Bathroom floor

The bathroom floor almost always had some "reading material" just an arm's reach from the porcelain convenience, up next to the tub. Usually, it was Don's magazines, like Time®, or sometimes one of his books. I seldom kept my books there because of his propensity to splash water out of the tub, unknowingly, during his hours of "water therapy." :)

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Out the window

Another shot out the bathroom window, but this time with the camera right up against the screen, kinda pointing out alongside the house. I always hesitated to call those scrawny little bushes a "hedge," but that is the term Don always used. Especially in the winter, those bushes were full of cardinals. It was awesome seeing them so close!

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Porcelain convenience

A very common sight for those of us who spent any time in the house on Wateree. And it looks "bumpy" because I shot it through the screen. Don liked to call this seat the "porcelain convenience." LOL

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Bathroom lights

I absolutely loved the lights in the bathroom! Not only was there a single bulb in the fixture on the ceiling, but there was also a row of pretty lights over the sink. It was the most awesome place for fixing hair and makeup! Beneath the lights, my hands and camera-phone can be seen in the mirror. I wouldn't make a good ninja, would I...? LOL

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Laundry chute

I always liked the laundry chute in the bathroom! It was so convenient for dropping laundry down into the basement! This was something that Don added to the house after he bought it from his father (via the old $1 title-change move). The vent beneath the laundry chute was broken, so it would not open/close normally with the little lever. It had also disconnected from the wall at some point and we didn't have the money to pay someone to fix it. So, we just pulled it back away from the wall a bit to 'open' it, and pushed it back again to 'close' it. That was just one of the many, goofy, fun-things we did. LOL

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Antique glass doorknob

I liked the antique glass doorknobs in the house. Little touches mean a lot. :)

©2011 Tiffany Reed

NatarajXT: "Feeze"

In my first entry in this blog, I mentioned a musical group that calls themselves NatarajXT and thought I would share some of their music here, from time to time. I like to think of their style as a fusion of music from India with Jazz. I discovered them on Last.FM a couple of years ago. After falling completely in love with their sound, I discovered several songs that they were offering FREE to users of Last.FM! I thought Don would appreciate them, too, and he did! This song — "Feeze" — is probably my favorite, but there are a couple of others that are right up there with it! Click on the player, below, to LISTEN to the song. If you wish to download it to your own computer, RIGHT-CLICK here and "Save As..."

Thanks to MixPod.com for the music player!

Credenza

The credenza in the bedroom, on which Don had placed the television, stereo, and related components. In the drawers, he kept some of his shirts, sweaters, socks, spare extension cords, VHS tapes, and so forth. It definitely wasn't a fancy piece of furniture, but was solid as a rock — as it had to be to hold all the electronics! :P

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Electronics

Some of the electronics in our bedroom. On top is the DVD-player, beneath it the VHS-player, and one of Don's wonderful, old-fashioned, Yamaha® receivers. Everything ran through the receiver and then on to the television, so we had good-quality stereo sound with everything! It was awesome!

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Nighttime

Another view of the bedroom at night, bathed in the glow of the Blue Moon neon light.

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Music Choice®

Cable television service from Charter® included an option for Music Choice® digital music channels. Don and I, both, liked their musical selections, very much! We listened to their Jazz channel the most, but also enjoyed the Light Jazz and Blues channels, too. I appreciate soft, gentle music at night when I am falling asleep (if not all night long), so we listened to the SoundScapes channel (New Age, ambient) during nap and sleep-time. Their slogan "always on" was true for us, except when we were watching a movie or TV show... LOL!

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Blue Moon

Thankfully, Don actually liked my "alternative lighting" schemes. This is my "Blue Moon" neon sculpture, which graced our bedroom for several months. I got it when Toni and I lived in Florida; she got a dolphin sculpture, and I got Mother Moon. As can be seen by the time on the clock, this shot was made on one of the many sleepless nights that I experienced after Don passed.

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Back room

The "back room," accessible only by walking through the Master Bedroom, was one of the strangest things about the house. Don said it was added by the previous owner, and served as the bedroom for an invalid child. However, no insulation was placed in the walls, so it was always too-hot in the summer and too-cold in the winter. It seems odd to me that such a room would be delegated to a child, especially invalid, but perhaps fans and heaters kept it tolerable. We used it only for storage. This photo is one of the built-in storage cabinets where I kept extra blankets and sheets.

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Kitchen, part deux

I always loved the beautiful, wooden doors and doorways in the house.

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Kitchen

The kitchen looks "cluttered" in this shot, but it did NOT seem like that in real life, at least not to me. It was really rather organized and had a "lived-in" look to it.

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Detail of lamp

Detail of the beautiful, brass lamp that was on the kitchen table.

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Kitchen table

Our kitchen table, where we sat for many hours and talked, as well as ate our meals, read to each other, took inventory of Don's meds, and many other things. To the trained eye, there are many things there — those wonderful wheelie-chairs we liked so much, Don's lanyard hanging on the lamp where he always kept it, the hammer from where he punched additional holes in his belts, the box of chocolates given to him by his sister, the clipboard I had to start keeping after Hospice began assisting us... so many things.

