Eyes to the Sky

In contrast to this beautiful sky, today Nashville is cloudy, rainy and grey.

Old Barn

My auto-focus focused on the wrong this Sunday - the trees instead of the barn. But, I still do like this photo

Gas Prices

The last time I posted a photo of the gas prices in Nashville (November 19), the least expensive gas I found was $1.85/gallon. Since then, gas has been on a bit of a rollercoaster, going up a bit and down a bit and up and down. Last week, gas at this Kroger station was $1.89/gallon for regular. Sunday, the price was 10 cents less expensive.

If you have a Kroger Card and use it at fill-up, you save 3 cents/gallon. If you spend $100 or more at Kroger (with your Kroger Card) during a calendar month, you can save 10 cents/gallon (with a limit of 20 gallons, I believe). And, if you use your Kroger Mastercard (or is it Visa?), you can save 15 cents/gallon. Wow.

I thought our gas was getting high until I looked at a map that gauges gas prices across the county. You can check it out by clicking here.

I have to admit that I thought that gas would go way up after the election, but I'm happy that it's stayed under $2/gallon. How long do you think it will stay like that, though?

Blooming Daffodils

While driving around yesterday (Sunday), we saw this old chimney on a little rise on some farmland not too far from our house. I wonder if the chimney was part of a house at one time. . .

Look closely. The daffodils are blooming already!

Mickey D's

Yesterday, I showed you the construction that eventually turned into this McDonald's.

Here's the odd thing: This McDonald's replaced. . . . . .McDonald's. Why they had to tear down one building to put up this new one, I don't know. I realize that McDonald's is doing this all over the country, and that's their right. However, I just can't figure out why. . . .

Construction Woes

The economy has hurt construction of new projects all over Nashville. A number of condo towers are now in receivership, and new retail plazas are re-thinking their plans as struggling chains that were supposed to fill in new storefronts now re-think their plans.

This particular project, however, went through without a hitch. A year ago, a perfectly good restaurant stood on this corner. Tomorrow, I'll show you why they tore it down and what is now standing there.

My Favorite Snow Sculpture

The amount of work in this sculpture was amazing. The guy is sitting in a wagon, and the dog is using his back to get a lift so he can get a drink from the fountain. In the foreground, you can see flowers and such. . . .

One More Cup

This is the result of the snow sculpting that I posted yesterday. It turned out pretty cute!

Nashville Daily Photo Does Chicago

While we were in Chicago last weekend, the Snow Festival was in Grant Park. Using snow, artists sculpted a variety of "statues." From what one of the sculptors told me, each group got a 10X10X6 foot block of snow from which they "carved" their art. We watched this group on Friday morning as they worked on their sculpture which had to be completed by noon on Saturday. While the teams were not working on their sculptures, they covered them in quilted blankets to keep the snow from melting.

Tomorrow, see how this sculpture turned out.

Book Fair

Over the weekend, I attended AWP (Association of Writers and Writing Programs) in Chicago. WOW. The conference was great, and the book fair was amazing! This photo shows about 20% of the vendors at the conference. If you like books and writing, AWP is a great venue.

The Girls - #5

I promise that this is the last cow photo for a bit. I just can't resist their sweet faces, though . . .

The Girls #4

I love how the cows will watch me pretty intently when I get close to the fence, but it never stops them from eating.  :-)

NDP is on auto-pilot as I've been in Chicago for a conference.  I'll be back tomorrow.

The Girls - #3

"She comes out here with that darn camera all the time. Look good or you'll be hamburger."

I have a hard time coming up with photo captions most of the time (when I need photo captions, anyway). I posted this photo on my Facebook album the other day, and a friend came up with the one above (Thanks, Russ!).

NDP is on autopilot for the next day as I am away for a writers' conference.

The Girls - #2

The farmer has been putting bales of hay behind our house quite a bit this winter, and the cows have enjoyed the grazing. I've enjoyed the opportunity to photograph them up close. These two calves (They're probably 8 months old or so.) like to stare at me when I go out to take photos.

