A sunflower field is like a sky with a thousand suns.

Corina Abdulahm-Negura

They’re back . . . and it’s once again time to view sunflowers in Knoxville! Hundreds of them, now in full bloom are ready for viewing through July at Knoxville’s Forks of the River Wildlife Management Area. And with over 60 acres of towering yellow sunflowers, you can walk the trails between fields, take pictures, and enjoy summer color — all for free!

We only get this chance to see sunflowers every other year, on odd-numbered years. Because sunflowers require a lot of nitrogen, they’re replanted every two years.

But what a reward when you arrive! Tall stalks with large yellow flowers, loved by bees and visitors alike. It’s a photographer’s paradise, so you may want to capture your kids and grandkids in one of the golden fields or just focus on close-ups. It’s all good.

So, how do you get there? Head to Forks of the River Wildlife Management Area a little past Ijams Nature Center and Mead’s Quarry, about 10 minutes from downtown Knoxville at 3140 McClure Lane, Knoxville, TN 37920. Parking is available, but no public rest rooms, so you may want to stop at the Nature Center at Ijams before you explore the fields.

Afterwards, we recommend lunch or dinner at SoKno Taco Cantina — fun, urban atmosphere with great — well, what else? — tacos, of course. It’s located at 3701 Sevierville Pike, not far from the sunflowers.

Sunflower fields at Knoxville’s Forks of the River — it’s summer travel at its finest.

Rusha & Bert

Women think of all colors except the absence of color. I have said that black has it all. White, too. Their beauty is absolute. It is the perfect harmony.

This week, Anne Sandler, photographer and creator of Slow Shutter Speed, challenges us to find and share photos on the theme of black and white. (Be sure to check out her post for marvelous information on how she creates her photo masterpieces.) For this theme, I’m sharing flowers in black and white. You may marvel, as I did, at all the processes Anne uses to create her masterpieces (and she tells you how!), but my technique is a simple one: I use a filter after downloading the photos to my computer. Easy.

Perhaps my favorite flowers that I’ve shared previously are the White Star White Magnolias that bloom each spring right at my back door. They’re the first blooms I see (sometimes as early as March), and I love to move in closely with my camera as if I’m getting to know them better! Seeing them with raindrops is an added bonus. Now that I look at them in black and white, I can detect even more details in the arrangement, patterns, textures, and sheer beauty of these petals and stems.

Looking side by side at color photos and then black and white ones, I can see benefits of both techniques. On the one hand, delicate colors grab my attention, but photographs in black and white reveal shadows and light in different ways, highlighting subtle details that aren’t as evident when I’m looking at color.

White is not a mere absence of color; it is a shining and affirmative thing, as fierce as red, as definite as black. God paints in many colors; but He never paints so gorgeously, I had almost said so gaudily, as when He paints in white.

G. K. Chesterton

Also interesting in black and white are Southern magnolias. So mysterious these blooms are — as if the broad petals remain folded to protect the beauty within. But then, when the time is right, they open wide, allowing us to see the hidden attributes previously unseen.

Black is the absence of all color. White is the presence of all colors. I suppose life must be one or the other.

Mary Balough

And finally, sunflowers — those sunny yellow petals and dark brown centers standing gracefully tall charm us all. Yes, I love the color – especially when I see a full field of these sunny gems — but they, too, are quite special in black and white. Dramatic. Stately. Poised.

So, when you look at flower photos, which do you prefer? Color? Or black and white? It really does boil down to personal preference.

Thanks for taking a flower tour with me today inspired by Anne Sandler’s beautiful post. And for more entries, please head to Slow Shutter Speed for great takes on the theme.

Next week, I hope you’ll join me as I kick off Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #156: Getting Away. If you’d like to contribute, start looking for favorite destinations near and far and things you like to do once you’re there! Looking forward to seeing you!

Travel in perfect harmony, in color or black and white,

Rusha

Summertime is always the best of what might be.

If you stand still at Elkmont, you can almost hear summer. Kids laughing as they play tag around the old log cabins. Or waiting for lightning bugs to flicker at dusk. Mothers calling their kids in for supper. Old timers swapping tales of the way it used to be. Life was good, once upon a time.

It was a logging boom that brought the people here — in the early 1900s — as railways transported logs, and families, mostly from Knoxville, Tennessee, settled in to cabin life in the summer.

The place was known as Elkmont, taking the name from the Knoxville Elks Club. Members and residents loved fishing in the Little River and staying in the cabins for the summer. But in 1934, when the Great Smoky Mountains was designated as a national park, summer residents were given a choice: they could either sell their land and move or deed the property to the National Park Service in exchange for a lifetime lease meaning summers in the Smokies into the future.

