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Author: Travis

Living Life One Frame at a Time

Stop the Steal

tbatton

I can remember being excited about casting my vote for the presidential election for the very first time. It was 1992 and the candidates were Bill Clinton and H.W. Bush. To be honest, I was not really engaged in politics at the time. I just knew I was supposed to vote. You might ask, if I was not engaged in politics, how did I know who to vote for? Well, I didn’t. I simply voted for the person my parents did. That was all I needed to know. Since that first presidential election, I’ve become more engaged in politics. Over

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Letting the Dust Settle

tbatton

Today was a nice autumn day. After work, I decided to take a detour onto the Natchez Trace Parkway. I needed to unwind a little after watching the returns on this mess of an election. I was going to hit some of my favorite spots when I came across a dust cloud from a combine harvester. I drove about a mile before I decided to turnaround. I figured instead of shooting a familiar scene, I would try to create something different with the combine. The sunset and color in the dust had caught my eye. I shot the combine as

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A Beacon of Hope

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We all are aware of domestic violence. Even if it has not affected us directly, we see the fallout in the news and social media all too often. I will be the first to tell you that I haven’t really thought about it that much. I’m not a violent person and at least to my knowledge, my circle of friends and family have not been subjected to domestic violence neither. But, that’s the thing! Domestic violence is not a conversation topic, especially for those in its midst. Statistics show that the chances of you interacting with a victim of domestic

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Turning Frowns Upside Down

tbatton

I’m sure everyone has heard the phrase that is the title of this post. This is Kissel Entertainment’s tag line. They have been turning frowns upside down on the Midway for generations. It’s hard to step onto the Midway and not crack a smile. Possibly the only time you might see a frown is when you can’t see the end of the line to your favorite ride, but even then, the wait and anticipation is worth it. Given current events, I can’t think of a better way to escape than attending a county fair. It’s almost as if you are

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Graffiti Walk

tbatton

I’ll be the first to tell you that graffiti is a form of vandalism. There is no excuse for painting messages or artwork on property that doesn’t belong to you, unless you have permission. However, I do admire the talent. We all have seen the commissioned murals around the city. Their artistry is amazing! I’m in awe of the talent that it takes to create such artwork. I’m also in awe of the illegal artwork that you find on boxcars and various urban landscapes. I’ve even seen graffiti on barns in rural settings.  I got a text message with a

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Justice for George – Winchester Edition

tbatton

This is my third and final entry into my project covering the George Floyd protests. The Nashville protest was the first in this series. It was the largest and the one that garnered the most attention due to the riots that happened afterwards. Next, I covered the protest in Franklin, Tennessee on the square. I thought it would be interesting to see how the Franklin protest compared to the one in Music City. Well, the Franklin protest turned out to be a perfect model for a legal, peaceful protest. They did it by the book. Rumors of outsiders coming to

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Justice for George – Franklin Edition

tbatton

Many protests have popped up across the nation. I believe there have been demonstrations even overseas. Unfortunately, the message from these demonstrations have been hijacked by rioters and looters, but there appears to be an effort to regain the message in the wake of the rioting and looting. One of these such protests took place on the square in Franklin, Tennessee. Over the last few weeks, I have made time to document the protests and demonstrations following the death of George Floyd. It’s been a lot of work, but I believe it will be well worth the effort capturing these

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Justice for George – Nashville Edition

tbatton

Warning: This blog post contains displays of profanity. It seems like the whole country is on fire right now. Images of burning cars, burning buildings, and rioters wreaking havoc on innocent people, businesses and private property are all over social media and our televisions. Peaceful protests turn into war zones as the sun starts to set. Cities are forced to issue curfews. What’s happening in our country? I’m afraid the answer to that question is complex and would differ depending on who you ask. I would like to believe that most of us would agree that such senseless violence should

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#FreeTN

tbatton

“Give me liberty, or give me death!” Most of us have heard this quotation from Patrick Henry. As a citizen of the US, I find this declaration to be extremely important and relevant. I enjoy the freedoms that are afforded me by our constitution, and I understand the price that was paid and continued to be paid for me to keep these freedoms. While we have to remain vigilante on protecting our liberties from foreign enemies, I believe a closer eye must be kept on our domestic enemies. The list of encroachments from our governments, local and federal, is long.

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RETURN TO THE BRIDGE

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I’ve always had a love hate relationship with the Natchez Trace Bridge. I love the architecture and engineering behind the structure. I love the sunset vistas looking out west from the top of the bridge. It’s a beautiful monument in a beautiful area. However, there’s a dark side. Locally, this bridge is known as the “Suicide Bridge.” To date, I believe there has been about 38 suicides from this bridge. That’s only true if no one has jumped between the time of this post and the date of February 5th, 2020. That’s the date I witnessed a man jumping off

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Muted Music City

tbatton

“You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension—a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You’re moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You’ve just crossed over into the Twilight Zone.” That is exactly what it felt like as I got out of my car in downtown Nashville late Saturday night. It was a surreal moment, an eerie moment. Paraphrasing a line from the Stephen King’s Maximum Overdrive, I never heard so much NOTHING on a Saturday night in downtown Nashville. I did not

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A Quiet Place

tbatton

It’s been a few years since I visited Montgomery Bell State Park. I believe I’ve explored almost every corner of this park, but there’s one little nook I always pay a visit when I’m in the area. This secluded area is home to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and the replica log cabin where the Cumberland Presbyterian Church was founded in 1810. I find this area peaceful. I love walking into the church where the only illumination is the light shining through the stained glass windows. You can almost hear yourself think. I’ve often sat in the pew reflecting on life.

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