

Todays' post is just a little something for fun; a collage of a few pictures from some recent family get-togethers. Clockwise from top left: Granddaughter Micah, Grandson Blake, Sister Dana and Son-In-Law Jeff, Micah and me, Micah and Me, Micah, and Sister dana with my son Michael.

Hibiscus Moon

I haven't posted much lately so I thought that I would add one last Moon Plant update (I promise!). The moon plants continue to thrive and produce blossoms in abundance. The blossoms also seem to defy what I said about Moon Plants only blooming at night with blossoms on my plant starting around 7:00pm and lasting well up until 8:00am.

In defense of the post title I just wanted to use something a little different so I made up a title that reflected the photo subject and background. The Hibiscus in the background is also in my flower bed with the Moon Plants but it seems to be finished for the season. It never produced more than two blossoms at a time but they were magnificent when they were fully open. I took some broad liberties by layering two images and then duplicating them to create my backgound.

I hope to actually find the time to be a little bit creative in the very near future. I hope to do a bit more sketching for Illustration Friday and photography for Photo Friday soon.

Moon Plant Update

The moon plants that I mentioned in an earlier post are doing quite well. My neighbors think I'm a bit daffy for letting them run on the house but I like them quite a bit. The vines are still growing at an amazing rate and they make a really nice screen for the front of the house. Tonight the vines produced more blossoms than ever and I just had to post a couple of shots.

Photo Friday: FOUR

My totally un-flattering entry for this weeks' Photo Friday challenge. The subject this week is FOUR and once again I have chosen myself to flaunt to the world wide web. I'm not narcissistic, just one of the few willing subjects that I can readily find for my photo manipulations.

Moon plants and Life Changes

No, moon plants and life changes have nothing in common except that they're both subjects in tonights post.

Moon Plants. My mother always grows these plants on her porch and they grow prolifically. The odd thing about them is that they have these very large, beautiful blossoms that only appear at night. I've tried to grow these before with absolutely no success but this summer we finally scored. I've included both pictures above just so you can see how much this plant has grown since around the end of May. And now, tonight, it's going to display around 8 to 10 large white blossoms. They'll stay open all night long and be gone by around 7:30am.

Life Changes. If anyone read the comments in my May entry called Envy you might have noticed that I said that I was overwhelmed at work. I also said that I was drowning and just needed a lifeline but just couldn't seem to find one. Well, when I finally did realize that things were never going to change for me at work I decided to change my situation another way. I quit my job and have gone on to better things. At the moment there is very little stress and the atmosphere is totally different from where I was before. Oh, I know that things will get busy and there will be stressful days. But for the moment I am quite enjoying the change although I have to say that there are a few people at the old job that I do miss. Monroe, Ladonna, Joe, Alan, Diana, and a couple of others have been good friends and I hope that we can all stay in touch