Some homeowners left. But others stayed. And from what friends have told us, it was the best of times. Returning each year, these summer residents caught up on what had transpired during the year at their non-summer homes, kids played outdoor games, and grown-ups sat in front of stone fireplaces on chilly nights or in rockers on wide front porches.

But in 1992, leases expired, and the National Park Service became the owner. With no one to maintain the summer residences, the houses fell into disrepair — so much so that in 2009 many buildings were razed, leaving only 18 of the original buildings, abandoned but still on view for visitors to Elkmont today. If you visit now, you’ll see a few houses being repaired, but many have remained untouched, blocked off to keep visitors out.

It was an end of an era, for sure. No summer residents. No gathering as they once did at the Appalachian Club to meet, greet, and talk over dinner. And no sounds of happiness on summer nights in Elkmont.

Today, though, for visitors and photographers, these few houses remain as treasures, remnants of the past and reminders of good times known only to the residents and their guests.

Some of the houses are off limits . . .

others are open to explore with caution.

But all are picture-worthy for simple construction or faded-glory colors or the simple details that distinguish one from another. Like the red windows on the Levi Trentham house at the top or the chunky log construction in this sturdy house.

If you listen closely, you just might hear the chatter of the people, sharing their joy as they reconnect each summer, telling about a past school year, or promising to explore a new path during the summer before them.

Ask any former resident of Elkmont about summer living there, and you’ll get an almost tearful, quite nostalgic response. It was loved and treasured by many. And needs to be seen today —

if for no other reason than to let yourself imagine the joy of being in the Smokies summer after summer with friends.

The summer night is like a perfection of thought.

Wallace Stevens

Travel the Smokies,

Rusha & Bert

How to get to Elkmont: Drive US-411 from Gatlinburg to the Sugarlands Visitor Center in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Drive toward Cades Cove for about 7 miles and turn at the sign for Elkmont Campground.

For more information on the history of Elkmont, try these sites:

Elkmont, Tennessee — Wikipedia;

Visit My Smokies: Everything You Need to Know about Elkmont Ghost Town;

Roadtrippers — There’s an abandoned resort ghost town in the Smokies — here’s how to find it

My Smoky Mountain Guide: Elkmont

We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon — instead of enjoying the roses blooming outside our windows today.

Perhaps the coordinators of Knoxville’s 2021 Dogwood Arts Festival events had Dale Carnegie’s quote in mind as they invited guests to stroll through Open Rose Gardens two weekends in a row.

Right outside our windows, so to speak, gardens in the west end of our town were available for touring — and photographing. And we couldn’t resist.

The home of Michael and Mary Bates provided more roses than we’ve seen anywhere. First planted by Kathy Brennan who sold the home to the Bates, the gardens showcased over 300 rose bushes, laid out in miniature garden settings, spreading underneath old-growth trees and climbing trellises in the backyard.

Roses of many colors (some labeled with botanical names) leaned toward the sun as if welcoming photographers and rose lovers to lean in as well.

Since getting into the hearts of flowers is what I love to do best, I tried to move in without stepping on anything, focusing my camera on the hearts of the flowers in order to enter the private worlds of these tender, ephemeral beauties.

Even though the rich reds with their velvety petals made us linger longest, it was the pinks that must have been a favorite of the original owner of the garden. They dominated the gardens while allowing their “cousins” time to shine as well.

A profusion of pink roses bending ragged in the rain speaks to me of all gentleness and its enduring.

William Carlos Williams

If you’ve been around a while, you’ve probably heard the phrase, “I never promised you a rose garden . . . ” Thank you, Dogwood Arts, for a promise well kept.

Travel for beauty,

Rusha & Bert

April . . . hath put a spirit of youth in everything.

William Shakespeare

And so it is that Colorful April is upon us.

In Knoxville, Tennessee, April brings on white and pink dogwood trees, inviting residents and visitors to a city-wide celebration known simply as Dogwood Arts. It’s fun. It’s beautiful. And above all else — it’s colorful. But other flowers ask for a little respect around here as well.

Join us as we roam the UT Gardens where dogwoods are celebrated, but other flowers show off their prettiest and best — just to make it fun!

First the unfurling of the greens . . .

And then the buttery yellows of a rare Cucumbertree Magnolia.

Leaves, too, deserve a little notice — like the sun-washed leaves of Spirea Japonica: Japanese meadowsweet.

