Dinosaur mural in Tullahoma

September 2021 Highlights: The Highs + Lows

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Yikes. If I thought August couldn’t get any worse, I had no idea what September had in store for our family. It was the worst of times … it was the worst of times.

Charlotte at Nashville Zoo

Many of my work trips this past month were canceled on account of all the health crap going on back home, which ironically has zero to do with COVID-19, so I was only away from home six nights total, when originally I was set to be on the road for half the month. But there were murals and other fun projects that helped us maintain our sanity. Here’s what September looked like:

The Highs

We finished a pair of murals. The first was a project with Paris Woodhull and UT Admissions that had been in the works since last fall. I’m glad we were able to swing by and see the completed product while in Knoxville last week, as this “Vol means all” piece Paris created on the State Street Garage is a beauty.

UT mural in downtown Knoxville

The other was in Tullahoma on city property that is currently inhabited by the Book Shelf secondhand book store. We painted the entire building, then local artist Jenalee Ipock came in and made it even prettier with a pair of dinosaurs on the alley. Thank you to the City of Tullahoma for sponsoring this project! We’re so in love with how it turned out, and it’s already this little dino-loving girl’s favorite.

 

Dinosaur mural in Tullahoma
Dinosaur mural in Tullahoma

Dinosaur mural in Tullahoma

This is what the building looked like before.

Book Shelf in Tullahoma, Tennessee

We also wrote a grant on behalf of the literacy council to paint the wall next to them, and we got it! So that’s a project that we’ll be overseeing toward the end of the year.

Book Shelf in Tullahoma, Tennessee

I spoke at STS Connections. I made a whirlwind trip to South Carolina and back in 48 hours this week where I spoke on a panel with my friends Sara Beth and Shannon on harnessing the power of non-traditional media. This was a new conference for me and a really great one, as I got to reconnect with so many destination marketing professionals from across the South. It was also my first in-person conference since March 2020, so it felt good to see people again at a fully-masked event with daily health screenings.

STS Connections conference

Plus, I really loved Spartanburg! How did I not know this city was so full of art, creativity and life?

Spartanburg, South Carolina

North Alabama has a brand-new mural trail, and we’re helping to market it. This trail spans 16 counties, and we’ve only covered about a third of them so far, but I look forward to driving the rest of it this month!

North Alabama Mural Trail

We started working for a home-renovation bigwig. I’ve often talked about diversifying as a writer, and that’s what got us through this past year without taking too much of a financial hit. This new gig pays very well, gives us as much work as we want each week and lets us leverage our knowledge in the home renovation sphere. 

My cousins came for Labor Day weekend. We booked a party boat and spent all day long floating Tims Ford Lake. This has become an annual tradition, and I love our Labor Days together so much!

Tims Ford Lake, Tennessee

Tims Ford Lake, Tennessee
Tims Ford Lake, Tennessee
Tims Ford Lake, Tennessee

Two weeks later, we met them at Norris Lake. Rebecca and John both just turned 40, and originally we were going to redo the Bourbon Trail, but times are weird, so we changed course a week before and went to the lake in far East Tennessee instead for a weekend of cards and cocktails.

Norris Lake, Tennessee

Mom and I took the kiddos to the Nashville Zoo. While it’s no Memphis Zoo, we still had a great time naming all the animals, going on the carousel, petting kangaroos and hanging out with our bestie Katy.

Nashville Zoo
Nashville Zoo
Nashville Zoo

Nashville Zoo

Nashville Zoo
Nashville Zoo
Nashville Zoo

Nashville Zoo

The Lows

Family health woes. As I write this, Dad is in the hospital and we’re going to another facility for SVV this afternoon—our fifth in three weeks—to figure out why a bacteria infection (c diff) is rendering him completely unable to function.

Dad fell on Sunday morning and broke his arm. Mom and I went with him to the ER, then he fell again that night and again the next day. Finally, on Tuesday they admitted him for tests and are now transferring him to a long-term care facility until he gets better (i.e. can stand up without blacking out). We have no answers right now, other than what he’s experiencing is likely long-term effects from his stroke back in 2016.

Dad

That all followed the crazy illnesses that haunted my sister and her clan, starting with RSV then moving to an awful stomach virus, then followed by yet another virus—at one point we were all quarantined from each other for weeks on end. It seems we can’t catch a break. At least Mom and I have not gotten sick at all this year … knock on wood.

My great Uncle Jimmy also passed away. He was 94 and the last living sibling of either of my grandparents. Mom and I made the trip to Knoxville and back last Saturday to honor his memory and be with his children, our cousins. It was great to hear more about his life, his time in the service and the years he spent overseas in the war; he was always so quiet, I never got those stories in person. 

Uncle Jimmy Watts' funeral

RIP Uncle Jimmy. Tell Dede and the rest of the clan we miss them!

Uncle Jimmy Watts

Our town flooded again. We were away at the lake that weekend, but the scenes back home were grim. This photos was taken by our neighbor who lives behind us, and I fear that as climate change continues to worsen, this is going to become our reality. (Nothing was harmed at our house, though we’re still finding things the August lightning bolt fried!)

Tullahoma flooding 2021

I really hope October goes better for us, and we’re kicking off a new mural project in Viola tomorrow on this very wall, followed by murals in Columbia and Manchester (yes, back to where it all began!).

Viola mural wall

Please send me some good news, funny memes or just general distractions from your month!

You can find all past month highlights via this archive.

COMMENTS
  • October 14, 2021
    LN

    Kristin, I’m just reading this post, a couple of weeks late. I’m so sorry about the difficulties your family has faced/is facing. We lost our young son last October unexpectedly (not Covid) and then almost lost my dad in August this year (again, not Covid). I know the pain and sorrow that these unexpected losses and illnesses can cause and all I can say is that I’m sorry and that I will be praying for your dad, your husband, and for the rest of your family. I hope that everyone is doing better.

    • October 21, 2021

      Thank you so much! It’s been rough with both Scott and dad still being treated, but we’re managing thanks to having so much family nearby. Appreciate the prayers and virtual hugs.

      And it’s so devastating to hear about your son and your dad. Sending so many healing thoughts your way ❤️

  • October 17, 2021

    Hello, It’s a bit of a long story, so I will shorten it to “we were not able to go to Spain for 2 years as planned because of covid so we went on a road trip across the USA instead.” We started in Greenville NC, proceeded to Nashville TN, AL, LA, MS, MO, KS, CO, ID, UT, OR, WA and now Chicago IL. My Question: Nashville was just chock-full of wonderful murals, creatively used to make ubiquitous concrete buildings fun and interesting, I did not think I would see that again, however an abundance of murals showed up in the oddest places: Boise Idaho, Fort Collins Co, Vernal UT, Denver a little, Portland and Seattle, and all over the south loop in Chicago. I have been wondering about the history of murals. Why do I see so many in the west, but almost none on the east coast? Why do I see them in one city, but not another? In some cities where they should be using murals ALL OVER because they have no interesting architecture, – not a one in sight. I’m curious to trace the mural arc over the last 10 or 20 years. In addition I’ve been fascinated, as we have driven across the USA, how some towns were profoundly effected by the parks systems advocated by Olmstead, etc, and other cities are just barren concrete wastelands. I find it interesting to question how certain ideas are spread, or not spread. Since you are so heavily involved with murals I was wondering if you have some insights you could share with me on the history of murals in the west, who might have started the impetus and if there are any books or websites you might know of? I would appreciate it! Thanks.

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