autumn wisdom

I like spring, but it is too young. I like summer, but it is too proud. So I like best of all autumn, because its tone is mellower, its colours are richer, and it is tinged with a little sorrow. Its golden richness speaks not of the innocence of spring, nor the power of summer, but of the mellowness and kindly wisdom of approaching age. It knows the limitations of life and its content.
-- Lin Yutang (1895-1976) Chinese author.  

Above: Seeger Chapel on the campus of Milligan College.

be bold

At commencement you wear your square-shaped mortarboards. My hope is that from time to time you will let your minds be bold, and wear sombreros. 
--Paul Freund (1908-1992) American jurist and law professor.

Congratulations to all those graduating from Milligan College this weekend!

Above: Seeger Chapel

alignment

I often think of that rare fulfilling joy when you are in the presence of some wonderful alignment of events. Where the light, the colour, the shapes, and the balance all interlock so perfectly that I feel truly overwhelmed by the wonder of it. 
--Charlie Waite (b.1949) English landscape photographer.

Above: Seeger Chapel at sunset.

simple gifts

A little lifting of the heart suffices; a little remembrance of God, one act of inward worship are prayers which, however short, are nevertheless acceptable to God.
--Brother Lawrence (Nicholas Herman, c. 1605-1691) French monk.

strive valiantly

It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat. 
--Teddy Roosevelt (1858-1919) 26th US President.  

Believe it or not, baseball season is underway. The Milligan Buffaloes host the Johnson University Royals in a double header starting today at 1pm. This is a photo I took in my studio of Ernesto Fernandez, a Milligan College outfielder and pitcher from the city of Santiago in the Dominican Republic. Go Buffs!

be not afraid

There is much in the world to make us afraid. There is much more in our faith to make us unafraid. 
--Frederick W. Cropp  

Above: Seeger Chapel on the campus of Milligan College.

autumn happiness

Fallen leaves lying on the grass in the November sun bring more happiness than the daffodils. 
--Cyril Connolly (1903-1974) English writer.

Above: The Taylor House on the campus of Milligan College. This was the home of Alf Taylor, Governor of Tennessee, 1921-23.  Alf and his brother Robert were involved in the 'War of the Roses', to learn more about this fascinating tidbit of Tennessee history click here -- and click here to learn more about the house itself.

the tie that binds

Blest be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love;
The fellowship of kindred minds
Is like to that above.

Before our Father’s throne
We pour our ardent prayers;
Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one
Our comforts and our cares.
 --John Fawcett (1740-1817) British theologian, pastor and hymn writer. 

Above: A shared, post-game prayer after yesterday's soccer match between Milligan College and Tennessee Wesleyan.

The Odyssey

The Milligan College theater department’s production of “The Odyssey” is an epic collaboration of talented Milligan students and local artists who retell the ageless story in a fresh way.  Performances will be tonight (April 13) at 7:30 p.m., and tomorrow, April 14, at 2:30 p.m., in Milligan’s McGlothlin-Street Theatre of the Gregory Center for the Liberal Arts. All tickets are $5. Click here for more information.

a long-range perspective

The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective. 
--Warren G. Bennis  (b.1925) professor and author. 

Above: The view of Milligan College from White Rocks Overlook on Buffalo Mountain, 3.2 miles away. Notice the new dorms under construction! [click to enlarge]

Our Game

Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball, the rules and realities of the game. 
--Jacques Barzun (1907-2012) French-born, American Historian

Over the last few years I've been hanging out a lot at the baseball field -- partly because many of my students are on the team, partly for the sake of my love of sports photography, but there's a sentimental reason drawing me to the ball field -- my rekindled love for the game. They say the game is too slow, too methodical, too cerebral. The game moves at its own pace. There's a subtlety to it. It requires patience. And yet the game can turn with the crack of the bat. There aren't coin tosses, clocks counting down or cheerleaders. Here the defense controls the ball and on offense each batter stands alone. It's a game of individual achievement, and yet even the best player must depend on the other eight men who take the field. Music, clothes, hair styles, technology, labor strikes, recessions, even world wars come and go. Baseball remains. As Walt Whitman said, "It's our game -- the American game."