But not to be outdone, pinks make a dramatic statement in the gardens.

Blushing tulips turn their heads to the warmth of the sun . . .

while Pink Columbines sway with the gentle winds.

Seeking shade, these Ivory Prince Lenten Roses (Helleborus) bow their heads, longing for quiet moments . . .

while Redbuds hold on as long as they can before dogwoods steal the show.

And here come the whites: Snowball hydrangeas weigh down their branches as they nod with the breeze.

and dogwoods take center stage, proud to have a festival named after them. They appear almost without fanfare, yet everyone feels the love. It’s our flower, and it wouldn’t be spring without the dogwoods.

Well-apparel’d April on the heel

Of limping Winter treads.

William Shakespeare

For more Colorful April entries in this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, be sure to go to Amy’s post and check out what colorful finds she’s sharing.

Travel colorfully,

Rusha & Bert

2020: It’s a spring like no other here in Knoxville: people are staying inside, dedicated caregivers and medical professionals are working harder than ever, and most of us barely realize it’s the prettiest time of the year in our fair city. But one thing COVID-19 hasn’t stopped is the blooming of trees and flowers everywhere, Knoxville included.

In fact, spring is happening, with color and confidence.

2021: Spring has sprung once again in Knoxville (still with color and confidence) as we prepare for our signature festival: Dogwood Arts. Many residents have been vaccinated, so restaurants are reopening, fans are returning to spring sports, and lilacs, rebuds, dogwoods, tulips, etc., are blooming!

2020: The first shows in Knoxville are the tender greens — sprouts emerging from the ground, poking up to see what’s going on in this world of ours.

2021: No difference this year. Fresh, green leaves of hostas point heavenward, heralding the re-opening of our fair city and a return to “normal” — a state Nature never left.

2020: But pink quickly takes on a life of its own. Redbuds (maybe they should be called purple buds or pink buds) line the I-40 interstate and push out their color as if to say, “Look at me first.” But we can’t stop staring at them wherever we find them.

2021: In Knoxville, we know it’s spring when the redbuds are in bloom along I-40. These naturally wild versions spring forth early, adding a soft purple to the green space along the interstate. Shortly thereafter, redbuds appear on our main thoroughfares — in the city and the suburbs. Some are planned for and planted, some spring up wherever they get a toehold.

2020: Pink cherry trees also bloom early, almost bending with the weight of what looks to be tissue-thin flowers clustered along meandering branches.

The same has happened again in my neighborhood in 2021.

2020: But the heart of springtime in Knoxville is the dogwood (Cornus florida). Celebrated for 65 years now by the Dogwood Arts Festival, dogwoods even have their own trails. And a drive along any one of them is a spring awakening for residents and visitors alike.

2021: Dogwood Arts is now alive and well in Knoxville! And not just the trails that were open last year, but many of the events we’ve come to know and love — Chalk Walk, Bikes & Blooms, Featured Gardens.

2020: We checked to see if trails and open gardens would be available for touring this year, and, best we can tell, some are. This cautionary statement appears on the website: Due to the spread of COVID-19, some of the Open Gardens listed below may choose to close. Please only enter gardens that have an “OPEN GARDEN” sign in the yard.

2021: The new wording on the Dogwood Arts website is this: *MASKS REQUIRED AND SOCIAL DISTANCING ENFORCED. Thankfully, we can still roam freely in some of Knoxville’s prettiest gardens.

2020: One garden we’ve previously shared, the estate of Dr. Alan Solomon, will not be on tour this year, but we remember fondly the elegance of the forested acres and statuary that make it a showplace like no other in town.

2021: Dr. Solomon is re-opening his garden for the event known as Open Gardens on April 17 and 18, 2021. A glorious treat for all who remember these grounds that were open for years, except for 2020!

2020: If you want a springtime lift, a drive along one of the trails may be your best bet. Check the Dogwood Arts website for a map showing the location of this year’s trails, and then drive along for a color treat. We took the Westmoreland Trail this week, and, as you can see, there’s much to celebrate.

2021: The featured trail this year is the one in Holston Hills. Follow the pink lines running through the neighborhood and get ready to take photos. Trees are in full bloom!

2020: It’s good to know that even when most things we value are shut down across America, Mother Nature still shows her colors majestically. It’s time to celebrate spring — whether in Knoxville or your own hometown — and be thankful for growth, renewal, and color in these tough times.

2021: Perhaps we appreciate nature’s beauty even more this year after spending much of last year’s spring inside our homes. Truly this quote has new meaning for all us as we emerge from the “winter” of quarantine to the spring of life:

If winter comes, can spring be far behind?

