9-11 Memorial

The Three Rivers Fire Department created this vignette Friday in the parking lot as a memorial to the firefighters lost in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks in 2001.

Sunset

Wispy clouds glow in the setting sun; two deer watch from the hilltop. Taken Thursday evening in Meyer-Broadway Park, Three Rivers.

(More skies to watch at Skywatch Friday)

Bioswale

I just found the Three Rivers educational bioswale, which also serves to filter water running from the park's lawns and the Petting Zoo. I first spotted the beautiful wildflowers, then saw the sign. I'll have to go back to try for the flower photos again, the ones I took weren't very good. Here's what the sign says:

A bioswale is a low-gradient basin system, which contains a dense cover of vegetation and is used to maintain and clean runoff. The gentle grade of the land slows the water flow, while the soil and vegetation filter storm runoff, removing 30% to 80% of pollutants such as petroleum products, excess nutrients, metals and sediments that may be found in stormwater.

It is an environmentally sensitive approach to pollution control that adds natural beauty to the community and provides a haven for many mammals and birds.

The bioswale in Scidmore Park is designed to minimize sediment and street runoff as well as animal pollution. The water collects at one end of the bioswale and is filtered by native plants and soil, which reduce the amount of pollutants entering the Rocky River. Native Plants have large root systems which make them great filtering agents.

Studies have shown that 70% of water entering streams, rivers, and lakes have been carried there from storm water runoff. Bioswales can be built at a residential level and can have a large impact on water quality in a community.

Doorway

A tobacconist in Three Rivers has quite emphatically marked who he wants as customers on his door. Kids, it's not you!

(090909 for those who enjoy symmetry)

Sunflowers

Local gardens are full of sunflowers! The top flower here has dropped a frosting of pollen onto the leaf below.
Sunflowers have been domesticated for more than four thousand years (first in Mexico), and have been used to symbolize the sun in many cultures.

Monochrome

Shadows and reflections on the beautiful mansion built by EJ Buys in the 1890s. A downtown storefront still has a stained glass window that features his name. I did get to tour the house, which is now a bed-and-breakfast (Voyagers Inn). Besides the beautiful windows and woodwork, its interesting to see how people lived then, with the public and private spaces, and the servants' section of the house.

Harmony Fest

Setting up in the early afternoon for the Three Rivers Harmony Fest, the big musical event for the Labor Day weekend. Events include everything from a guitar contest for teenagers, to big name blues performers from Chicago.

Here the bandshell has been set up, tables laid out, and the sweet smelling smoke from a long line of barbeque stands begins to fill the air.