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| The dog screamed, “Can you come get me already?” for ten minutes. |
When the weather is nice I try to wind my way down to the river. It’s a little different walk than most routes around the city. If you force yourself not to notice Holston Gas and other signs of industrial and other human encroachment, it can be quite peaceful. I also enjoy the mix of people I bump into. They seem like a slightly different mix than the one I run into just up the bluff. It makes me wonder why more downtown residents don’t take advantage of the great walkway there.
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| Urban Daddy watches a dazzling display of basketball prowess. |
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| Treaty of the Holston Statue |
These photographs were taken a few weeks ago on a particularly pretty day as I walked with a certain Urban Daddy. I walked further east along the river than I have before and I was surprised by a number of things I saw. I had forgotten to consider the statue of the Holston Treaty when I wrote about downtown statues in the past. That one does move me a little. I had no idea so many yachts were kept just around a bend in the river.
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| A thousand million yachts, Tennessee River, Knoxville |
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| My favorite boat. Humprhey Bogart could be on this boat. Imagine the stories. |
The sheer number of condos built and being built along the river also caught my attention. My understanding is that these have sold as fast as they have been built, which is something that can’t be said about condominiums that are in downtown proper. These seem to be a good option for people who want to be near downtown, but not so much in it. For me the long walk into the city would be a negative, but some people might like the little bit of distance.
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| Trash overflowing from city drainage into the river. |
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| Blue Heron, Tennessee River, Knoxville |
We passed people fishing, which surprised me. Would you eat fish caught in the section of river that receives all the run-off from the city? We saw evidence of the city’s attempts to stop some of the trash from flowing into the river, but the trash seemed to be slipping past the barrier. I did see a Blue Heron, though the trash and Holston Gas made it less of a bucolic scene before I worked a little cropping magic.
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| A rowing team from a visiting university, Tennessee River, Knoxville |
The car embedded in the side of the bluff had to be the most interesting sight of all. I suppose it makes us look redneck, but beyond that, doesn’t it make you wonder how it came to be there? Obviously, it didn’t go there from the bottom of the hill. And how someone reached the decision to leave it there and let nature have its way? Maybe it was someone who knew it would one day become a great photo opportunity.
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| Upside down, halfway up (or down) the bluff, becoming one with nature. |
