Phew!

Just before leaving for work, I got a text message from one of my coworkers.  Getting messages from him is unusual so I went ahead and opened it and he was asking me if I was at home and if I lived in a certain area.  I figured something was up immediately.  Who opens a conversation with something other than, "sup?"  I figured that there was an apartment fire at my complex but the details were sketchy. I started shutting down my work station and I got another text message from my friend Season, then a call from my sister, then another text from my friend Erin.

I was able to make it home and I found out that it was a building across the street from me that caught on fire.  I joined the crowd for a bit.  You can't see the building here because of its position and the smoke... and my camera sucks but if you were there, you had a pretty good view of what was going on.

From what I've gathered, someone was cooking dinner and a grease fire started and spread.  The entire building went up affecting some 35 residents.  Firefighters from here and the surrounding communities all showed up, shutting down the main road going by.

I'm not sure how my complex is going to react yet.  I'm not expecting my rent to stay the same when my lease is up for renewal though.

We Saw More Than Rides

I met up with my sister at the Berrien County Youth Fair.  She brought along her friend, Mike.  They both work together and they were--or perhaps still are--going on a tour of county fairs.  We walked around for a short while looking at arts and crafts and we also went on the midway.

I loved this "ride" when I was a kid.  It only helps facilitate what kids to best--run around and climb on things. It's a simple course but when you are five or six, it's awesome.  ...Well, I don't know if that holds true for today's youth.

I've never seen this one before.  I wonder if they paid a Kraft a fee for this?

I'm betting CBS and/or Paramount weren't paid a fee for this one.

Kris and Mike had to leave to make it back to Ann Arbor but I was meeting up with Stacey and her son, Logan.  We went to the animal barns and Logan was allowed into one of the sheep pens.  For a something-month old, new to walking, he wanted to go up to these animal all on his own and touch them.  It was cute--at least until the point where his fingers get bitten off by a pissed off pig or something.  Fortunately, that didn't happen.

Finally--The Dig.

See also: “The Redcoats are Back!” & “Seeing People Fight Spaniards, Cancer, and Comic Book Villains All in One Day.”

While I’ve been to the Fort St. Joseph open house before, I have never been to the actual site. They would have plenty of stuff to do in the public park area but the actual site was further up the river a bit. The last time I was there, they wanted a donation. It was a suggested donation but I didn’t have any money and I didn’t want to embarrass myself and go in without offering anything. This year, I came prepared.

Here is the entrance to the site which is only a few hundred feed up from the dam.  The fort used to be lost to history until a few years ago when the site was found at the old dump near the paper mill.  There are no recognizable structures and what is left, you'd probably need an expert eye.

Students from Western Michigan University were stationed around to give visitors information as to what they were looking at.  Again, notice just how close this structure is to the river.  The toxicity of the dump and the presence of the river are two big constraints on the scope of this site.

It was all very fascinating and I wish I had devoted more time and taken advantage of what was offered.  I'd go again.  Unfortunately, if I heard right, the professor in charge of this project is going on sabbatical and the open house wont happen next year.  Again--if I heard right.  I'm not certain of that.

Missed the Elephant Ear Again!

I met up with my friend Stacey and her son, Logan, to attend the Riverfest in Niles.  I haven't had one in years and Stacey has wanted one since Independence Day when she missed her opportunity.  She ended up getting something called a walking taco.  I got a Philly steak sandwich.  *Shrugs shoulders* Next opportunity: the BCYF.


The three of us went down to the banks of the St. Joseph and two dragon boats race while we ate lunch. I was glad to see Logan was interested in the boats. You can even hear him say bye as the racers went by.

Upriver we saw the rafts that were going to be participating in the Anything that Floats race.  A couple years ago, I saw one that looked like the Mystery Machine from the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You cartoon. This year, I see one team has got the Flintstone's car.