lessons & carols in the clouds

Lessons & Carols is an annual Advent ceremony held at All Saint's Chapel in Sewanee, TN. Granddaddy was kind enough to invite both me and my great aunt Jane to attend this year. Sewanee's fog is rather infamous. I remember two whole months one year where we were literally just walking around in the fog. With our heads in the clouds. I never minded the fog or lack of sunshine during the winter months. It made it that much easier to pretend I was walking around Oxford, England (a place I hold very dear to my heart.)

During my freshman year of college, I walked past this amazing old cemetary on my way to and from class, the dining hall, you name it. I always found it a very beautiful and peaceful place, never creepy or grotesque. In the fog, it always seemed magical. This is long before I'd found a passion for photography, but the mental image is one of those "real" moments I've mentioned before, where I've captured a photograph in my memory. Lucky me, I was able to actually capture some of those memories/moments this past weekend:




The Lessons & Carols was exactly how I remembered it. The Chapel had been "greened" and the candlelight service was awe-inspiring. I had chills. And tears. And just felt so very reverent. Until I'd look over and see my 90-year-old Granddaddy checking the score of the Auburn game on his iPhone. Nice. I was able to sneak back into the chapel the next day to photograph some of the amazing poinsettias and decorations. The choir was practicing. So it was me, the choir singing, and my camera. All by my lonesome in that big big beautiful place. What a great way to start off this holiday season.




We stayed at the Edgeworth Inn on the Monteagle Assembly Grounds, an old 1896 inn originally owned by Adam Edgeworth. You can read more about it here: edgeworthinn.com
Granddaddy and I spent some time meandering the Assembly Grounds, taking photos, remarking on the snow, just enjoying our time together.






The Inn itself was perfect for this week's theme of Black & White:




And, just one more photo. This is during Granddaddy's texting lesson. You know how amazing I think my grandfather is, already, but this weekend he decided to tackle texting. Except, no amount of trying to convince him that texts should be short and sweet and to the point seemed to get through to him. So he sent a text message that was longer than most emails. It was like a blog entry, I swear. Not to mention that the whole thing read like some telegram one might have received in the 40's. I had a hard time not peeing my pants. He keeps me young, this guy.

Class of 2016?

Guerry Garth
Guerry Garth
Breslin Tower
Green's View
Green's View
Bridal Veil Falls
Templeton Library

snailwanee

I decided to tell the story of our trip to Sewanee via "snail." I fell in love with this cute little guy during our stay in Sewanee last weekend. A daughter of a friend is thinking about applying to my alma mater, so I offered to take them both up for a weekend to give them my personal tour. I've been back to Sewanee numerous times since I graduated in 2003, but this was the first time I've gone back and wandered into and out of almost every building on campus (and then some.) Not only that, but I got to take the girls on a few minor hikes and show them some of the natural wonders that abound on the domain. I'm pretty sure Ashley's a goner. She bought a sticker for her car.

On the way for beers and fried zucchini at Shenanigan's.
Catching the sunset.
Natural Bridge
A little time to relax.
Riding around in style.

More photos of one of Princeton Review's top rated "Most Beautiful Campuses" can be found in this flickr set:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/libbadibbado/sets/72157624873569922/

Enjoying the View

When I first moved to the mountain my freshman year, I could not get over the crazy weather. In Iowa, you can see the clouds from miles away so you know when it's going to snow, rain, tornado, etc. You see it coming. In Sewanee, I would walk to class in the sunshine, and run home from class in a downpour, only to study in the courtyard in the sun fifteen minutes later. A local told me that if you didn't like the weather in Sewanee to wait 10 minutes.

These are three different views, seen on three different days at the Bradfords cabin in the mountains.