more from the frozen tundra

Looking through a crepe myrtle at the Bradford pear tree in our neighbor's yard. After the storm ended, everything in the neighborhood glistened in the sunlight.

the iceman cometh

For the most-part, winters are not harsh in my part of the country. The weather forecast for this past weekend was for an inch of ice followed by 4 to 8 inches of snow. Normally the weather forecast for our area is wrong. There's a ridge several miles west of the Mississippi River called Crowley's Ridge. That ridge affects our weather greatly. Any weather moving from the west to the east hits Crowley's Ridge and splits. South of us gets bad weather. North of us gets bad weather. But most of the time we get a milder version.

Well our 4 to 8 inches of snow did not happen. We got the ice part, but only about a half-inch. That was enough to wreak havoc on the Mid-South. Our power went out at 10pm Friday night and came back on around 6am Saturday morning. My in-laws lost power from 8pm Friday until around 6pm Sunday. Trees were cracking and popping all night long on Friday. Trees came down. Big limbs came down. Power lines came down. Our trees are just not conditioned for ice. Their limbs are weaker than northern versions of the same trees.

Although there was a nominal amount of damage in the area, it could have been much, much worse. I walked around the neighborhood and took a number of pictures. Here's one of them.

Stay warm. Use common sense. Wait for spring.

The last time I visited the wolf river natural area was about a year ago... until this week. The area has a 3-mile paved path that follows the south bluff of the wolf river, with educational kiosks, lakes, bayous, butterfly gardens, and numerous other attractions along the way.

This shot was taken along the banks of west lake. While I was there a photographer/reporter from a local newspaper stopped to ask if he could take some pictures of me taking pictures. Of course I said yes and he walked along with me for a while, asking questions for a feature article about this park.

This is basically the only warm day we have had this week. Now it is 30 degrees and snowing... finally!

Wolf River Trail
Wolf River Natural Area
Germantown/Memphis, Tennessee

turtle bayou

Today was a really good day for a noontime hike. I visited Turtle Bayou [just off the Wolf River Trail]. I took this shot from the observation deck overlooking the bayou. Great place. While I was there a photographer/reporter for a local newspaper stopped by and asked me if he could take some pictures of me taking pictures. He's doing a feature on people enjoying the outdoors during this cool winter season. Of course I said yes.

after the thaw

I took this picture while hiking along the banks of the mighty, muddy [or is that mighty muddy] Wolf River. Just a few days ago the trail was frozen. Hiking through here was really strange. The top of the soil was wet and muddy but I could feel [the hear] the ice cracking with each step. The river is swollen almost to the top its banks right now.

Before posting this shot, I turned it 180 degrees.

hello mr baldwin

I figured I would just step out for a short lunchbreak today, and as I was waiting for my number at Arby's to be called I heard someone speak out, "Hello, Mr. Baldwin". As I turned I saw a young man [well... young compared to me] who looked very familiar to me. Turned out to be David, who was one of the scouts from the Boy Scout Troop that I scoutmastered in the middle and late 1980's. I guess I haven't changed all that much, but all those boys from 25 years ago certainly have.

David's father was the scoutmaster when I first started working with the troop. After a couple of years he decided to pass the leadership on to someone else and he asked me if I would consider being the scoutmaster. Being the scoutmaster of 65 scouts and 15 adult leaders is no easy job, but I accepted the challenge and those were some of the most rewarding years of my life. I loved backpacking and this troop had always been a stationary camping group [set up base camp and then play wide-area games or build towers or work on merit badges like swimming or archery], so when I became the leader we changed our emphasis to backpacking and things like emergency preparedness and wilderness first aid. It was a big change for most of the adult leaders. They liked having the boys set up base camp, cook all the meals, do all the clean-up, plan all the activities, and break down the camp at the end of the weekend. I thought the adult leaders should work more, teach more, and provide more challenges for the scouts, so David's dad became one of my assistant scoutmasters. Cactus, Bobby and Jack also became assistant scoutmasters, and with their leadership we transformed our troop into a very active high-adventure group. The boys loved it.

Now, after all these years, I run into scouts from our troop quite often. They all have great memories of those years... backpacking, whitewater rafting, canoeing, rock climbing and rapelling... things they would not have been able to experience otherwise. There's a group of men, who all earned their Eagle rank during those years, who get together regularly for lunch and on occasion Cactus and I join them.

So, thanks David, for saying hello today and bringing back all those great memories of days gone by.

kelly at the easel

Our left-handed, art-major daughter is living at home this semester. Here she is sketching one of her pre-masterpieces before painting.

tennessee divided by three

I think Tennessee has a very cool state flag. The inset is a full-view graphic of the flag. The three stars on the flag represent the three different land forms in Tennessee [mountains in the east, highlands in the middle and lowlands in the west]. On the flag these regions are bound together in an unbroken circle of blue with a white border [all on a red background]. a blue strip on the free-flying end of the flag adds a bit of contrast and color when the flag in hanging limp.

Tennessee became the 16th state on June 1, 1796. The Tennessee flag was adopted on April 17, 1905. In October 1917 National Geographic published an article about flags of the world. The Tennessee flag was included in that issue and the article mistakenly noted that the three stars at the center of the flag symbolized that Tennessee was the third state admitted to the union after the original thirteen. The designer of the flag, Capt. LeRoy Reeves explained that Tennessee's being the sixteenth state had nothing to do with his design. The tree stars do, in fact, represent the three grand divisions of Tennessee [eastern, middle, and western]. In 1976, the US Post Office issued a stamp featuring the Tennessee flag. The only problem with the stamp was... it was upside-down. The flag should always be shown as the inset one appears. When flown, the blue bar is to the outside.

peace is...

1. the normal, nonwarring condition of a nation, group of nations, or the world.

2. (often initial capital letter) an agreement or treaty between warring or antagonistic nations, groups, etc., to end hostilities and abstain from further fighting or antagonism.

3. a state of mutual harmony between people or groups, esp. in personal relations: Try to live in peace with your neighbors.

4. the normal freedom from civil commotion and violence of a community; public order and security: He was arrested for being drunk and disturbing the peace.

5. cessation of or freedom from any strife or dissension.

6. freedom of the mind from annoyance, distraction, anxiety, an obsession, etc.; tranquillity; serenity.

7. a state of tranquillity or serenity: May he rest in peace.

8. a state or condition conducive to, proceeding from, or characterized by tranquillity: the peace of a mountain resort.

9. silence; stillness: The cawing of a crow broke the afternoon's peace.

10. used to express greeting or farewell or to request quietness or silence. Peace brother!

Peace Train [by Cat Stevens]

Now I’ve been happy lately, thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be, something good has begun

Oh I’ve been smiling lately, dreaming about the world as one
And I believe it could be, some day it’s going to come

Cause out on the edge of darkness, there rides a peace train
Oh peace train take this country, come take me home again

Now I’ve been smiling lately, thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be, something good has begun

Oh peace train sounding louder
Glide on the peace train
Come on now peace train
Yes, peace train holy roller

Everyone jump upon the peace train
Come on now peace train

Get your bags together, go bring your good friends too
Cause it’s getting nearer, it soon will be with you

Now come and join the living, it’s not so far from you
And it’s getting nearer, soon it will all be true

Now I’ve been crying lately, thinking about the world as it is
Why must we go on hating, why can’t we live in bliss

Cause out on the edge of darkness, there rides a peace train
Oh peace train take this country, come take me home again

i grew up in the sixties. peace was highly sought by my generation. my daughters grew up in the nineties. their generation is still seeking peace. as i sat on the hillside at woodstock in 1969, i listened to the words of popular artists of that time [melanie, joan baez, arlo guthrie, and all the others] i wondered why we couldn't achieve peace. it is so cliché today to say "i want world peace", but world peace is exactly what we should all want. Please, God, grant us world peace!

mannequins

Click here to see more images from this wooden art mannequin series.

twin hills ranch

The Battle of Collierville Civil War Re-enactment took place on the grounds of Twin Hills Ranch. That's the first time I had ever been there. A few days after the re-enactment I drove over to the ranch to see if I could take pictures of the trees but the gate was posted with a no trespassing sign. I stopped at a house nearby and a gentleman there told me who owned the property and where the office was located. I drove over to the office and there only one person there [not the owner]. He told me he thought it would be okay if I drove onto the property to take pictures. It was raining that day so I decided to come back the next morning, which I did. I had a great time hiking on the property and taking pictures of all the huge, old trees, hay fields and the fishing lake [pictured here].

Click here to see more pictures from my Twin Hills Ranch adventure.

riverwoods

On this day the Riverwoods Nature Preserve was full of mosquitoes. I had been intent on hiking this trail out and back to Chick-fil-A [about 2 miles round trip], but the mosquitoes were so intense that I changed my mind about ten minutes into the hike and turned around. That's the first time this year that I have had to abort a hike because of mosquitoes.

yellow

The yellow trail has a nice, soft, sandy surface. I love hiking this trail year round. It follows the bluff of the Wolf River through the Lucius Burch Natural Area of Shelby Farms. That's the Wolf River on the right in this picture. It's always muddy. I have never seen it when it wasn't. From this point the Wolf River winds its way to the mighty Mississippi River, about 12 miles west of here.

wetlands nature walk

So.... I thought it would be fun to host a photography nature walk at the William B Clark Nature Preserve in Rossville. The walk was listed in the "things to do" section of the Memphis newspaper and people from all over the metropolitan area gathered at the trailhead on Saturday morning. After a brief introduction we hiked along the Wolf River to the boardwalk and for the next two hours we walked along the boardwalk, stopping to discuss digital photography, camera settings and taking pictures of the wetlands. The morning was a complete success. Everyone who participated seemed to have a good times taking pictures and learning new techniques and strategies with their cameras. I plan to host another nature walk in the near future.

Click here to see more pictures from the wetlands nature walk.

blue trail puddles

I totally enjoy hiking in the rain. I took this picture on the blue trail, which is part of the Wolf River Trail System at Shelby Farms. We've had more than our share of rain since spring. I think this has been the wettest year I can remember. It rained 28 days straight in July and August. That's a lot of rain. With that kind of weather, I suppose it's a good thing I enjoy hiking in it. Otherwise, this would have been an almost hike-free summer and fall.

the hunt for blue crinoids

All the life-saver-looking things in this picture are crinoids, which my wife and I found at Dale Hollow Lake in middle Tennessee. Crinoids were sea animals that looked a lot like plants, and lived about 400 million years ago. They appear blue because the original organism has been replaced [fossilized] with chalcedony [a form of quartz] over millions of years.

Visit my photostream to see a few more pictures from Dale Hollow.

looking skyward

There are a number of parks with boardwalks near my home: Clark Preserve in Rossville, the Preserve in LaGrange, Wolf River boardwalk in Moscow, and Petterson Lake boardwalk in Collierville. I took this picture from the boardwalk in Collierville. The walk is about 1.75 miles round-trip with a stop at the Wolf River.

To see more pictures from Johnson Park, visit my photostream.

hooked...

on Nameless, Tennessee. That's right... Nameless. About four years ago my wife and I drove to Nameless to collect geodes. We're members of a geology club and we go on a field trip about once a month. On this particular trip, we took our youngest daughter with us. She was 15 at the time. She didn't want to go with us but we convinced her to go. She had a miserable time. There was no cell phone coverage in the Nameless area. There was no internet connection at the old hotel where we spend the night. There's not a hotel in Nameless so we stayed several miles away in less-than-nice accommodations. It was cold and windy and muddy, so searching for geodes was not a great deal of fun.

When I got an email this past summer from someone in Nameless asking if our club would like to come check out a new collecting site, I said yes. What was I thinking! But things sounded different this time. Mr. Watts told us about his property in Nameless and it sounded great. He also told us about the J. T. Watts General Merchandise Store that used to be owned by his father and now he owns it and has transformed it into a museum. I told our club about it and we made our plans to visit. We did visit about two weeks ago and it was fantastic. We found so many geodes we don't know what to do with them. We also found the museum to be a treat. It was like stepping back in time to the 1950's with wood-burning stove, Cokes in 6-ounce glass bottles, Prince Albert in-a-can, Gulf Oil, Moon Pies, and checker playing around the wood heater. I can't wait to visit again. I'm hooked on Nameless. Our daughter didn't go this time, but I honestly think she would have loved it as much as we did.

