Those Crazy, Fun Dutch Wannabes

In November, while taking one of my "Drive all over the Tennessee Countryside looking for stuff to photograph" excursions, I had to wait out a rainstorm. I stopped at an antique store in Cowan, TN, where they had reasonably priced old post cards. I found many I liked, including the two below that are slightly oddball. It wasn't until today that they share something in common. An appreciation for Dutch culture.



on the back:

WELCOME to the HEART of DUTCH COUNTRY, in the SCENIC HILLS of HOLMES COUNTY, OHIO. HEINE'S PLACE: Home of the World Famous MINI-WHEEL CHEESES
See the world's largest wheel of cheese known: Net wt. 20,462 lbs. Observe the art of Cheese making in our modern facility. Visit our cheese house, featuring 27 varieties of semi-soft Natural Cheeses (no preservatives).
Located just off U.S. 62; one mile northeast of Berlin, Ohio 500 ft. North at the blinker light on County Road 77.

I had to learn more on the Internet, to see if this was worthy of my visit, the next time I'm in the area. Apparently, this is in an area of Amish agri-tourism. Heine's Cheese Chalet is still in business, and you can buy their cheese, and watch it being made, but apparently, someone accidentally unplugged the power cord to the refrigerator kiosk in the 90's. Since this postcard, they appear to have mostly dropped the dutch theme.

Their website is www.heinis.com/ and it appears that if you visit, you can sample each of their 50 flavors of cheese in their retail outlet. Finally, they offer a 60 foot wide mural showing the history of cheese-making.

Oh, how I wish they were closer to me in Middle Tennessee, but it's vaguely halfway between Columbus, OH and Cleveland.



On the Back:
STEET SCRUBBING - In Holland, Michigan, at "Tulip Time" in mid May, young and old alike dress in their native Dutch costumes to participate in the ritual of scrubbing the streets. Dutch dances, parades, windmills, tulips and traditional Dutch hospitality, creates one of the country's outstanding Springtime events.

I looked them up on the internet, and this festival still takes place. www.tuliptime.com/
According to their schedule of events, unfortunately it doesn't look like street scrubbing still occurs, but you can see Tulipalooza, Wooden Shoo-be-doo, Klompen Dancers, Bobby Vinton and the Oak Ridge Boys.

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Looking Back: 2008 Photography in Review

This year has been one of several photographic accomplishments, Starting with purchasing a new camera, being promoted from Amateur to Semi-pro, having several pictures appear in print, and finally, being able to see so much of Middle Tennessee.

Let's start with the basics. Based on how much I liked it, and how family and friends responded, here are my top 20 photographs of 2008.

1) Nashville Skyline 4F



Taken: January 11
It was my first day to drive around the city with my new toy, my new camera. While I knew it was cloudy and making some things not look as good, I knew the evening sky would be spectacular. I posted 6 of these photos from that day.

2) 2008 Valentines Rose 6



Taken: February 17
Without being able to afford expensive lighting equipment, I have learned to improvise. I've never been happy with my floral pictures, but that didn't stop me from trying again with the Gemini roses I bought for my wife. I put this rose on a table, my camera on a tripod, turned out the lights, and spent an hour taking pictures while shining a flashlight on the rose.

3) Flynn's Lick Baptist Church



Taken: March 1
My wife and I went on several day trips this year. Just outside of Gainesboro, TN, we found this quaint abandoned church building. She was driving and stopped on the highway, giving me time to take one shot.

4) Drake Motel



Taken: March 21
My affinity for neon signs has grown over the years, and it took me a while to get to perhaps the best one in Nashville.

5) Rutledge Falls



Taken: March 22
This waterfall is one of Middle Tennessee's best kept secrets. To get the view I wanted, I had to lay on my belly on a sloping-downhill rock while making sure I didn't drop the camera. Here's a video.

6) Pacific Prowler



Taken: April 12
I live less than a half mile from the end of the runway at the Smyrna Airport. This made me get really pumped about the semi-annual airshow when the Blue Angels were flying over my house. While parked on the ground, there's something about this vintage B-25 that I thought was just photogenic.

7) Julie Clark



Taken: April 12
While at the Airshow, I posted over 80 photos of planes in the air. Spins, rolls, smoke, wingwalkers, formations. So why did my favorite have to be of something that happened on the ground? I guess I just like the patriotic look.

8) Robertson County Courthouse



Taken: May 10
Over the last couple of years, I have turned into a courthouse lover. It's the center of town. It's where people gather (or used to). When an old courthouse has been preserved, it becomes the source of town pride. I've been looking forward to seeing this one ever since my previous visit to Springfield, TN, when it was under renovation and surrounded by scaffolding.

9) Cream City Ice Cream



Taken: May 10
The day we started it Springfield, we ended in Cookeville as my wife wanted to go to an Italian restaurant there. It was worth it, because the sign was all lit up, which hadn't happened before on any of my previous visits. This might just be my favorite neon sign I've seen anywhere. Cream City Ice Cream is no more, but there warehouse near the Cookeville Depot has turned into a touristy shopping district. The sign has been preserved and on special occasions, the sign is turned on. Here's the video.

