Autumn Leaves

Nashville and middle Tennessee this week experienced their first freezing temperatures of the season. It must be autumn in the south!

The colors this year are not as vibrant, because of the drought this summer, but it is still possible to find a splash of beauty if you look close enough.

Flag Presentation

As you undoubtedly know, before athletic events, a color guard presents the flags while everyone stands, covers their hearts, and sings the National Anthem. Yes, that is a piano in the middle of a football field.

The red flag with three white stars is the Tennessee state flag. They represent the three regions of the state, eastern, middle, and western.

He's Got The Whole World in His Hands. . .

This marble globe, located on Bicentennial Mall, floats on a fountain of water only 1/8 inches thick. You can go up to it and turn it (which isn't as easy as it looks!). If you look closely, on the left you'll see the USA. The white state is Tennessee. The globe, itself, weighs 18,000 lbs.

LP Field. . . .Go Titans!

LP Field is home to the Tennessee Titans who played the Oakland Raiders today. (Titans won 13-9.) The city and Titans' owner Bud Adams built the stadium on the east bank of the Cumberland River with hopes, I believe, of revitalizing the area. If you look at the night photo I posted a few days ago, the stadium is directly across the river from that scene.

I'm going to be teaching art classes out of town for a week or so, so I won't have a lot of commentary for a week or so. While I'm gone, my husband will be uploading photos for me.

Mum's The Word 10-27

In addition to fruits and vegetables at the Farmers' Market, there are also plants. We found these great mums while searching for trees to replace the ones we lost due to the drought this summer. An interesting note. . . The mums shown above - HUGE pots - were $12.00 at the market. At a home improvement store near our house, the same size pot was $50.

I'm going to be teaching art classes out of town for a week or so, so I won't have a lot of commentary for a week or so. While I'm gone, my husband will be uploading photos for me.

Legislative Plaza

Last week, I posted a photo from the Southern Festival of Books which was held at Legislative Plaza. Legislative offices are in the Federal-style building in the photo, and the state legislature holds public hearings in the auditorium there. The state capitol is on the north side of the plaza, or to the right as you look at the photo.

Note the lack of traffic, due in part to the fact that I took this photo on a Saturday morning. However, a couple of years ago, the legislature tried to pass a state income tax, which didn't go over too well with Tennesseans. Hundreds of people crowded the plaza in protest, and others drove their cars around the plaza, honking horns and creating quite a traffic jam during the business day. It worked. We still don't have a state income tax. We do, however, have 9.25-9.75% sales tax on almost everything. Most foods are taxed at a lower rate - 8.25-8.75%.

I'm going to be teaching art classes out of town for a week or so, so I won't have a lot of commentary. While I'm gone, my husband will be uploading photos for me.

City Lights

We just happened to be out for a drive after dark, and I took this photo of downtown Nashville from the Shelby Street Pedestrian Bridge over the Cumberland River. You can see part of the city reflected in the river. The tallest building in the shot is the former BellSouth Tower. I heard that it is currently for sale, but it until then, it's the AT&T Tower. Locals, however, call it the "Batman Building" because it resembles caped crusader's costume. Note the mural on the lit building wall just under the Batman Building. That belongs to the Hard Rock Cafe. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can make out the guitar on the mural, as well as the General Jackson (riverboat). On the far left side of th photo, the peaked roof that you can make out in the enlarged photo is the Ryman Auditorium. . . .Original Home of the Grand Ol' Opry.

On the waterfront, you can see the boat dock on the left, and the seating for concerts held at Riverfront Park (We have a floating stage.). The outdoor seating is basically wide, cement steps, although there are a number of grassy areas, too.

And, you may remember my post a few months ago about Fort Nashborough, Nashville's first settlement. Note the trees on the right side of the photo, just beyond the concert seating. If you enlarge the photo, you can see the fort between the seating and the trees.

Rub Dub Dub. . .

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, the Tennessee History Festival included a number of exhibits. Some of the exhibitors set up "camps" complete with campfires, shelter and more. Note the day's wash hanging on the line, as well as the four, metal tubs.

The two in the middle were actually bathing tubs. The one on the right is styled more towards the eastern (as in Oriental) style, where the tub was longer so that the bather could lie down in it. The one with the higher back was of the western style. The high back allowed the bather to sit up while bathing. Of course, his/her legs hung out of the thing. The other two tubs were mainly vessels in which the early settlers washed anything - clothing, food, the kids.

Of course, the water had to be poured in or pumped in by hand, and removed the same way. To keep the water (and bather) somewhat warm, the settlers moved them near a fire. Several bathers would share the same water, warming it up a bit with fresh water heated on the fire.

One interesting side fact is that many thought that bathing, especially in winter, was not good for you. . .that it caused chills and fevers and such. In medieval times, people believed that water carried all sorts of diseases, and that belief stuck for hundreds of years. In 1835, Philadelphia's leaders tried to pass a law banning bathing during the winter. It failed. In 1845, Boston's leaders forbade bathing except in cases of medical need.

Tennessee History Days

For the fourth year, the Tennessee History Festival was at Bicentennial Mall. The Festival chronicles 300 years of Tennessee history, starting with the Woodland Indians and DeSoto's explorations and ending with the current Gulf War. Included in the festivities are a mock WWII battle, roving characters such as Andrew Jackson and Davy Crockett, and a campground (above).

The gentleman in the photo was actually baking oatmeal cookies over a wood fire. He said that it took about 10 minutes to bake most cookies, although the oatmeal cookies took a bit longer because the dough is a bit heavier. I thought that wasn't too bad until he mentioned that the cherry pie he had baked the day before took over three hours. Everyone who tasted his cookies said they were delicious.

Note his "tent" in the background. Tomorrow we'll look at it a bit more closely, but for now, can you guess what he has on display in that tent?

Baptist Sunday School Board?

With tension mounting between the members of the Northern and Southern Baptist churches, in 1845, the leaders of various Southern Baptist churches broke away from established the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). However, during most of the 1800s, the American Baptist Publication Society, based in Philadelphia, published all literature for Baptists throughout the United States. In the interest of unifying the denomination, the SBC formed the Baptist Sunday School Board (BSSB) around 1891.

In 1914, the SBC built the Baptist Sunday School Board building (above) in Nashville. The BSSB printed everything for every Southern Baptist Church - hymnals, prayer books, bibles, Sunday School books, religious, books, Sunday School teachers' manuals, etc. JM Frost, head of the SBC at the time commented that it looked like a "Baptist Business Temple."

Known today as LifeWay, the organization still prints all church-related publications for the Southern Baptists as well as other evangelical churches. In addition, it also produces audio and video productions and operates more than 140 LifeWay Christian Bookstores in over 20 states. And, while the original building is still part of LifeWay, the complex has probably tripled in size over the years.