To find out about geodes, the museum and why Nameless is called Nameless, visit my Photostream.
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Song 606: Just The Way You Are
Artist: Billy Joel
Album: The Stranger
Year: 1978
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tall trees and long boards

This boardwalk winds its way through the wetlands of the William B Clark Preserve, and this Saturday I will be leading a nature walk [digital field trip] along this boardwalk. I don't know how many people have signed up for it, but I hope there will be at least 20 or 25. We're going to be exploring camera settings and taking pictures of the wetlands to illustrate the points of digital photography. I've taught about two dozen digital camera workshops over the last two years, but this is the first nature walk. I did a photography summer workshop for kids in 2008. Wish I had done another one this past summer. We did several digital field trips during that workshop.

cotton pickin time

Memphis used to be the Cotton Capital. There's still a lot of cotton grown in this part of the country. Cotton is still the most used natural fiber for making clothing in the world. I would rather have a 100% cotton shirt than any other material.

Near where I work are several cotton fields [right here in the middle of suburbia], and this week is cotton pickin time. Several of the fields have already been picked and I suppose the others will be by the end of the week. I have stopped by the fields a half dozen times in the last week, watchng the progress on the cotton bolls. They're fully matured and looking very healthy. That surprises me a bit because it has been such an incredibly dreary and wet late summer and fall. It's going to look very desolate and lonely around these fields for a while.

If you have an opportunity, drop by my photostream for a visit.
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Song 605: Hopelessly Devoted to You
Artist: Olivia Newton John
Album: Grease OST
Year: 1978
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wetlands shaken

One of my favorite photo techniques is shake photography. I gently shake my digital camera while shooting. It works best with a low ISO setting [ISO 100]. This image was taken on a recent boardwalk hike through the wetlands of the William B Clark Nature Preserve in Rossville, Tennessee. The late afternoon sun was streaming in through the forest canopy and the shake photography captured the light dramatically.

the pink palace arts and crafts fair

My wife is a fiber artist. She receives wool just after it is sheared... cleans it... teases it... cards it... spins... dyes it... and makes things like scarves, shawls, runners, hats, ornaments, etc. I help her in any way I can. She has been a demonstrating craftsman at the Pink Palace Arts and Crafts Fair for 27 straight years, and I have been right there with her all 27 years. Our daughters are 19 and 22 years old and they have both been at the fair every year... even when they were less than a year old their grandparents would bring them out to visit with us.

One of my favorite things about the fair is visiting with artists and friends we only see once a year for four days. We're almost like family. This year two of our best friends didn't get to come to the fair... Connie the natural dyer and Mel the polymer clay artist. We missed them and their families very much. Sebe [son of Mel] came into to town for the fair and stayed at our house. We had a great visit.

Click here to see more pictures from the 2009 Pink Palace Arts and Crafts Fair.

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Song 604: Dust in the Wind
Artist: Kansas
Album: Point of Know Return
Year: 1978
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the tour d' wolf trail

This is one of the most enjoyable hikes I have been on all year. The temperature was perfect. The sky was clear and very blue. The trees and grasses were bathed in sunlight and I took my 75-300mm lens with me, so all was good. The Tour d' Wolf hike/bike trail is located in the Shelby Farms Park. It twists through the forest, passes through meadows, over rolling hills and beside several lakes.

This picture and several others from the hike are on my photostream. Drop by for a visit if you have a minute.

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Song 603: I Go Crazy
Artist: Paul Davis
Album: Singer of Songs: Teller of Tales
Year: 1977
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nuts over art

My wife and I attended the Nuts Over Art Street Festival yesterday. This was the first annual NOA festival and I think it is a winner. There were only about 16 demonstrating artists with booths, plus a number of information booths and food vendors. It wasn't a crowded festival like last weekend's Cooper-Young Festival, which drew about 85,000. There were probably 2 or 3 thousand at NOA. We could actually spend time at each booth, talking to the artists, watching them create their art, and taking pictures of what they were doing.

The image above is a beeswax over oil painting. We watched the artist work on a similar piece while we were there and she was having a great time of it. She told us this is the first time she has done this type painting in the hot, beaming-down sun and she was enjoying the effect it was creating in her work. She might have to work in direct sunlight more often.

There was another street festival going on only a couple hundred yards from NOA. That festival was called the Woofstock Music and Pets Festival... with emphasis on local music and pet adoption. Kind of an unusual combination, but it worked. I think the same people that were spending time at the art festival were visiting this one as well. There were some great-looking rescued dogs up for adoption. We got our current dog, Molli, from a rescued dog agency and we couldn't be happier. She's a great dog.

