Here’s hoping you’re enjoying spring as much as we are.
As Knoxville gears up for its annual Dogwood Arts Festival, all our flowering trees, of whatever species, are getting into the spirit.
Here are a couple of photos from our eastside Chilhowee Park neighborhood. This first one is the home of our friends, Pete and Jennifer Simon. Their yard is spectacularly beautiful all year, but especially in spring:
The next one is a panoramic shot of our own yard at Castle and Woodbine. We can’t compete with the Simons, but for this shot I got lucky with the lights and shadows:
Full disclosure: The photo of the Simons’ yard is one I took last year. And the photo of our yard is three years old. (I posted it before, here.) I’m still working on spring photos for this year — but these strike me as fairly representative of the way things are shaping up.
17 responses to “Knoxville in Bloom”
Nice photos, but looking forward to this year’s display. Several of the gardens in ONK are spectacular this year. As well as the trees. Don’t know if it is the weather or climate change or what, but I am getting an array of birds at the feeder that I haven’t had before. Life is beautiful.
Thanks, Verne. I’d just add that a bunch of the gardens on Old North Knoxville are spectacular every year — and throughout most if not all of the year.
Bird migration patterns are changing. I don’t pretend to know why or precisely how. But I wrote about this in “Whatever Happened to the First Robin?” Yes, life is beautiful!
Gary, I’m envious! It’s not looking like Spring quite yet here in Maine – we’re expecting nearly a foot of snow here in our area tonight and tomorrow (an April Fool’s joke on us from Mother Nature, I guess!).
What — Maine has a Spring? ≧◔◡◔≦ Okay, seriously, I’ve been there during it, and it was nice. And believe it or not, we’ve had April snowstorms in Knoxville just within the past few years. Not to mention the famous Knoxville Blizzard of ’93, that came on March 13. Not to mention … Oh, never mind! ㋡
Gorgeous. Still getting used to that screened in arch porch. I remember the car being parked there. Finally spring is arriving in Oregon after an unusually wet fall and winter. It seemed like it never stopped raining. So ready for spring! Miss you guys!
Cheri and I miss you, too, dear Patricia — you and Peter. Always will. Unless, of course, things change such that we’re once again living in the same town. I suppose that isn’t likely. But then, who among us is living a life anyone would ever have foreseen as “likely”?
As to your unusually wet fall and winter — it seems, nowadays, that all seasons are unusual just about everywhere. We can make of that what we will, but it’s an observation I hear from everyone, all the time.
Spring? What is spring? You mean when the temperature suddenly goes from 60° to 90°? And all the greenery that grew with the help of the winter rain suddenly dies leaving an awful smell in the air? 😁
You sure live in a prettier place than I.
Condolences, my friend! Cheri, having visited Arizona, assures me y’all have some really gorgeous rock formations. I used to admire them myself on TV shows like “The High Chaparral”. But you’re right: It’s not the same thing as spring.
Cool beans like both photos
Thanks so much, Jennifer. For your kind comment — and even more, for the daily hard work you and Pete put into making your home the paradisiacal setting that it is. (And for granting me permission to use the photo. Glad you like it!)
What lushly attractive foliage around your house!! How wonderful that you are surrounded by such beauty for some months every year. For me, and no doubt for countless others, nature has always been a source of great peace and calm and inspiration. I remember so well during the time I lived in Knoxville those times when I was able to drive up into the Smoky Mountains…. Blessings on you and your house!
Thanks, Edda. I do hear the Northern Lights (Aurora borealis) are gorgeous in Finland this time of year (and probably every time). They’re something I’ve never seen, though they belong on my bucket list. I imagine them as both exciting and soothing.
Speaking of beautiful Finland, I couldn’t resist doing a Google image search and came up with the photos at this link. They help me understand even better why the latest World Happiness Index places your country in the top five!
Still showering us with beauty, I see. These photos are consistent with the topics you choose for your writing.
James, you always make me blush, you are so kind. I almost said “too kind” except I guess kindness can’t be too much, almost by definition! 😀 Even if it may sometimes leverage a bit of hyperbole. 😜
Your place is so beautiful! Seems like something in the fairyland. 🙂
Priya, thanks so much! This time of year is Knoxville’s prettiest. A lot of flowering trees are by now past their peak, but our dogwoods are just hitting their stride. We have an annual Dogwood Arts Festival here that will start in a few days.
Although this is our most colorful time of year, it isn’t necessarily my favorite. What I love most is the deep, dense, dark, rich green of summer foliage that happens after most of the flowers are gone, but before the leaves start wilting and drying from heat. There’s something about that deep green that makes me feel extremely alive. No other season quite does that — not spring, not autumn. (And of course winter just annoys me.)
What are the seasons like in your region of India?
Seems like a place I’d like to visit. 🙂 So far season is pretty good here. At least until yesterday it was, after a bit of rain. Today, it’s windy, so much so that I’m wondering if it’d like to take the houses away with it. 😀
Soon it’s going to be hot, crazy hot, I’m guessing because the winter was too mild and I liked it. So that means it wasn’t much. But I’d try to enjoy summer like always. I just like it. Everything seems quiet and happy.