Rusty Wheel

We saw the rusty wheel shown above at Madison Creek Farm Saturday, and the left spoke was the subject of yesterday's "What is it Wednesday?"  I liked how it just seemed to add to the atmosphere just by casually leaning on the old fence.

One thing I could not help but think about was how uncomfortable it would have been riding in a wagon that had four metal wheels.  I guess I shouldn't complain about the poor shocks in some cars in which I've ridden lately.

What is it? Wednesday?

I saw this while we were walking around one of the places we visited over the weekend.

What is it?

Be Nice

When I owned my store, most of our customers were extremely thoughtful, pleasant and downright nice.  At times, however, there were a few people - not regulars - who could be pretty rude.  I often wondered where they got (or left) their manners.

As we were walking around downtown Saturday evening, I saw this sign posted near the entrance of a souvenir shop.  I would have loved to post it in my store!

First Saturday Art Crawl

The first Saturday of each month, downtown Nashville art galleries host an Art Crawl.  A number of galleries, many of which are in the downtown Arcade, open their doors from 6-9 PM to introduce Nashvillians to a host of contemporary artists.  In addition to viewing the art, patrons have the opportunity to enjoy a glass of wine and talk with artists and other visitors.

While all of the galleries are within walking distance, a shuttle is available to take visitors to galleries that are a few blocks from the Arcade and 5th Avenue.

We toured a number of galleries last evening, including The Showroom, TAG Art Gallery, and Twist Art Gallery in the Arcade, and The Rhymer Gallery and The Arts Company on 5th Avenue.  I took the photo of The Rhymer Gallery (below) from Twist on the upper level of the Arcade.  

The two pieces I enjoyed most last night were sculptures.  The first, in the Rhymer Gallery, was a cat made entirely of yellow and blue Crayola crayons.  Unfortunately, I don't remember the artist's name.  The second was a metal sculpture done by Brother Mel, a Marionist monk/artist.  His story is quite amazing, and I'll share it at another time when I show you his work.

The poster featured in the main photo today (top) is an ad for the Art Crawl.  You may recognize its unmistakeable style as it's done by Hatch Show Print, one of the oldest letterpress print shops in the country.  Since the late 19th Century, Hatch has designed and made posters for musical artists, circuses, festivals, carnivals, restaurants, and more.

Banjos, Butterflies and Blueberries

Yesterday was a busy day at NDP.  Michael and I drove up to Madison Creek Farm, host of Banjos, Butterflies and Blueberries.  The Howling Brothers (above) supplied the banjos via their music.  The flowers (and nature) supplied beautiful butterflies.  The farm supplied blueberries (mostly in pies).

The 38-acre farm is located in Goodlettesville, a little north of downtown Nashville.   The farmhouse (The bros. are on the farmhouse porch.) was built in 1919, although there have been two additions.  Visitors are welcome to stroll the grounds and walk through the vegetable, flower and herb gardens.  Madison Creek Farm is dedicated to organic farming and uses no pesticides or herbicides.  The many flowers on the property were beautiful.

You can find out a little more about Madison Creek by clicking here.

And, you can find out a little more about the Howling Brothers by clicking here.

Tomorrow, I'll show you a little of what we did later in the day.

Let Freedom Sing Fireworks Extravaganza

Let Freedom Sing, The Music City 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular, has been called the second-best fireworks display in the country.  The Nashville Symphony performs patriotic songs while the fireworks soar over the heads of attendees.  Last year, over 100,000 people attended the festival, a day-long festival held at Riverfront Park which is on the west bank of the Cumberland River in downtown Nashville.

The all-day event starts around noon when the Family Zone and numerous food booths open to crowds of people.   At 3 PM, a live music show begins, and acts perform most of the afternoon and evening until the fireworks start.  The artists performing this year included Phil Vassar, Michael McDonald, The WannaBeatles, Barry Scott, Les Kerr and the Bayou Band, The Lost Trailers, and Max Q.

Because of our neighborhood party and because we're not too wild about fighting crowds and traffic, we found a place about 3 miles from Riverfront Park from which I could shoot some photos. About 25 other people were in the empty lot with us, and one happened to have on his car radio so we could all hear the symphony playing.  I shot about 75 photos and am sharing two shots with you.

ADDED NOTE:  Our vantage point was downwind of the fireworks, so there was a lot of smoke that blew in our direction.  I've tried to crop most of it out of these photos.

4th of July Neighborhood Celebration Sign

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

In keeping with my Mini-theme of signs, I thought I'd post a photo of the sign from our neighborhood.

Every 4th of July, our subdivision has a bike parade for the kids.  Kids decorate their bikes, wagons, themselves and march from the community flagpole to the community pool.  This year, our cul-de-sac has decorated a large wagon that one of the dads will pull with his truck.

In the evening, the adults and kids gather by the pool for a potluck dinner,* music and fireworks.  Our cul-de-sac usually has its own cookout and fireworks.  Michael and I plan to  join the cookout tonight, although we are going to head downtown after 8 for the Nashville fireworks celebration.  I should have photos of this nationally celebrated event tomorrow.

*For those who may not know what a potluck dinner is, it is a dinner or supper where each person/family brings food that everyone attending shares.  Popular potluck dishes include lasagna, salads of all kinds, casseroles, etc.

This Sign Drives Me Crazy

If I had thought this through better, I would have posted this photo yesterday and kept "What is it Wednesday?" going with a slight change:  What is it about-this-sign-that-drives-me-crazy Wednesday?  However, since I didn't think to do that, I'll just have to rant about it myself.

While walking through the TACA Arts and Craft Fair in both October and May, I saw this sign gracing the side of the tent that held activities for children.  The sign should read:  Just For Kids.  The apostrophe is used to show possession, not pluralization.  The only exceptions - and even these are debated - is when pluralizing numbers (There were five number 2's in the deck of cards.), letters (How many B's did you get on your report card?)  and sometimes words (The no's have it.).  Journalists who use the AP Stylebook do not use the apostrophe to pluralize even nouns in those three categories.

I cannot figure out how or why Americans suddenly started using an apostrophe to pluralize nouns.  The manager of the Albertson's store I frequented when I lived in Las Vegas actually changed a number of signs because I pointed out that the plural of pizza is "pizzas," not "pizza's;" that the plural of tomato is "tomatoes," not "tomato's;" that the plural of  orange is "oranges," not "orange's."  I did seek out fair officials to mention the error on this sign both times, and, of course, they didn't change it between the two shows.  

You may ask why I care so much about the mistakes on signs.  First of all, a business should be professional and use correct grammar and spelling in its store publications and advertising and on store displays and signs.  Secondly, children see these incorrect signs and assume that since they are displayed in stores or businesses, they are correct.  

Off the grammatical soapbox for today. . . . .

Sign of the Times Redux - Sign Mini-Theme#2

I found this telling sign in Hillsboro Village, an area of town close to Vanderbilt University.  The sign belongs to a service station that offers car repairs but no gas now.  I didn't stop long enough to ask the owner if the cost forced him to stop selling gas, but I know that has happened to a few stations in the area.

In 1979, the United States experienced a gas crisis not unlike the one we're going through right now.  The big difference, of course, was that gas at that time cost about 1/4 of what it costs right now.  I remember buying gas for less than $1/gallon in the 70s, and I remember how frantic the public became when the price inched over $1/gallon.  Oh, that we should have that problem now!  

At the time, my husband, Bob Orr (now of CBS News) and Derrick Blakely (now of WBBM in Chicago) worked together at WBNS in Columbus, Ohio and did a one-hour special on the gas crisis.  Running On Empty looked at the gas crisis in general and its affect on the people of Central Ohio in particular, and earned my husband and his colleagues their first Emmys.   Oh how much we change and how much we stay the same!  If you have any desire to read about the 1979 gas crisis, click here.

Please note:  I have to suspend "What is it Wednesday?" this week due to my mini-theme look at signs around the mid-state area.

Theme Day: "NO" SIGNS

The first day of the month is always THEME DAY with City Daily Photo bloggers, and this month's theme is "NO SIGNS."    While the signs above do not technically say "NO," the one does advise no admittance.

I shot this photo because of the juxtaposition of the two signs with the porta-potty.  I found it absolutely hilarious that it seems as though the one sign advises the porta-potty is a hard hat area, and the other sign advises that one must keep out of the potty.  

Of course, the signs really have nothing to do with the porta-potty.  Actually, I have no idea why they are really by that particular lot as the only thing on it other than the potty is the office construction trailer,

I spent a couple of days shooting signs around the Nashville area, and over the next few days, I'll show you more.

There are 172 blogs participating in July Theme Day.  Click here to view thumbnails for all participants