peace and quiet

Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.
--John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) 35th US President.

Above: Blue Hole Grotto outside of Elizabethton, TN. Not as much water flowing at Blue Hole as I was expecting to find. But still a beautiful place to explore. This narrow grotto was a great place to be on a hot, humid day - with the temperature significantly cooler than outside in the sun.

appalachian spring

To stop the flow of music would be like the stopping of time itself, incredible and inconceivable.
--Aaron Copland (1900-1990) American Composer. 

This is the upper falls found at the Blue Hole outside of Elizabethton, TN -- one of four small (but beautiful) waterfalls located in close proximity to one another. Click here for directions. Click here to learn more about Copland's beloved classic, Appalachian Spring.

I'm being hopeful in posting anything labeled 'spring', but this was taken last weekend when temperatures were warm and I first allowed myself to think that perhaps spring is indeed upon us. I'm ready for it!

exploring

What is the difference between exploring and being lost?
--Dan Eldon 

I explored an area of the Blue Hole I had never ventured into before. The creek there is often too high to make exploring upstream possible or too low to make it worth while. Yesterday it was just right. I was able to rock hop back and forth across the creek and find many cascades. The area is also populated with enormous boulders.  A very beautiful place.

fire and music under my feet

By reading the scriptures I am so renewed that all nature seems renewed around me and with me. The sky seems to be a pure, a cooler blue, the trees a deeper green. The whole world is charged with the glory of God and I feel fire and music under my feet.
--Thomas Merton (1915-1968) writer and Trappist monk.  

Above: The Blue Hole, outside of Elizabethton, TN. Not much water flowing, and the leaves still have a ways to go...but still it's such a beautiful, amazing place.

new experiences

A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.
--Oliver Wendell Holmes. 

The upper falls of the Blue Hole, outside of Elizabethton, TN.

happiness

Happiness is not having what you want, it's wanting what you have.
--Unknown

greatness

Keep away from those who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you believe that you too can become great.
--Mark Twain (1835-1910) American Humorist, Writer and Lecturer.

winter unfrozen

And the wrens have returned and they're nesting
In the hollow of that oak where his heart once had been
And he lifts up his arms in a blessing for being born again
And the streams are all swollen with winter
Winter unfrozen and free to run away now
And I'm amazed when I remember
Who it was that built this house
And with the rocks I cry out 
--Rich Mullins (1955-1997) singer and songwriter 

Click here to watch the video for "The Color Green," an anthem of spring and one of my favorite songs from Rich Mullins. Click the photo above to see a larger version of this panoramic shot of the Blue Hole, stitched together from three different images.

vision

Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.
--Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) Irish Author

to the hilt

It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth— and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up, we will then begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had. 
--Elisabeth Kubler Ross (1926-2004) psychiatrist and author 

Perspective

I believe in cultivating opposite, but complementary views of life, and I believe in meeting life's challenges with contradictory strategies. I believe in reckoning with the ultimate meaninglessness of our existence, even as we fall in love with the miracle of being alive. I believe in working passionately to make our lives count while never losing sight of our insignificance. I believe in caring deeply and being beyond caring. It is by encompassing these opposites, by being involved and vulnerable, but simultaneously transcendent and detached, that our lives are graced by resilience and joy.
--Fritz Williams

The Blue Hole near Elizabethton, TN, always a popular place to visit on hot summer days. It's one of the easiest falls to visit in this area with steep steep steps leading down to the falls (visible in the upper right corner of the photo).

Directions: From Elizabethton, take Route 91 (Stoney Creek Rd) for approximately 10 miles, turn left on Panhandle Road, continue for approximately 1 mile (road will turn to gravel) to parking area on left. Click here for map.

love and time

I learned from looking at his [Ansel Adams] work the places he loved the most, and where he spent the most time, was where he did his best work. I learned from him that you have to love what you photograph, and you have to give it time.
--Ion Zupce (b.1960) Romanian Photographer

With Milligan students Abby, Bryan and Michael at the Blue Hole.

inner peace

Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.
--St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622) Bishop of Geneva and Roman Catholic saint

I was actually expecting to see a lot more water when I took a couple of my photography students to the Blue Hole yesterday. I guess that specific area of Carter County missed our recent soakings. I know I've posted a lot of photos from there, but it's such an easy place to visit -- and a good place to take students to practice. With all our cloud cover yesterday, it was a good day for capturing the waterfalls -- if only there was more water! Here's my advice on photographing waterfalls. And here's my post describing the Blue Hole, complete with directions.

For this particular shot, I used a neutral density cokin filter (ND4) along with my circular polarizing warming filter -- this allowed me to leave the shutter open for 30 seconds, which really calmed the waters.

18mm, f/16, 30 sec., ISO 200

Divine Design

Nature is the art of God.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American author and philosopher

The first of four falls at the the Blue Hole, outside of Elizabethton, TN.

Directions: From Elizabethton, take Route 91 (Stoney Creek) for approximately 10 miles, turn left on Panhandle Road, continue for approximately 1 mile to parking area on left. Click here for map.

Details: Nikon D90, 18-200mm at 20mm, f/18, 8 sec., ISO 125.

