White Clematis...

Clematis vine, Dixon Gardens.

Mid-Century Modern Residence, Hedgemoor

This is the Mid-Century Modern home (across from Auto Ethnographer's childhood home) that Auto Ethnographer mentioned in a comment in reply to this post. The architecture of this home is unique and quite pretty, and an interesting and lovely contrast to the very traditional architecture found throughout the Hedgemoor neighborhood. I thought that the comment (below) said more about this home than I possibly could:

"...Our more elderly neighbors across the street had been art collectors and dealers. Everyone in the neighborhood called their house "the hotel," because it was a mid-century modern with an elevator and amazing swimming pool. They had lavish grown-up parties (probably fund-raisers), the comings and goings of which we all watched in awe. The people we bought our house from were the Thorntons. I am pretty sure they were the original builders. They would be as happy as I am to see that so much of the original grounds and house have been preserved. Thanks again for bringing back all these wonderful childhood memories!!"

I'm sorry that I've been MIA a bit this past week. Sensing that it is time for a change and some growth, I turned in my resignation letter yesterday at work (my place of employment since 1984, having held my current position for eight years), and have been interviewing for two different, exciting opportunities. In addition to that, my older son has been interviewing for two jobs in another city, and is very excited about his opportunities, also (of course, his mama still has to get used to that idea...). Nothing like mixing things up a bit, huh? :)

I hope that your week has been a good one!

Walkways, Dixon Gardens

Walkways at Dixon are one of the most important elements in the gardens. Not only do they make walking easier around the perimeter of the South Lawn (especially in inclement weather), but they also beckon you to each separate garden room and little hidden places featuring seasonal plantings, an antique bench, or statuary. Some walks are curved and some are straight, and usually are constructed of brick or pea gravel.

Above and below are the terraced brick walkways joining the first garden room I showed you, and the one I will share after this. In the photo above you can see the restored, 19th century cast iron fountain that is the focal point in the distance (please enlarge this photo for a better view).

I hope that you are enjoying a nice weekend. We are spending time with my father today, and then I'm looking forward to catching up with each of you.

Dixon Gardens, South Lawn

This is the first view of the expansive South Lawn of the gardens that you see after you first enter the gardens from the main entrance. My father says that it reminds him of Augusta National Golf Club during the Masters Tournament.

Pink Azalea

I thought you might enjoy seeing a pretty pink azalea after the pink dogwood yesterday....click to change the size to a larger photo to see even more detail (by clicking on "all sizes" and then choosing the larger size) . We found this beauty at Dixon Gallery & Gardens last weekend. I'm hoping that the azaleas may be fully-blossomed this weekend.

The past few days have been long workdays, and I'm looking forward to catching up with everyone tonight and tomorrow!

Hedgemoor Classic

This lovely classic home is in the Hedgemoor neighborhood of east Memphis, near Walnut Grove and Goodlett and across from the Galloway Golf Course. This is one of our favorite neighborhoods for both the architecture and the beautiful gardens.

This beautiful residence is also the childhood home of fellow blogger Auto Ethnographer...I hope that you enjoyed seeing these photos as much as I did visiting the neighborhood and taking them.


Thanks so much to all of you for the good wishes on the NCAA Championship game....it was a close one, and a heartbreaker! I hope that my voice returns before work tomorrow...

Go Tigers Go!

The University of Memphis Tigers basketball team made it to the Final Four in San Antonio, defeating UCLA on Saturday, and will be playing for the NCAA National Championship tonight (televised on the CBS network). Everywhere you look, this is what you see....people showing their spirit, and sporting their Tiger blue. I thought that the little girl above in her cheerleader attire looked especially excited about her Tigers' accomplishments.

There is so much excitement in the city, and everyone you meet is talking about "the game" with high hopes. The Tigers had an NCAA record season this year with only one loss, and spent quite a bit of time at #1 on national polls. They have made three Final Four appearances, in 1973, 1985, and 2008.

The players on this team play unselfishly, seem to really like each other, and under the direction of Coach John Calipari, seem to be really having fun no matter how competitive the game or opponent.

Regardless of the outcome tonight, this season has been an exhilarating one, and a delight to watch. It has been both fun and unifying for the students, fans, and for the citizens of Memphis. We love you, Tigers!

Go Tigers Go!

