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One bedroom loft apartment.
Unfurnished. Utilities not included.
Solid rustic construction.
Balcony option available.
Peaceful natural setting.
Privacy assured.
A perfect place
To do your own thing.
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Catesby's Trillium
Trillium catesbaei
Stone Mountain Park
DeKalb County, Georgia
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The historic English settlement in Rugby, Tennessee was founded in 1880 by author Thomas Hughes as a sanguine experiment in utopian living. More specifically, because of accepted practices then, second sons of English gentry had no hope of inheritance and were expected to make a name and make their way by other means. Some chose to join the colony and practice their Victorian social ideals on the Cumberland Plateau.
This is the original library, a free library and special project of the colony. The notable efforts to fund it, to build it, and ultimately to fill its shelves with important books were emblematic of their persistent difficulties and struggles to fulfill the ideals of the colony.
Dr. Douglas Gordon, my dear friend and comrade of 47 years, wrote the history of these formative years for his PhD dissertation from the University of Tennessee - published as a monograph, "The Hughes Free Public Library, Rugby Tennessee, 1880-1895", Rugby Restoration Press, 1979. He spent many hours, during many seasons, inside this library studying its historic holdings and stitching together its often turbulent history. These shots are for and dedicated to Douglas, soon to partake the unique bliss of retirement.
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Rugby, Tennessee
Morgan County
Thursday 24 April 2008
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Never met a backroad I did not like, nor one that I could refuse. All next week, in a 5 to 8 county area between Tennessee and Kentucky with base of operations at Jamestown Tennessee, I'll be tempted, enticed, lured and inveigled by boundless come-hither byways outfitted to bewitch and seduce. (It's the 'seduce' thing that satisfies my camera best.)
© d071206-013 Long Road
Marshall County, Tennessee
Thursday 6 December 2007
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How should Dogwood blossoms spend their quiet time? Here's one gazing dreamily at the clear blue sky. Can't fault that, I suppose.
© d080417-003 Dogwood
Stone Mountain Park
DeKalb County, Georgia
Thursday 17 April 2008
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"I'm nibbling a turkey sandwich and watching leaf buds sprout along the Etowah River. The water's up a bit from the storm yesterday. Sounds are energetic and aroused. A cold brisk wind flaps my note pages and whips the potato chip bag away and out of reach. I chase it, capture it and rescue any spillage from the dry leaves. Living off the land. Wasting nary flake. They're fine.
"This is my annual verbatim trip to the Etowah headwaters - the second weekend each April. Turn north on Siloam Church Road. Catch a ridge shot if the early light allows. Stop by the little seep to see if nodding trilliums are ready to flaunt. (Not this year.) Enter the national forest and pay respects at Rufus Despain's grave. He was a World War I vet; there's a small flag propped against the headstone fading away. Photograph birdfoot violets around the site that grow between patches of fluffy moss. Then park here by the River to walk the banks and edges itchy to see what's bloomin'. Always, I sit for awhile.
"Another year has passed, with another chance to experience the sights and sensations of a familiar morning. With dramatic gesture I pinch myself to make sure this is no dream, uneasy that the finite number of verbatim trips has just decreased by one. The leaf buds along the Etowah, unfurling ever so slightly, wink at my disquiet. I nod with appreciation and take a slow, deeply refreshing Spring breath."
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© d080413-029 Etowah River
© d080413-018 Trailing Arbutus
© d080413-027 Fiddle Heads
© d080413-006 Siloam Church Road
Lumpkin County, Georgia
Sunday 13 April 2008
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Silent, like the shadow from a passing cloud, the Spring Line glides swiftly Northward. Inexorable, and ghostly at times. Appearing here, disappearing there. Leaving behind but sensations and impressions that must wait another year to be affirmed. Don't blink; don't hesitate. Follow along, find the crest and hop aboard the dappled surge 'till it heaves its final sigh. Leaving me undone, jostling for another wave.
© r1374-00 Spring Line
Cherokee County, North Carolina
Saturday 23 April 2005
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Mentally fried by a full-court press to unravel the mysteries of atmospheric physics producing delinquent behavior in a computer model, worn down by the current burden of Spring pollen, and maltreated by an attention-grabbing outbreak of shingles - I'm delighted to post this 'landskip', as Thomas Gainesboro called them, which speaks for itself.
© r0723-37 Farm Scenic
Monroe County, West Virginia
Monday 6 June 1994
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That's Tony relaxing on the left. He looks happy and self satisfied. That's Tony on the right too, showing off the 'contested crappie'. (The only catch of the morning thus far.) Now, notice Lonnie in the background watching these proceedings very closely. For the picture Tony asserts ownership. Not so, objects Lonnie emphatically; I caught it. Tony claims to have given up the spot where the fish was caught. Lonnie claims to have used his own rod to reel in the prize, location notwithstanding. It might take the wisdom of Solomon to parse this dispute. One thing for sure, the Native Azalea below is uncontested.
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Stone Mountain Park
DeKalb County, Georgia
Sunday 6 April 2008
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The Japanese Philosopher insists - a newly wrecked truck abandoned in a field beside the road looks like junk. An old rusty truck draped with flowering vines becomes 'wabi-sabi.' Beauty of the aged and imperfect. It's the same for "liver spots," the Philosopher attests, and I feel so much better.
© r0725-22 Rusty Pickup
Alleghany County, Virginia
Tuesday 7 June 1994
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