Overcoming Obstacles

If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere.
--Frank A. Clark

You don't see many photos of the fourth waterfall at the Blue Hole outside of Elizabethton, TN. Out of the four falls you'll find there, this is the most inaccessible and least distinctive. But the practical reason you don't see many photos of this is that it's covered up with fallen trees and branches. To get this shot I used my wide angle lens which allowed me to get close to the falls and avoid most of the distractions. Hope you've liked our look at the Blue Hole this week -- it's a beautiful place you ought to visit! Click here for directions.

beauties and mysteries

Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life.
--Rachel Carson (1907-1964) American marine biologist and nature writer

This week I'm posting recent photos of the four waterfalls found at the Blue Hole outside of Elizabethton, TN. Above is the third waterfall and the one from which the Blue Hole gets its name. It's a popular swimming hole in summer and a beautiful place to visit anytime we've had recent rains. Isn't it great to dwell among such beauties and mysteries?! Take advantage of all our recent rains and visit a waterfall this weekend! :) Click here for directions to the Blue Hole.

a new vision in a narrow niche

Most people are not really free. They are confined by the niche in the world that they carve out for themselves.They limit themselves to fewer possibilities by the narrowness of their vision.
--V. S. Naipaul (b.1932) writer, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2001

This is the second waterfall found at the Blue Hole outside of Elizabethton, TN. Nestled into its own little grotto, this is my favorite of the four falls you'll find there. This one is so familiar to me, I had a hard time finding a new composition that I liked. I finally settled on this angle because it shows the rock formations that form the narrow niche surrounding the waterfall. It puts the fall in some context. You wouldn't necessarily know it from this photo, but I'd guess the waterfall is 15 feet high (in all, the combined height of the four falls at the Blue Hole is 45 feet). I'm breaking one of main rules of composition in this photo which says, don't 'bulls-eye' your subject -- don't put your main subject smack-dab in the center of the frame. But while compositional rules like this are helpful -- they're sometimes confining and need be broken. :) Click here for more thoughts on composition. And click here for directions to the Blue Hole.

Enjoy the little things

Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.
--Robert Brault

It's been awhile since I've been out to visit the Blue Hole in Elizabethton, TN. This popular destination is easy to get to and a fun place to explore. Pictured above is the first of four waterfalls you'll find there. I'll post the others this week!

Directions: From Elizabethton, take Route 91 (Stoney Creek) for approximately 10 miles, turn left on Panhandle Road, continue for approximately 1 mile to parking area on left. Click here for map.

Holston Fire Tower

High atop Holston Mountain (elev. 4,000 feet) stands an imposing 100 foot tower, constructed in 1943. Back in the day when the forest service operated a network of these mountaintop lookouts, this tower had a 12x12 live-in cab at the top. It was removed after the tower ceased being used in 1991. In case you're wondering -- a privy and shower were located at the base of the tower. (!)

It used to be possible to climb the winding steel stairs to the top. But time has taken its toll on the structure and rendered it dangerous and unsafe. It is now fenced off with barbed wire at the top and bottom. Don't try to climb the tower. Hopefully they will someday rehab the tower like the one on Pinnacle Mountain so people can once again take in the beautiful views of Holston Lake and Bristol.

Hiking Bill's post on the tower here.

Directions: From Elizabethton, TN take Route 91 (Stoney Creek) east for 10 miles, turn left on Panhandle Road and reset your odometer. At 1 mile you'll pass by the parking area for the Blue Hole on your left. At 1.4 miles you'll come to a gate that is typically closed in the winter months. (I'm told there's a trail leading from here to the top, but have not investigated that for myself. If there is, it's probably a steep, four mile trail from this point to the fire tower.) At 4.4 miles, the road splits. To your right is the gated road leading to the tower -- park here. The tower is one mile further up the road on foot - it's a fairly easy grade to the top. Click here for a map of the area.

Other area fire tower hikes:

• Bay's Mountain (Kingsport)
• Pinnacle Mountain (Unicoi)

[post updated 5/2016]

How can I keep from singing?

My life flows on in endless song;
Above earth’s lamentation
I hear the sweet though far off hymn
That hails a new creation:
Through all the tumult and the strife
I hear the music ringing;
It finds an echo in my soul—
How can I keep from singing?

What though my joys and comforts die?
The Lord my Savior liveth;
What though the darkness gather round!
Songs in the night He giveth:
No storm can shake my inmost calm
While to that refuge clinging;
Since Christ is Lord of Heav’n and earth,
How can I keep from singing?

I lift mine eyes; the cloud grows thin;
I see the blue above it;
And day by day this pathway smoothes
Since first I learned to love it:
The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,
A fountain ever springing:
All things are mine since I am His—
How can I keep from singing?

--Robert Lowry (1826-1899) Baptist minister and hymnist

This hymn is gained popularity through the recordings of Pete Seeger, Enya, and most recently Bruce Springsteen. Most recordings follow Seeger's reworking of the lyrics, which removed the Christian references. The lyrics above are the original version, penned by Lowry in 1860. Click here to visit a neat website (if you like old hymns) called "The Cyber Hymnal."

The waterfall above is one of the most visited in the Tri-Cities area --the Blue Hole is a series of four small waterfalls (totaling a drop of 45 feet) outside of Elizabethton, TN. Click here to see my previous posts and to get directions. Click here for a map of the area.