Evertrees

I don't know what type of trees these are, but they're cool because of the way they were trimmed! I know they are some sort of evergreen, so I call them "evertrees." LOL! I saw them often, on the way to-and-from work, and on my walks through the neighborhood.

©2012 Tiffany Reed

The Thinker

Don and I thought it would be amusing if I snapped a photo with him striking a pose reminiscent of Rodin's "The Thinker" with the gear-headed sculpture in the background. LOL

©2012 Tiffany Reed

Gear

Don, examining a bronze sculpture of a gear, protruding from a head, on Broad Street in downtown Kingsport.

©2012 Tiffany Reed

Sculpture

This artsy-sculpture is on Broad Street in downtown Kingsport, at the intersection with Market Street. That's where Don and I spent many a happy hour, listening to free music at the Twilight Alive concerts — musicians such as: Sonny Landreth, Marcia Ball, Johnny Winter, the Subdudes, and many more!

©2012 Tiffany Reed

Wrought iron

This area, with benches and sculptures, is in front of the public library in Kingsport. That's Don, relaxing on the bench. We had a fabulous time downtown together!

©2012 Tiffany Reed

State Theatre

The old, historic State Theatre was a very thriving and popular venue decades ago, and Don was a frequent patron. Then, the theatre fell into disuse when bigger, more modern cinemas were constructed elsewhere. After years of watching the building collect dust, the owner decided to renovate it and reopen it for special events. Don stands under the renovated marquee while construction inside was still taking place. He never got the chance to see the remodeled inside. Again, please excuse the crappy flip-phone pic, but it's all I have. Don't forget to click on the photo to see it a little clearere, though!

©2012 Tiffany Reed

Yoyo's Muse

Over the past several years, the city of Kingsport has added some artistic scupltures downtown. This one, titled "Yoyo's Muse" — my favorite of them all! — is a movable wind-vane sculpture. It was originally located at the intersection of Broad Street and New Street (in front of the public library), but was relocated to the roundabout ("traffic circle") at the junction where Gibson Mill Road & Ravine Road meet Watauga Street. I wish these photos were better, but they were made with my old LG225 flip-phone, prior to my having a phone with a decent camera in it. The figure, in silhouette, next to the sculpture is Don. We spent the afternoon downtown, looking at all the scupltures up close and having fun together.

©2012 Tiffany Reed

Groggy

Don had the wackiest sense of humor at times. One morning, he decided to snap a self-portrait immediately after waking. No glasses, eyes puffy, and hair totally akimbo from lying in bed, he grinned and snapped. LOL

©2012 Tiffany Reed

Front Desk

View from the Front Desk of the hotel, looking towards the entrance.

©2012 Tiffany Reed

Hotel keys

The keys that we used at the hotel were rather unusual and surprised many of our guests. They were shaped a bit like keys, but were electronic rather than mechanical. Most hotels use electronic "keys" now, but they usually look like credit cards, not keys. So, these were pretty cool. Hotel key is on the left, house key on the right for comparison purposes: The programming machine for the keys is on the left in this photo:

©2012 Tiffany Reed

Plastic Jesus

A guest of the hotel gave this little plastic 'Jesus' statue to us at a time when business was bad. The management of the hotel was Hindu, but let the statue remain. It was a nice gesture on the part of the guest, and it was given with good intentions, so it was okay. One of the things I like and admire about Hinduism is how accepting it is about the beliefs of other religions. Hindus believe that God has come to earth many times, and will continue to do so whenever all of humankind is in distress. God has already appeared as Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana, Parashurama, Rama, Balarama, and Krishna. Some think that, perhaps, Buddha was also an incarnation of the Divine. And if the Christians claim that God has appeared to them in the form of Jesus, who are we to question it? NO ONE has the right to question ANYONE else's religion, especially if we believe, as many do, that God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-present. Any religion that claims to be the "one, true, and only way" is admitting that their view of God is limited, that they are as wise as God, and that they know all of God's doings. And yet they say, "Pride goeth before the fall." Ha! The last I heard, Plastic Jesus had not improved business at the hotel. But, perhaps, it would have been worse without his protection. Who knows?!?!?

©2012 Tiffany Reed

Lucky

This is Lucky. He is Matthew's cat, my counterpart at the hotel next door to the one where I worked. Matthew texted me the pic one night, and I thought Lucky was so beautiful, I kept it.

©2012 Tiffany Reed

Floral skirt

Closeup of the flowers on one of my favorite skirts.

©2012 Tiffany Reed

Hindu girl

This is an artwork that was in a book I found at work one night. I couldn't read the book because it was written in Gujarati, but I liked the picture so I took a photo with my camera phone.

©2012 Tiffany Reed

Smiling sun

One of my many doodles, done at work one night when I was caught-up on my tasks for a while.

©2012 Tiffany Reed

Sporty Hyundai

I liked the look of this sporty little Hyundai car that belonged to one of the guests at the hotel. I didn't even know Hyundai made cars that looked so sporty. LOL

©2012 Tiffany Reed

Himalayan crystal

This beautiful, snowy-white crystal is another of the crystal trio from Dilly's.

©2012 Tiffany Reed

Phantom quartz

Yesterday's blog entry featured one of the crystals from the trio that was mined in the Himalaya Mountains, shot with my old LG225 camera-phone. Today's shot is of the same crystal, but made with my Samsung Vibrant camera-phone. Amazing what a difference a better camera can make, eh? This beautiful crystal has a "phantom" inside, which wasn't so prominent in yesterday's photo. A "phantom" is created inside a crystal when a crystal stops growing and then restarts, perhaps with a different mix of chemicals that feed the growth. This is the original shot from the Vibrant: And this is the "enhanced" version with the photo brightened, shadows deepened, etc.:

©2012 Tiffany Reed

Crystal

A closeup of one of the trio of crystals from yesterday's blog entry. This shot was made with my old LG225 camera-phone, so it isn't that great a photo, bit I still rather like the way the crystal looks in this photo.

©2012 Tiffany Reed

Tibetan crystals

These crystals from the Himalayas have a delicate matte-finish, as opposed to the bright, shiny quartz crystals from Brazil and other regions. I like this, and think it makes them quite special. I miss shopping at Dilly's!

©2012 Tiffany Reed

Switchboard

The switchboard at the hotel where I worked.

©2012 Tiffany Reed

Snowy night at work

At work on a snowy night, looking up alongside the hotel.

©2012 Tiffany Reed