Merry Christmas!

Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.
-- Calvin Coolidge

Above: An annual sight in Unicoi, TN - this brightly decorated VW Bug, complete with Santa. :)

5,000,000 steps

Campfire on a chilly night at the Beauty Spot

The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide you’re not going to stay where you are. 
--John Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) American financier & philanthropist.

Squirrel and her dog, Zima

It's that time of year when Appalachian Trail thru-hikers move through our region on their way from Georgia to Maine. In all, they'll travel nearly 2,200 miles, taking approximately 5,000,000 steps through 14 states. It takes anywhere from 5 to 7 months to complete. Only 25% who start the trail complete it.

I've concluded that thru-hikers are some of the best people you'll ever meet. Most all are easy-going, fun-loving, life-embracing, thankful, helpful, joyful, fascinating people with interesting tales to tell. They all adopt trail names by which they're known on the trail. Yesterday I met Weatherman, Squirrel, Lost Boy, Bones, Lotus and Mogsley. I'm always impressed with the strong sense of community they form as they make their journey together.  Here's a list of the class of 2014.

Weatherman from St. Louis

This group has made it through snow in the Smokies and is looking forward to the Roan Balds and the Grayson Highlands. Happy trails!

For a helpful online guide to hiking the Appalachian Trail, click here.

towering

Towering genius disdains a beaten path. It seeks regions hitherto unexplored. 
--Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) 16th US President. 

From a vantage point overlooking downtown Johnson City, I zoomed in on this communications tower, making it appear absolutely enormous against the far distant lights. I don't remember it looking quite this dramatic in real life. :)

city lights

There are dark shadows on the earth, but its lights are stronger in the contrast.
--Charles Dickens (1812-1870) English author. 

Not exactly fitting with the Appalachian Treks theme... but here are some shots I took flying into Chicago for Christmas. It's such a beautiful sight to see the city all lit up that I just had to share. :)

silence is golden

I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist and philosopher

Downtown Johnson City, TN with the spire of Munsey Memorial United Methodist Church in the center, the eleven story John Sevier Center to the right, and Buffalo Mountain in the distance. This is a similar photo to one I posted here. Click photo above to enlarge.

Bristol Motor Speedway

Bristol Motor Speedway at 6 a.m. on race day awaiting the Sharpie 500 and 160,000 fans. Even with that many seats, it remains one of the top ten hottest tickets in sports.

The spring race, we have a 99-percent renewal rate on tickets, ... For this race, it's 99.6 percent, which proves that 0.4 percent of the people don't renew their tickets to Bristol. We figure those are the ones that died.
--Jeff Byrd (1949-2010) President and General Manager, Speedway Motorsports, Inc.

hope begins in the dark

Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don't give up.
--Anne Lamott (b.1954) American author

I thought I'd try a nighttime photo of the waterfall on Buffalo Creek at the entrance of Milligan College. Based on my recent caving experience (or experiment), I used a flashlight to "paint" the waterfall, bridge and gazebo with light during the fifteen second exposure. A spot light would have helped, but you get the idea!

My introduction to Anne Lamont was through her powerful book Traveling Mercies. She's brutally honest about her issues and hangups, opinionated about everything, and, well, earthy. She makes me uncomfortable. Which is good. Click here to listen to a public radio interview with her. And click here to watch her interview on the Colbert Report.

Christmas Night Scenes

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.--Norman Vincent Peale (1898-1993) preacher and author

Here are a couple night shots of beautifully-adorned downtown Elizabethton, TN. In the shot to the right, I left the shutter open seven seconds to capture the taillights as the car traveled around the Veteran's War Monument. The 65 foot tall monument, which honors Carter County veterans from all wars from the Revolutionary War to the present day, was constructed in 1912. [click photos to enlarge]

Covered Bridge Classic

The covered bridge above is the best known symbol of Elizabethton, TN. The hanging of a single Christmas wreath is such a classy touch -- I'm glad they didn't wrap it in dancing icicle lights and top it off with an inflatable Santa. The addition of a simple wreath on this 1882 landmark says it all -- and with style.

It's impossible to find a "new" perspective on the most photographed structure in Carter County for the last 125 years running. But I like this angle with the rocks in the foreground. Layering is a great way of adding interest and perspective to a photo. Here, there are three layers, the rocks, the falls and the bridge. In case you're wondering, the shutter was left open for 20 seconds on this one.

Twilight

Twilight: A time of pause when nature changes her guard.
--Howard Thurman

Although I missed the sunset by a twenty minutes, I waited around Derthick Hall on the Milligan College campus to see what the sky would do. I often have read the advice not pack up too quickly after sunset (see here). There's a short period of time after the sun passes beneath earth's horizon when its light continues to be refracted by the atmosphere. And while sunsets are hard to beat, this twilight period is a brief time when colors become vibrant against a neon blue sky. Besides cropping, the above photo hasn't been retouched or photoshopped. This effect doesn't happen every night, but next time it does, grab your camera!