Sunday, October 26, 2008
BEWARE: The Ides of October!
4:03 PM | 
Posted by
Gabby Faye |
Ides of October? Why beware? No...Julius Caesar was killed on the Ides of MARCH. No...Columbus Day is the TWELFTH of October.
Well, if you had lived your life on the Western shore of Lake Erie, and boated for most of it you would KNOW! One day shortly after the 15th, the wind is going to start blowing out of the West...REALLY blowing, and keep blowing for days. So what? Did you say "So What"? When the wind blows the water out any boat still tied to the dock will be dangling and stuck in the mud...so stuck that when the water comes back the boat will not be able to float and will swamp...probably not usable again. In the summer every dock would be filled with boats. There are several marinas in town, one boat club, and hundreds of homes with private docks. The number of boats is greater than the total population of the town. Many people in inland towns keep their boats here and make this a bustling place in the summer.
(More later as I process a few more photos from today)
Well, if you had lived your life on the Western shore of Lake Erie, and boated for most of it you would KNOW! One day shortly after the 15th, the wind is going to start blowing out of the West...REALLY blowing, and keep blowing for days. So what? Did you say "So What"? When the wind blows the water out any boat still tied to the dock will be dangling and stuck in the mud...so stuck that when the water comes back the boat will not be able to float and will swamp...probably not usable again. In the summer every dock would be filled with boats. There are several marinas in town, one boat club, and hundreds of homes with private docks. The number of boats is greater than the total population of the town. Many people in inland towns keep their boats here and make this a bustling place in the summer.
So, anyone who has lived here very long knows that all boats have to be out of the water by October 15...it is ALMOST a law! But every year there are some who get too busy, don't know, or don't care. This is what happens:
It was a good day to go for a drive here and there to see what the low water uncovered. As we turned down one little dirt road neither of us had been on before, along a canal, we noticed something I had only heard about...the old corduroy log road...REALLY old! We are talking early settlers in wagons. A few years ago (more than 10) we heard about the discovery of this road by a couple of kids exploring. Soon officials from the state declared it was real, old, and might yield some old treasures if explored, maybe with a metal detector. Only problem is the road being underwater all but a few days a year. I just feel privileged to have photographed it today.
From some old entries in a county history in Indiana, I know my ancestors built and traveled on just such a road from Ohio into Indiana. One diary entry mentioned that the men ran into a newly completed log road and realized they had gone in a circle. I guess they didn't have a GPS.
As we headed down one road we noticed a farm, as a friend said, "In It's Autumn Years"A much nicer title than abandoned. Actually there did seem to be someone working on a car in the yard, but none of the buildings were usable. This tractor overgrown by shrubs had a "look". It was a photo waiting to happen.
The out buildings whispered of years when this was a well-cared for farm, but now seems to be just farmed by an absentee owner. I stood for a moment with my eyes closed and tried to imagine the busy, pretty farm it HAD been.
(More later as I process a few more photos from today)
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