Welcome New Season

So.......the storms wreaked their havoc, finally passed through, and now the weather has again settled down, sunnied up and turned cold.

After an uneasy day of tornado watches and warnings on Friday, calls were made and received to friends and family to check on everyone.

Calls from Minnesota and Manitoba to check on us (so..........do you still have a house?), calls from us to children in Nashville and friends in the east.

Eastern Tennessee was hit hard but those we know are OK and their property was not hit.

On Saturday morning I went for a wet and muddy run at the base and the weather was much colder and gradually and thankfully beginning to clear.

I stopped briefly on the way home to take these pictures.

Flowering trees.

I wrote the other day that tornadoes and severe thunderstorms were a sure sign of spring in Tennessee.

These trees are another, more beautiful, sign that spring is indeed if not here, then certainly just right around the corner................

Also on the way home I detoured and stopped briefly at this place.

It is the Tennessee Corrections Academy, located on the outskirts of town on the way to Estill Springs.

Without doing research on the history of the academy I can say a few things.

I have heard many times that before this place was turned into the current corrections academy it used to be a girls reform school.

It is now the training ground for those who will become professionals at corrections facilities throughout the state.

I have been to the academy a number of times over the years for professional reasons but have not been on the grounds since arriving back in Tennessee.

It is a lovely facility during the winter, but during the rest of the year it is absolutely beautiful.

All stone buildings rich in history and architecture.

Inside the facilities are dated, but the rich woods and stone provide warmth and character to buildings that could be stark but are not.

It is set in beautiful and quiet surroundings filled with grass and trees and flowers in spring and summer.

The campus includes administrative buildings, a recreation building with indoor pool, dormitory style housing, eating facilities and more............

The academy buildings form a large U shape, with grassy lawns and paved walkways leading from one building to the next..............

A memorial to those corrections officers who have fallen in the line of duty, located on the main grounds............

While I was wandering the empty grounds I looked over and through the gap between buildings and saw a group of students running.

I was surprised because the last time I spent any time on campus students were walking.

Truthfully back then many looked to be in very bad physical shape, and so they walked.

Possibly physical standards have been raised.

More likely these students were attending specialized training.

Regardless I was still surprised to see them on a Saturday morning when the parking lots in front of the campus were all empty.

They were running along the walkway and in the lots in back of the buildings and I only caught brief glimpses of them.

As I continued to wander slowly on the lawn and along the walkways of the U, I decided I would drive in back of the facility and try to capture these trainees running when I was done.

The outdoor shooting range and obstacle course are also in back of the campus and I wanted to take pictures of them as well...........

After taking many pictures of the quiet and beautiful facilities I climbed back into my truck and slowly drove around the side and towards the back of the campus.

As I pulled into the parking lot adjacent to the obstacle course I saw him sitting in his van marked "Security".

Well...........damn.

I seem to have an unfortunate habit of running into security folks.

I already knew that I probably should not be wandering around campus unannounced, which was why I had chosen the weekend to visit, figuring it would be extremely quiet.

It was extremely quiet, but in hindsight I should have visited during the week when there are many vehicles coming and going on site.

He was pulling out of a parking lot opposite the parking lot I was pulling into, and when he saw me quickly turned his van into my lot.

Well..........damn again.

I knew at that moment that I was done exploring and photographing.

He smiled.  I smiled.

I told this obviously part-time and weekend security dude that I had just wanted to see the campus because I had never seen it before.

He told me "no probs" and that other people did the same thing.

After other small talk I headed back through the campus resigned to the fact that my little jaunt at the corrections academy was done for the day.

I will head back onto the campus another day when spring is really here for good.

And maybe I'll go during the week................

A very beautiful pink and flowering tree close to the academy entrance..............

By this morning the weather was gorgeous.

On a very sunny and very cold morning I again headed for the base to run.

After temperatures in the low 70's late last week this morning the temperature was only slightly above freezing.

With a sky this blue and a sun this full, I was happy to run in weather that I love so much.

Once more I stopped on the way home, this time at the golf course just on the outskirts of Tullahoma, at a place that transitions from base property to city property.

The golf course is completely lined on two sides by trees that, until only a week ago, were bare.

They are bare no longer.

These trees have blossomed all over Middle Tennessee seemingly overnight.

And suddenly many of the trees that have been bare and stark skeletons for so many months are suddenly filled with flowers.

Welcome to a new season..............

It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade...........Charles Dickens