See more Nuts Over Art images on my photostream.
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Song 602: Baby Come Back
Artist: Player
Album: Player
Year: 1977
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in memory of jay

Three years ago today, Kelly lost one of her best friends.

downtown door

I really like it when I have to go to downtown Memphis for a press check. After watching my newsletter run on press, I had an opportunity to walk around a bit at lunchtime. I saw this door on Front Street near Beale Street and had to take a picture. I think it has a lot of character, as does the wall around it.
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Song 601: [Your Love Has Lifted Me] Higher and Higher
Artist: Rita Coolidge
Album: Anytime... Anywhere
Year: 1977
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self portrait

This one has been photoshopped a little bit.
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Song 600: You Don't Have To Be A Star
Artist: Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr.
Album: I Hope We Get To Love On Time
Year: 1977
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in the garden

While waiting for the hummingbirds to come to lunch in our backyard, I noticed the cannas in the garden, flapping in the breeze, soaking in the sunshine of one of the last days of summer. I'll miss summer. This has been a good one... as all summers are. This has been a different kind of summer. Our youngest daughter spent ten weeks [yes 10 long weeks] in Maine this summer. She left in May and returned at the end of July. I missed her so much during that time, and she returned to us changed... a good change. She came home more mature, more independent, more caring [and she had all those qualities before she went to Maine]. She just came more with more of them. She even introduced me to one of her boyfriend's friends as her dad and her best friend. That actually made me misty-eyed for a minute. She lives in the dorm, and I still wish she lived at home!

I think I have become best friends with both my daughters. We talk. We share. It's really quite nice. Our oldest daughter graduated from college this spring and now she's in grad school. She got her first apartment this summer. I'm still getting used to this new adventure. She visits several times a week and spends the night at home on Saturday nights because she still plays flute in our church orchestra [for about 8 years now]. She plays soccer for two teams, a co-ed team and a women's team and I go to all the games. I love watching her play. She's as fast as a gazelle.

All this means that my wife and I are semi-emptynesters. We're rediscovering all the things we used to do when we were younger. We're going on dates and enjoying eachother's company very much. I'm cooking a lot of the meals, because she is very busy right now. One of her main activities is Tae kwon do. She's a pre-black belt and training to be a youth tae instructor. I'm very proud of her and all she does. She's also a master fiber craftsman. She takes wool just as it is sheared from the sheep... washes it, teases it, cards it, spins it, and knits it into beautiful things like scarves and purses and hats. We've got a huge show coming up in just a few weeks. I'll blog about it when it happens.

I really love my life and all those that are part of it. Now where was I? Oh yeah... in the garden. It's such a great day.

Visit my photostream if you have a minute.
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Song 599: Swaying to the Music [Slow Dancin]
Artist: Johnny Rivers
Album: Outside Help
Year: 1977
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enlightened mannequins

This image came about quite by accident. My daughter called from college and said she was coming home to work on a photography project for class. The subject... light. She and I were brainstorming ideas and I remembered these art mannequins my wife found several weeks ago. When we stored them away I mentioned that I wanted to photograph them sometime. Well... this was the perfect opportunity. Kelly and I had a great time setting up lights and staging the mannequins. While Kelly shot with her 35mm [which used to be my Canon AE1] I shot with my Canon Digital Rebel XTi. great fun!

Click here to check out another shot from the evening.
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Song 598: The Things We Do For Love
Artist: 10cc
Album: Deceptive Bends
Year: 1977
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wetland frizzies

Living near a nature preserve that has a boardwalk through the wetlands is such a treat. I spend a lot of time hiking and photographing the preserve. A lot of times I just have fun with the camera... like with this image from my shake photography hike through the wetlands. For this one I aimed my camera up into the sunlite trees. ISO 400. Manual focus. Self-timer on. Zoom from 300mm to 70mm on shutter release.

William B Clark Preserve
Nanture Conservancy
Rossville, TN

so... click here to visit my argon[one] photostream.
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Song 597: You Make Lovin' Fun
Artist: Fleetwood Mac
Album: Rumors
Year: 1977
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