Recently I took some shots of one of our seniors, Cory Hilton (Johnson City, TN) -- it was the day before graduation. Toward the end of our shoot, we sat in the dugout and I asked him about baseball: what it meant to him, what his fondest memories were. He said he couldn't remember a time in his life when he didn't play baseball. He had played his last game that week. The conference tournament didn't go our way and as he walked off the field for the last time, he looked up, and there was his dad in the stands right above the dugout, standing and clapping. He said he lost it right then. And as he was telling me about it, I nearly did too. Such a poignant moment speaks volumes of their relationship. Am I wrong to think that that moment and that image of his father clapping will be the central image he returns to again and again in his life when the chips are down?  That he'll play that scene over in his mind when he has kids of his own who play ball? There's something about baseball. It bridges the generations.

patience

Patience with others is Love,
Patience with self is hope,
Patience with God is faith.
--Adel Bestavros (1924-2005) 

Above: Seeger Chapel on the campus of Milligan College

Wonderful!

Live the wonderful life that is in you.
--Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish writer and poet. 

Had a great time tonight taking photos of Milligan College's dress rehearsal of Alice in Wonderland. Tickets for the show, which runs this Thursday thru Sunday, are now available -- all seats $5! Click here for more information!

crayola sky

Artists are just children who refuse to put down their crayons.
--Al Hirschfeld (1903-2003) American caricaturist

"Secret Garden"

Milligan College will present the magical musical “The Secret Garden” on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 28 and 29, at 7 p.m. and on Sunday, Oct. 30, at 2:30 p.m. All performances will be held in the McGlothin-Street Theatre in Milligan’s Gregory Center for the Liberal Arts. Bringing the audience along on the journey into the magical garden is Carshala Davis (above), playing the role of Mary Lennox. Davis is a junior psychology major from Memphis, Tenn.  For more information, click here.

balance

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.
--Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-born American Physicist

Above: Milligan College sophomore Branden Jones (Valley, AL) during a recent Mountain Biking meet at ETSU.

For information on mountain bike trails in the area, click here.

not an end, but a beginning

Five years from now, you’re the same person except for the people you’ve met and the books you’ve read.
--John Wooden (1910-2010) American basketball coach  

Congratulations to those graduating from Milligan College tomorrow!  I've always found this quote inspiring - impressing on us the need to move forward with purpose. So I think it fits for graduation -- because after all, "commencement" is not about an end, but a beginning. This will be our President Don Jeanes' last commencement before his retirement in July -- so we'll give him our thanks and celebrate and congratulate all that he and his wife Clarinda have accomplished these last fourteen years. More here. Here's to a great new beginning for them and for all those receiving diplomas!

live and learn

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.
--Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) political and spiritual leader of India  

Spring on the campus of Milligan College.

courage

I have always considered tennis as a combat in an arena between two gladiators who have their rackets and their courage as their weapons.
--Yannick Noah (b.1960) former professional tennis player 

A shot of Milligan College junior Matt Clark at the net. Matt's a business major from Kingsport, TN and a graduate of Dobyns-Bennett High School. Poor Matt has me for two classes this semester.  I've always found tennis to be one of the more difficult sports to photograph. You wouldn't think it, but getting the player, the racket and the ball in the frame is a challenge given the speed of the game. When shooting, it does no good to wait till you see the ball in the frame, by then it's too late to press the shutter -- and the shot will be missed. So it's better to watch the player and when the racket goes back, start shooting.  It's times like this I'm very thankful for digital -- can't image how much film I'd have wasted yesterday. By the end of the meet my timing was better and  I was getting much more efficient getting decent shoots, but still there were lots and lots of shots to edit and delete.

Details: Nikon D90 with 70-300mm VR lens at 140mm, f/4.8, 1/1250 sec., ISO 500

enthusiasm

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
--Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American Essayist, Poet and Philosopher 

Freshman Kyle Grisby (Charlotte, NC) is definitely one who plays with enthusiasm - here he is driving to the basket during Milligan's recent win over Montreat College.