Idlewild Presbyterian, One of 1000 Churches

Memphis is often called "The City of 1000 Churches" or the "City of Churches". There are many beautiful places of worship in Memphis, and one of those is Idlewild Presbyterian Church.

This is the church of which I was a member when I was a little girl, and I dearly loved attending there. I went to Vacation Bible School and Sunday School, and also attended Kindergarten there. You can see why I developed my love of church and gothic architecture...and also stained glass and slate floors, deep and rich pipe organ music, and lovely church bells that cause many people in Midtown Memphis to stop for a moment and just listen.

Idlewild Presbyterian was built in 1926 and was designed by prominent Memphis architects Charles Pfiel and George Awsumb. It was built in the English Gothic style, using stone from Arkansas, Vermont, Massachusetts and Tennessee. The main entrance is also stone, with panels depicting characters and symbols of sacred history. The interior includes massive stone piers and hand-hewn arches and trusses, and is fashioned after Lincoln Cathedral in England.



If you would like to see more photos of this beautiful church, including some photos of the lovely detail in this church, you can visit my "church blog" here.

Flowering Dogwood...

Isn't this dogwood magnificent? This is one of my favorite flowering trees during each Spring in Memphis.

I hope that you're having a great weekend so far. This is a busy one for us with family activities, but I am looking forward to taking a little time for some blog-visiting, too!

In Memory...

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

Martin Luther King, Jr.
"I Have a Dream" delivered August 28 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.

Edited to add: A few of my Flickr photos were requested by a Canadian photo site...if you would like to see more photos from around the nation related to Dr. King's Day, please click here.

(Please click on the image above...Blogger is cutting off the right-hand portion of this photo)
Images from the Lorraine Motel/National Civil Rights Museum...

Memorial at the site of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King...

The older, original Hotel building of the Lorraine...

Another view of the memorial site. The interior of the room has been left exactly as it was the day of the assassination.

The Lorraine, Motel side...


The gate (incorporating one of his famous quotes) that leads to the gift shop and building from which James Earl Ray committed the assassination.

"I may not get there with you, but I want you to know that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land."

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Mountaintop speech, April 3, 1968, Memphis

Rev. Jesse Jackson, National Civil Rights Museum

My DH and I took our son to see the Mississippi River at flood stage, and then stopped by the National Civil Rights Museum before heading home. Tomorrow is the 40th Anniversary commemoration of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, and there is quite a bit of preparation and activity at the Museum, originally the Lorraine Hotel (the site of his assassination 40 years ago tomorrow). BTW, today is the 40th anniversary of Dr. King's famous "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech, delivered April 3 1968, at Mason Temple (Church of God in Christ Headquarters), in Memphis, Tennessee.

When we arrived at the museum, Rev. Jesse Jackson was standing in front of the museum, greeting a few people before going inside the building. My son and I considered walking up to meet him, but he was only outside for a minute or two. The gentleman to the left in the photo seemed very interested in what we were doing...we think he may have been a bodyguard.

All of the major national and international news outlets (CNN, BBC, NBC, etc) were there today (photo above), and will be televising portions of the activities from the museum grounds tomorrow.

Clickable links are in bold color script.

Cherry Trees In All Their Glory

The cherry trees in full blossom just outside of the Memphis Botanic Garden...it doesn't get much prettier than this! (Be sure to click on this one to see the entire width of the photo).

April Theme Day: Water....The Floodwaters of the Mighty Mississippi

For the April theme day of "Water", I had visions of posting one of my several favorite, most beautiful Memphis water features. But, the current flooding of the Mississippi River is quite compelling, and was the natural choice for me for Theme Day. This past weekend, the river crested at over 37 feet (flood stage is 34 feet), with even more rain in the forecast this week for this entire region. You can see a photo of the beautiful Mississippi at her sparkling best linked in the paragraph below.


The first view is from Mud Island, looking south toward the M Bridge. This view is almost identical to the one I shared here, except I took the older photo from the tree line that you see currently under water in the newer photo above. The park bench that I shared here is currently under water, also.

The second photo shows the view across the Mississippi looking toward the river bank in Arkansas. The Mississippi at this point is almost a mile wide, so for it to rise as much as you can see in these photos, you can imagine the additional volume of water the river has gained in the past few weeks.