10) The Hungry Snail



Taken: May 24
My wife and I were visiting Rock Island, when we spotted this fella eating a blade of grass. The macro ability on my camera is good, especially when considering the price range. I think he sees me.

11) Train Bridge



Taken: May 24
The thing I like about trains was back in their heyday, they could accomplish anything. I hear that this line is not used anymore, but I had a neat perspective to look down on a bridge that crosses the Caney Fork River.

12) Hi-Way 50 Drive In



Taken: June 27
I hear that Drive-ins are making a comeback. My wife and I went to our first show at a drive-in this year, although it wasn't this one in Lewisburg. This is a picture I took on the way to a men's retreat that our church was having. Not only is this a great neon sign and a piece of Americana, but it has Hi-way 50 in the name, too. That's another of my hobbies - old highways.

13) Nashville Fireworks on the 4th



Taken: July 4
I knew I had July 4 off of work, but my wife did have to work that day. That made me free to choose how to spend the day. I wasn't sure how I wanted to spend the day until I got my weekly Webshots Pro Tip Bulletin. In that email, they featured a Nashvillian who took 4th of July fireworks and had the downtown skyline as the backdrop. That was all the inspiration I needed and helped me put up with the long wait and nightmarish parking.

14) Montgomery County Courthouse 1



Taken: July 11
My next most eagerly anticipated courthouse was the one in Clarksville, TN. About a year prior, my mom had sent me a newspaper clipping and asked if I had been there. It truly is a source of town pride, as the majestic building surviving several fires and tornadoes.

15) America Remembers: Flags of Honor



Taken: August 2
This sea of flags was at the entrance to the Williamson County Fair. Each flag corresponds to a fallen U.S. soldier.

16) 100 Things to see at the fair #45: Quilting Demonstration



Taken: September 6
Rarely have I taken a portrait that I have been happy with, but I like the way this turned out. Maybe it helps that the quilting lady is one of the nicest people I have ever met.

17) 100 Things to see at the fair #100: Randall's Racing Pigs



Taken: September 12
If you haven't yet guessed, I have a lot of photos from the Tennessee State Fair. I like the pig races. It has a southern charm to it. All the pigs run around the track and you've got one chance to get the action photo you're looking for.

18) 100 Things to see at the fair #8: Ferris Wheel



Taken: September 12
I've done the blurred motion Ferris wheel thing before. This time, and it wasn't even intentional, the focus only was on the middle of the wheel, slightly blurring the front and the back. This was also the first time I actually brought a tripod out to the midway, so I could setup where I wanted to.

19) 100 Things to see at the fair #10: Wave Swinger



Taken: September 13
This is my wife's favorite type of ride. It reminds her of her youth and going to Opryland. If you look closely, she's on here holding her red hat.

20) Beersheeba Springs Autumn



Taken: November 7
I took a lot of photos when I went to the men's retreat, but I also had the opportunity to go out driving when my wife went to the church's women's retreat. The problem was, it was raining that day. I was going to be in the Cumberland mountains no matter what, and the sun finally came out an hour before sundown. After visiting a couple of other important spots, I could go one more place before the sun went down. There is a really old resort hotel (not used as a hotel anymore) in the mountains, and this picture was taken from their scenic overlook. I was able to take more pictures on the next day but all the leaves seemed to fall off the trees overnight.

Other photo highlights.

I used my Christmas and Birthday money to start the year with my new camera.


Photo #1 (and the source of my inspiration:


I finished the year with that camera having taken 22,321 photos. The last photo was of a book that MariLynn's uncle gave us for Christmas.

I sold this photo to appear on the cover of a Gallatin map.


Two of my photos were published, one from 2005 in a book about Pittsburgh and one from 2007 in a book about Chattanooga.


I submitted several photos for the Capture Music City book. While none appear in print, 11 made the DVD.

I've now been on Flickr.com for nearly 3 years, in that time I have uploaded 3,421 images (900+ in '08). Collectively, they have been viewed 449,000 times.

Flickr has a formula to calculate how interesting a photo is. They say my most interesting photo from 2008 is this photo from Rock Island:


Sometimes, my photos will come up when you're looking for something on Google, for that reason, this was my most viewed photo taken this year, two cans of Mountain Dew Revolution.


I started the year with the goal of photographing every middle Tennessee courthouse. Some I had already visited in past years, and I fell short with 5 counties on the west side of Middle TN. I did add 23 to my total this year.

I only added 2 Rock City Barns to my collection, mostly because I have already seen most of the ones nearby.

My newest thing is old train depots. I saw 15 of them.

I continue to be the webmaster of my dad's music group, the Nashville Early Music Ensemble.


My wife and I both take pictures of our church's events. It helps that we're one of the few couples without children yet.


Favorite self portraits.