NDP is on auto-pilot since I'm at a writers convention until Monday.

The Girls - Take #1

For the next few days, NDP is on auto-pilot as I head to Chicago for a writers' convention.

Bruce Pearl

Coach of the University of Tennessee Volunteers, Bruce Pearl moves almost constantly during basketball games. The night we watched UT pay Vanderbilt, Pearl stamped his feet, waved his arms, yelled at the players, yelled at his assistants, twirled left and twirled right. In contrast, Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings calmly stood on the sidelines.

By the way, my Vandy alumni friends told me that it is tradition that the UT coach wear the UT-orange blazer (above) only for the Vanderbilt game.

More 'Dores

From what I understand, both Vanderbilt and UT's players relatively young, and most analysts think the two teams will be much better in the next year or two as the players get more experience. Tomorrow: Bruce Pearl

Go, 'Dores

A few weeks ago, we went to the Vanderbilt-UT basketball game as guests of our good friends, Sally and Steve. While Vandy didn't quite do as well as we had hoped, neither did UT, although Tennessee won the game. That night, both teams seemed a bit lackluster. I did, however, find a couple of things quite interesting, and I'll share them over the next few days.

Villager Tavern-Hillsboro Village

The Villager Tavern is on 21st in Hillsboro Village. Note the "Hillsboro" sign above the flag on the building.

The Hispanic Grocery

Driving down a rural road in the Mid TN area, we saw this great Hispanic Grocery on the edge of one small town. The sign on the left indicates that they sell tacos and tortas (a Mexican sandwich) and lists the different varieties, which include beef tongue, pork, and BBQ. They also offer menudo and caldo de res, which are both soups of a sort.

The sign painted on the store announces the store's name - La Hispana - and what one can find inside: personal items, vegetables, meats, etc.

All Saints Episcopal Church

All Saints Episcopal Church is located in Sylvan Park, a little west of downtown Nashville. Founded in 1962 by a group of conservative Episcopalians concerned with the liberal direction the Episcopal Church was taking, All Saints is a traditional, conservative member of the Anglican (Episcopal) Communion dedicated to preserving the orthodox practices of the church.

All Saints has an interesting history and philosophy. If you're interested in learning more, please click here.

Curious & Cold Cows

It's been very cold in Middle Tennessee lately. Even though we were lucky enough to escape the ice and snow that hit our friends to the north, we've had some pretty low temperatures. We've noticed one big change in the cows' behavior in this arctic-like weather this year: The cows leave a bit of the hay from each bale and use it for warmth. While it's usually the calves that we see sleeping on the mounds of hay, a number of times the larger ones have taken a quick nap on them, too.

When I took this photo the other day, all of the girls were busy chomping hay or sniffing around. I "mooed" at them, and they turned to see what the heck kind of cow made that noise. :-)

Get Us Out of Here

Decker (L) and Kasey want to go home.

Side Salad

We went out for dinner a few nights ago, and I ordered, as I always do, a side salad.  I wish restaurants would quit putting cabbage and carrots (and ONIONS)  in salads.  I know they do it to make the lettuce go further (and to add color), but I really would like to get plain lettuce with maybe a tomato or two. . . unless we're in the dead of winter and the tomatoes taste like gooey cardboard.

Don't get me started on onions. . . . .

The Snow before the Storm

I took this photo of the train tracks through London on Tuesday afternoon. At the time, there were about 3 inches of snow on the ground. The snow started to come down about 10 minutes after I took this photo, and it didn't stop until almost 26 hours later. By then, we had a layer of ice and 10-12 inches of snow on the ground.

Theme Day: Paths and Passages

Today is Theme Day in the City Daily Photo World, and our February Theme is Paths and Passages.

This photo of the path around Bicentennial Mall in downtown Nashville, also illustrates passages as the granite walls detail historical happenings (passages) in Tennessee's history.

There are always a number of cities participating in Theme Day. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants