Odds 'n Ends, and a Pretty Good Dose of Yuck!

Today's entry has no real rhyme or reason. Instead, it's simply composed of images that have been accumulating in my files over the past couple or so weeks.  Here we go ...

Several times over the past few weeks I've seen a group of folks SWIMMING (Yes, you read right.) from the curved steps behind the CSU Theatre Department to the old City Wharf behind the Ironworks Trade and Convention Center.  Dumb, if you ask me -- especially since folks drown in the River on a right regular basis (three so far this summer, I read in the Ledger-Enquirer), and these swimmers don't have with them a single lifejacket or float or ANYTHING to grab onto if any of them should need it. These photos are from the first day I saw them -- two men and five women.

 

 

When they finally arrived at the City Wharf, having swum down underneath the Dillingham Street Bridge, they were  "worn out."  One of the women actually was so zoned out (or something) that she swam way past the Wharf and one of the others had to jump in and go get her.  

On two subsequent occasions I've seen the men, but sans the womenfolk, who must have wised up.  Now, these folks look fit, and they look as if they know what they're doing. They have nice swimwear, including swim caps, and I assume that they're engaging in some sort of fitness program or something -- I mean, I don't think they're doing what some folks do and just get drunk and dive in -- but no matter what their inspiration, swimming there in that stretch of the River is dangerous.  And you know what? It's illegal, too.  I looked up the rules of the Riverwalk -- of which there are very few, I'm happy to report -- but one of them is "No Swimming."

Here's a more sensible way to have fun on the Riverwalk:

 

How'd you like the way I snuck in those grandchild photos? Slick, huh?

Here's an oft-photographed spot on the Riverwalk ...

 

I do believe the heron population has increased this year. There are lots of them.

This is the second time I've photographed a heron only to learn when I look closely at the photograph that the poor bird is entangled in fishing line.  Makes me wonder how many of the creatures find themselves in this condition.

Yesterday morning the train came by just as Fred and I walked underneath the Railroad Bridge ...

Here's a sight you don't see very often -- folks up on that rickety platform inside the Powerhouse ..

 

But here's a site I see all the time -- Now, are you ready for the YUCK part of this blog?  Are you really ready?  If not, do NOT scroll down ...

Folks be usin' the tops of the posts for cuttin' bait.

 You know I'm not going to leave you with something so ugly. Here's a sight so interesting to me that I took about ten different photos of it ...

You're wondering what it is?  See that plant sticking up sorta tall in the middle of the photograph?  Well, it has a big white bloom right at the top of the stem.  It's a MARSHMALLOW plant.  I love the idea of a marshmallow growing on a rock in the middle of the Chattahoochee River. That just makes me happy on this, the 28th of July, 2011. Sayonara, friends, till next time.