Percy Bysse Shelley

Here’s hoping spring is beautiful no matter where you are — and this year, maybe we can all get out to enjoy it to the fullest.

Travel the pretty spots,

Rusha and Bert

If you want to see more entries in Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #142: You Pick It, go to Leya’s blog and enjoy the entries linked below her absolutely gorgeous photos of anemone hepatica.

Fog

The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking 
over city and harbor 
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

Carl Sandburg

In another example, I looked out early one morning to see Knoxville totally “socked in.” Hurriedly, I drove to Lake Loudon close to the UT campus to see “what the cat dragged in.” Fog, of course, covering bridges and overpasses and softly blanketing the waters below.

Rain, too, can be soft. And forgiving. Poet Sara Teasdale reminds us in her prophetic poem that nature, ignoring man’s foibles, can stealthily but steadily go about its work as if nothing has happened. Photos from a gentle rain this week in Knoxville seem to be a fitting tribute.

There Will Come Soft Rains

There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;

And frogs in the pools singing at night,
And wild plum trees in tremulous white,

Robins will wear their feathery fire
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;

And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done.

Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree
If mankind perished utterly;

And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn,
Would scarcely know that we were gone.

Sara Teasdale

Many thanks to Ann-Christine for the challenge topic this week. To see more entries for soft, go to her site. In the meantime . . .

Travel softly,

Rusha Sams

Flowers in the rain, like the tender, just-barely-open hosta flower pictured above and this giant hosta leaf are always welcome sights. And, at the first sign of water droplets, I rush out to my front yard, camera in hand, to catch the details.

If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you may have noticed my love of white flowers. Southern Magnolias in my subdivision are ancient and enormous, and the big-enough-to-climb-on branches produce magnificent blooms every May. I like to move in close so I can see the centers — before they bloom and then after — as if I’m privy to a secret show.

Seashells, too, have great appeal, especially if the details reveal nature’s order and beauty.

But perhaps some of my most fun “small world” encounters occur in restaurants. Both my husband and I enjoy fine dining, especially when a fabulous presentation at the table rivals the creative preparation of fresh ingredients in the kitchen. Joseph Lenn, owner of JC Holdway in Knoxville and a James Beard award-winning chef, knows the art of cooking. But equally important to him is making sure each dining experience is a delight for the senses. Even my iPhone shows off Lenn’s creations pretty well since the right amount of light came streaming through his city windows the afternoon we most recently dined out.

This spring, I’ll be taking Anne Sandler‘s suggestions to improve my macro shots. And hopefully, when the Covid-19 quarantine has been lifted, we’ll tour gardens, eat in restaurants, and take more trips — looking for the little things.

Be sure to check out the other posts on this Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #130 so you, too, can pick up some tips and enjoy the captures of a Small World.

Travel small,

Rusha & Bert

But as we wrapped up, we headed to the top of the hill to the HGTV Overlook for one last glimpse of 2020. Striations of golden sun had many walkers, us included, taking iPhones in hand for a final shot of the year that was — like the man in the photo above. And it was at that moment that Bert turned away from the sunrise and pointed in the direction of a full moon rising.

It’s a Cold Moon, we later discovered, when friends on Facebook posted photos of it from where they lived and used the term. The name Cold Moon was one of many used by Native Americans to describe full moons, and this one that we saw so unexpectedly in late December 2020, was named years ago by the Mohawk tribe.

Armed only with an iPhone, we snapped away at this full moon, staying out in the cold to watch it move higher above the park. A glorious, unexpected sight and a great way to end a chaotic year!

In 2021, we look forward to new sights, new adventures, and new ways of living each day to the fullest.

You are never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream.

C. S. Lewis

Happy New Year to all.

Rusha & Bert

Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

It begins with the UT Color Garden — all in autumn tones — leading me down a path bordered with mighty color, showing off before winter.

A patchwork quilt of sorts emerges as individual flowers vie for attention.

In the heart of the gardens, an old truck faces the almost-blinding morning sun, but cares little. After all, you can stand anything surrounded by grasses and leaves and blooms reaching skyward.

A seat would be nice. Perhaps in the vegetable garden?

Or maybe I should push on ’til I reach the furthest boundary — a great vantage point from which to say good-bye.

I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.

L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

If you’d like to contribute to this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #117: A Photo Walk, just post your pictures, link them to Amy’s original post, and use the Lens-Artists tag so you can be found!

And then . . . go for a walk. It’s fall ya’ll!

Rusha