During the Great Flood of 1937 which set flood stage records here, my father (at age 11) went with his father to help sandbag the area at Front Street and Poplar Ave. We looked up the statistics on the flood stage in 1937, and that year the river was 11 feet higher than it is currently. He also said that there is nothing heavier than sandbags that have been sitting out in the rain.

All affected by the flooding this year are in our thoughts.

There are currently 178 blogs participating in this Theme Day. Please stop by each one for a visit and to enjoy their wonderful offerings:

theme day id=13

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Sunny Forsythia

Isn't Forsythia a day-brightener? Ours are almost past peak here, and I wanted to share this with you before the time passes. I'm glad that we took quite a few Spring photos previously, as this weekend was rainy, rainy.

I hope that your weekend was a good one!

Grace St. Luke's Episcopal....One of 1000 Churches

Memphis is often called "The City of 1000 Churches" or the "City of Churches". There are many beautiful places of worship in Memphis, and one of those is Grace St. Luke's Episcopal Church.

This church was created in 1940 as a result of a merger of Grace Church (founded in 1850 and Memphis' second Episcopal church) and St. Luke's Church (founded in 1894). This church is located at the corner of Peabody and Belvedere in the Central Gardens area of Midtown Memphis, has an active community outreach and missions program, and also Grace St. Luke's School for children in grades pre-school through 8th grade. I attended nursery school at age 3 at Grace St. Luke's, so it is a special place for me.

BB King Statue

This is the statue of blues legend BB King in the Memphis Visitors' Welcome Center on Riverside Drive in Downtown Memphis. I love the detail in this statue and think that it's a wonderful likeness of Mr. King. He has a blues club here in Memphis on Beale Street, which I shared here last month.

I have to admit that I had never visited our Visitors' Center before today (typical city "native", right? :), and it is quite nice. The Center has wonderful views of the Mississippi River, Mud Island, the M Bridge, and lots of information about fun and interesting places to visit in Memphis and throughout Tennessee.

More Tulips

These tulips at the Memphis Botanic Garden were almost done, but I thought this color combination was especially pretty. I know that a lot of you north of me are still seeing some wintry weather, but I will certainly be enjoying your pretty Spring when it's already hot, hot, hot here in the South. My mother and grandmother used to say "it's as hot as blue blazes" during the summer; have you ever heard that phrase?

Cherry Blossoms...

I'm so glad that you're enjoying the spring blooms in Memphis with me. Our Spring is usually about two weeks, with an almost direct jump from Winter to Summer, and the season is seeming particularly nice and leisurely this year.

The Cherry blossoms are almost at peak, and should be just gorgeous by this weekend. We are supposed to have rain during the next few days, so I hope that the blossoms will weather that well (if not, I have a great photo of the trees at peak from last Spring). These trees line the public drive along Audubon Golf Course in front of the Botanic Garden, so if you are in Memphis and want to see them in person, you can just drive through...but the Botanic Garden is a great place to visit if you have time.

A Little More Spring...

Thanks to all of you for such a warm welcome back! I really did miss all of you while I was away...you meet some of the nicest people blogging.

I promise that I won't be posting flower photos ad nauseam all Spring...but these purple tulips at the Botanic Garden posted yesterday were just too pretty to keep to myself. I discovered the macro setting on my point-n-shoot camera while in Florida, and I'm still learning to play with it. Having a perfectly clear, sunlit day doesn't hurt either, does it?

My younger son is using the computer for his term paper tonight, so I'm posting while he's taking a break. I hope to do some blog-visiting either later tonight or tomorrow evening. I hope that your week is going well so far!

Spring Is Here!

We just returned to Memphis from Florida, and found that Spring had officially arrived in Memphis, too! Today was gorgeous, so we stopped at the Memphis Botanic Garden and took a few photos around the front grounds (the rest is even more amazing). When we have more time soon, we'll take a photo tour of the entire grounds. I thought that you might enjoy seeing this happy, Spring-y tulip mix today. This time period---now through May---is my favorite time in Memphis.

We had a great trip, spending most of our time in Jupiter and West Palm Beach, FL. We saw five Spring Training baseball games (mostly Cardinals games), including the final Dodgers game in Dodgertown, Vero Beach, FL. It was also Tommy LaSorda's final time at that facility, and it was a very poignant, bittersweet moment. We took lots of photos and I hope to have them all in order to share soon.

I missed all of you, and I know that I missed lots of great photos...I can't wait to catch up!