Sights from an Ending Year

Still Moving, Market Street, Knoxville, December 2010

I usually have a few random images that haven't found a home. I keep running into this truck around town. It is marvelous that is still able to move about town at all and, as such, is a great inspiration to those of us of a certain age who hope we can keep doing the same. My first vehicle to ever own was a 1949 Ford Pickup truck with a busted head gasket. I owned it for only a week or two, but I still have a soft spot in my heart for old rust heaps. I do miss that leopard-skin print ceiling someone had custom-designed for the old girl.

Skating on the Square, Market Square, Knoxville, December 2010

Skating on the Square, Market Square, Knoxville, December 2010

Skating has been a theme for Christmas in the City, as it has for the past several years. It's great to see so many people having so much fun. As I mentioned in a previous post, however, there are those who are raising questions about its continuation. Merchants seem to have mixed feelings about it. There certainly is no way to suggest it adds to the aesthetic quality of the Square. It is without question pretty much an eyesore unless you are standing close to the rink and watching the skaters. Still, there are some days it is packed, so that's worth something.

Holiday Market, Market Street, Knoxville, December 2010

Finally, the Holiday Market pictured here has been on my radar for the first time even though we lived downtown last year when it happened. This was our first year to buy extensively from the Farmer's Market and we absolutely loved that experience - both the good food and the familiar friendly faces each week. So, as it ended before Thanksgiving to be replaced by the Holiday Market, we had some hope of stretching out the great experience. It just wasn't the same. As pictured here, the crowds were often sparse. The weather didn't cooperate given the colder temperatures and unusually rainy month. I hope the vendors did well, but it just didn't have the spirit to which we had become accustomed. It also meant more necessary, but not so attractive vendor tents.

I feel like I'm griping a bit here and I don't really mean to, but one other thing stands out in my mind that diminishes the aesthetic quality of any large event on Krutch Park or Market Square: Porta-Potties. How about some real bathrooms downtown for the general public to use? I understand that businesses don't want a steady flow (bad pun) of visitors to their facilities, but what are the folks to do? It seems like an obvious need that should be addressed by the city. Maybe the new mayor would like to forever be memorialized by permanent public facilities in Krutch Park. Probably not.