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Reading nook

My "reading nook" in the corner of the Sitting Room, my favorite spot to curl-up with a good book.

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Record cabinet

The large piece of furniture in the corner of the sitting room was an actual "record cabinet" from the days when all music was on vinyl. This was but one of Don's many places to store his extensive record collection. The basket that's on the antique radio was the one I took to Drum Circles, with my tambourines and bells in it. The whole corner was lit by one of Don's many beautiful lamps.

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Bliss

Don and me, 09-21-2006. This is, to the best of my knowledge, the only photo of the two of us together, and I am so glad to have this one!!! Click the photo below to see it slightly larger and clearer, or click here for the shot without the post-processing.

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Sitting Room

When I met Don, he was using the former "Dining Room" in the house mostly as a "storage space." I spent several hours in there over the course of a couple of days and turned it into a "Sitting Room." Sometimes we would curl-up in there to read, talk, or spend time drumming. I always thought the upholstery on the sofa was pretty. :) This shot was post-processed to make it look like an old, 1970s photograph. You can click on the photo, below, to see it slightly larger. To see the original shot, click on the Flickr "chiclet" icon below the picture.

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Altar

After it was apparent that Don and I were meant for each other, I asked him if I could set up an altar space somewhere in the house. Even though our spiritual views weren't exactly the same, they were more similar than different, and we respected each others' views. He let me take-over one of his record cabinets, this one in the living room, near the computers. The top became my altar-table, which I covered with items from Hindu, Buddhist, and shamanic traditions. Following his usual quirky humor, Don quietly added the toy bulldozer and forklift one day, positioned to "move" some of the stones on the altar. When I discovered it later, we both had a good laugh! :)

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Interwebbing

Don, "interwebbing" (as he liked to call it) on the desktop computer in our living room. Note the turned-up collar on his polo shirt, his ubiquitous mark of rebellion. :)

©2011 Tiffany Reed

All that jazz

Music was often playing at our house — jazz, blues, trance, or the perhaps the sound of drumming. This is a photo that I snapped off the "Music Choice" Jazz Channel on the television, and tweaked a bit.

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Red Door

Ours was the only house on the street with a red door

©2011 Tiffany Reed

Natarajxt

Sanatana Dharma, the proper name of the religion practiced by Hindu people, acknowledges that there is only One Deity. That Deity is so powerful and diverse that many different forms are perceived by mankind, and each of these "gods" and "goddesses" are merely aspects of that One Deity.

The concept of "gender" with regards to a Deity is, perhaps, folly and very likely a purely human construct. However, those of us who choose to recognize that One Deity as essentially more Feminine than Masculine call Her by the name "Shakti," and refer to ourselves as "Shaktas." As the Womb from which All Creation sprang, Shakti can represent All Women.

"Shakti" is also a term used to describe the feminine energy that empowers a masculine God to be able to act, to do anything at all. In Hindu thought, every God must have a Goddess, his muse, his energy, which inspires and moves him to act.

Another aspect of the One Deity is that of Shiva, commonly called "The Destroyer," a decidedly masculine personification of the One God. His consort was Parvati, a decidedly feminine personification of the One God, representing the power of Lord Shiva. It is said, by some, that Shiva represents all God-forms, just as Parvati/Shakti represents all Goddess-forms.

Among the many "roles" of Lord Shiva is to preside over the process of Death and subsequent Rebirth — the Death and Rebirth of all humans, all animals, all plants, and even this World, itself. When Lord Shiva is in his role of orchestrating Death and Rebirth, he is called Nataraj, and is usually depicted as having two legs and four arms, dancing within a circle that represents the Universe.

Don was my Shiva, and I was his Shakti. He danced Death into being, achieving Rebirth in another realm where I shall be, one day. Thus, I felt "Nataraj" as an appropriate name for this blog that will be a collection of old photos and sentiments from northeastern Tennessee — from Kingsport to Flag Pond, from Knoxville to Bristol. I will include photos made in/around the house in Kingsport, photos from Johnson City, Clear Branch, Flag Pond, Baileyton, Knoxville, and perhaps other Tennesee locations as well.

This is not to be construed as my "living in the past." It is a Remembering, however bittersweet. It is also an attempt to collect all my "Tennessee" photos into one place, and to share them with those who might appreciate them.

There is also a jazz-fusion troupe named Nataraj-XT, which Don and I both enjoyed. Since the simpler "nataraj.blogspot.com" was already taken, "natarajxt.blogspot.com came to mind as the name of this blog. I might even include some of their music here, as well as music from other artists that Don and I both enjoyed.

So...

Come, hold my hand as we
stroll down Memory Lane,
lined with Jazz Clubs and Blues Bars,
where the coffee is always fresh
and the starlight trickles down
in golden drops.

Yes, in golden drops.


©2011 Tiffany Reed