Sunday, September 13, 2010 . . .

Got up yesterday AM at a decent time and decided to check out the auction over by Ottokee.  There was only one box that I might have been interested in if it had been a garage sale, so obviously I wasn't there long.  The real estate was going to be auctioned off too.  It was a very nice 6 acre lot with oak and maple trees, a decent sized barn and a brick house with basement. 

 

On the way back I stopped and took a pic of this shed . . . something I been gonna do ever since I saw it several yrs. ago.  The rather large trees growing against the sides is what makes it interesting to me.  It is like they planted the trees because they knew the shed was gonna start leanin to one side or another. . . But it looks like the trees are doing the leanin agains the shed.

At the last minute today, I up and decided to check out the Black Swamp Art Festival in Bowling Green.  I usually read about it after it is over, but this year I read about it on the last day.  Pretty decent street fair.  It is a juried arts & crafts exhibition.  They closed off the main street through downtown and put up tents for the artists.  There was a guy there that uses colored wax instead of paint for his portraits.  There were several glass blowers and stain glass artists.  I like glass.  There were several photographers selling their photos.  And there were a couple wood turners and furniture makers.  The furniture was very unique.  They used several species of exotic wood.  Another concept I had never seen before.  

Several people had their dogs with them.  It was nice to see dogs on a leash that didn't bother the people around them and all but ignored the other dogs.  I see people walking their dogs around here, but not many are as well behaved as these were.  One gal had a young Rhodesian Ridgeback.  Ridgebacks have a strip of fur down their spine that stands up . . . kinda like a mohawk haircut.  This one was still pretty young, but he is going to be a very big dog.  His feet were as big as mine and his head was pretty large too.  His body had some catching up to do.  

 

There were several 'street preachers.'  Haven't been around any of them since I was in grad school at Southern Illinois University.  Just about every Saturday night they would come into Carbondale with a flat bed truck and sound system and start in . . .  You could hear them several block away.

 

Didn't take my camera with me because I figured that the artists would get upset at having their work photographed.  I saw several people with cameras and no one seemed to say anything.  I guess I'm gonna hafta rely on my photographic memory.  

 

I was parked near the Wood Co. courthouse.  Since the sky was so great today, I took a few pics of the tower.  It might be nearly as tall as the courthouse in Bryan, but it isn't near as massive. 

 

One the way back I went through Grand Rapids along the Maumee River.  This is a shot of some of the rapids.  The water is pretty low right now.  The trees on the left are on an island.  The River is very wide in this area.  In the far background, upstream is the Providence dam.  This dam and the Independence dam near Defiance provided a water resovoir for the the canal.  Grand Rapids is on the south side of the river and Providence which doesn't exist anymore was on the north side of the river.  

If you find yourself in Grand Rapids, I highly recommend stopping at Laroe's restaurant.  Order something and go sit on the raised patio on the river.  The view is spectacular.  If we have good fall foilage, I'm gonna be out there with my camera!