EmLem enters contest II

For this one I'm returning to stock photos from my life in Nashville.

This is one of my all-time favorite photos. It was taken by John in the fairytale garden and has been my desktop background ever since.

Nashville's Centennial Park has all the wonderful things that make parks great -- it has flowers, trees, a pond with ducks and geese, space to throw frisbees, historical markers... and a full scale replica of the Parthenon of Athens, Greece.

fall photos.. love the Parthenon!

Nashville's Parthenon houses the largest indoor statue in the Western Hemisphere, a towering image of Athena. Enourmous bronze doors outfit the front and back, and then of course there are the fluted columns, the pedimental sculptures, and the metopes to admire. You don't have to know anything about ancient Greek to enjoy the Parthenon or its tours and museum, and can learn a lot. There is also an art gallery inside. Prices range from $3.50 to $6, and the Parthenon is closed on Sundays and Mondays until June.

from across the pond

I've attended a few academic lectures in the Parthenon, as well as two plays-- one was a free staging of Medea complete with Greek-style masks on the back steps, and the other was the Metamorphoses, adapted by Mary Zimmerman. Other times, I've happily basked in the simply joy of having a giant Parthenon so accessible. Centennial Park is my favorite park for it.




Playing host to art and craft fairs in the spring, and Shakespeare festivals in the fall, Centennial abounds in laid-back beauty. For a refreshing jog or relaxing walk, consider the cherry lined pathway along the pond. The "fairy tale garden," so nicknamed for its impossible charm, is filled with all manner of blooms and is a popular spot for photos of pets, children, graduates, lovers, and friends.

a view toward fairytale garden

When in Nashville, don't forget to check out Centennial Park. Bring the kids. Located along West End Avenue, near 25th. Close to Vanderbilt University.

ducklings in the spring

EmLem Enters Contest

I'm working on a little bit of content for a website sponsoring a contest. It's a travel guide type of thing, and if you post content before a certain date, you are entered. They evaluate you based on quality, so I'm going to put up a couple of things from a few places I've explored. I want to post them here, too, especially so I can get a little feedback before putting them up for contest. Wednesday, when I had to work in KC anyway, I went foraging for good photos.

So, here goes!


Kansas City's Country Club Plaza, also known simply as "The Plaza," is an open air shopping and dining district south of downtown. But unlike the close spaces of some shopping streets, the Plaza admits much air and light, and has a warm character unique to the place.

clock, from creekside

Personally, I'm a fan of gardens and greenspace, and the inclusion of this type of beauty in the Plaza area is what makes it special among sites of entertainment, shopping, and dining. The south edge of the district is bounded by Brush Creek, which has cherry trees and benches along its walkways for anyone inclined to take a moment to enjoy the sights and smells. I parked along the water, but there are several free parking decks scattered throughout the area to accommodate visitors. The area is also well-signed for those attempting to find the Plaza.

How to get where you're going

path down to the creekside

view of footbridge, from alongside creek

Here I ate my lunch.

There is plenty of opportunity for comers to spend their excess coin in all manner of recognized stores, fine restaurants and cafes, and specialty shops. For me, the best things in life are free; strolling around the district enjoying the spring blooms proved to be a great way to spend a good part of an afternoon. Police abound on foot, making the place feel quite safe. People in the district are friendly: a businessman offered me directions and suggestions for my exploration, and out-of-town visitors offered to take my photo when they saw me clicking away at the water features.

This fountain reminded me of Rome!

There are several hotels in the area as well.

Mill Creek Park is right next to the Plaza, with soft springy running tracks and open fieldspace.

This rather large fountain at one end of Mill Creek Park was under maintenance work when I arrived, gearing up for the spring season.

Penguin Courtyard; note J Crew on the left, Urban Outfitters across the street.

The Plaza's fountains are part of what give it fame. It also boasts a collection of various sculptures tucked away here and there along the bright pathways. Schoolchildren even take field trips to the Plaza to learn about these pieces. The look of the place has an Italian sensibility, not only for the roof tiles, sidewalks, and water spouts, but also because of the sculpture. My favorite was the replica of a bronze boar from Florence, Italy; in Florence, you rub the boar's nose for luck. KC's boar had a shiny nose as well, and the plaque below it suggests dropping a coin and touching the nose for Children's Mercy Hospital. Some of the fountains encourage the tossing in of coins, like the Mermaid Pool which also takes coins for the Children's Mercy Hospital.

A man tosses a coin into Mermaid Pool as families relax around the sides.

Florence marketplace boar

By the Cheesecake Factory, blue lady sits at the edge of the Bacchus Fountain.

Fun statue near the river

Pomona Fountain, families, et al.

The Mediterranean look and feel pervade the whole area. Also, I love tulips.

Finally, the Plaza is close to free art museums and the lovely Loose Park, which deserve posts of their own.

Be Where Your Feet Are

I am embarking on a few projects of organizational proportions. One involves writing, and one involves music.

I have resisted converting my media server to iTunes because I did not have an iPod. I have resisted having an iPod because they are expensive, and I am resentful of all the people that wander around with those little white buds in their ears. Inwardly, I scoff at the need to always being multi-tasking, the inability to just be in one place at one time. For their offense, iPods went right up there with iPhone and Blackberry, and any other phone which makes it too easy to divide one’s attention.

It has become exceedingly important to me to focus, to simply be where I am. I sometimes even become anxious just seeing other people disappear from their physical surroundings (mentally disappear, anyway) as a handheld device absorbs their attentions. My cell phone does not send or receive text messages.. not because the phone itself is antique or anything like that. I chose those settings, I had the service turned off. Mostly because they cost 15 cents a pop, and my friends seemed to text without much thought to that. Understandable, as most people these days have plans which include texting. I am sure that one of these days I will incorporate texting into my life, because I can see the benefits of it. For now, if something is important enough for someone to contact me, it's important enough for a phone call. (/text rant)

Even when I was in college, it amazed me how many people would be half-absorbed just in the walk across campus. I had a few high-powered days wherein I, in the space of time running from here to there, had to make a quick phone call, but as soon as I noticed myself slipping into a habit of 'needing to be on the phone' while walking, I put the thing firmly into my pocket. That ten minutes, or even just five, became an important breather. A moment to just taste the air, see the squirrels, notice the latest changed of vegetation, and hear the birds and wind. To just look around.

It's pretty amazing the peace of mind that can come with that moment to regather the self. I feel that attention splitters really do fragment us somehow, that if one is constantly checking football scores, one is not immersed in the Journey concert one is currently attending. Some of us don't even need devices.. we can worry about homework and tasks left unfinished all on our own.

"Be where your feet are," Erin said once when we were at Zen Zero (appropriately named for the advice of the moment). When your mind is somewhere else, you are not in two places: you are in no place at all.

Early in my Kansas life, I enjoyed going on walks to explore the park areas near my home. As I got better at these long walks, I began also to jog a little bit. But I still liked the freedom feeling that went with the simple open awareness... just me, my tennis shoes, the grass and sky. I like where my feet are.

(Currently, I am sitting in a coffeeshop in the south of Kansas City. Homer's Coffee House, chosen of course for its name, has proved to be a lovely place for me to spend some time. Today is my "Kansas City Adventure Day" which will be explained in more detail later.)