Ducks!

I have been trying all this week to get a picture of some geese that fly in to the little pond behind my son and daughter-in-law's house.  They are elusive!  There is a strip of brushy woods between their backyard and the pond that prohibits my view.  Sure, I could have easily walked through this woods to the pond and photographed the birds but I wanted to catch them as they flew over the house.  The one morning that I happened to be outside just at the right time, my camera sat on the patio table and was not in my hand!  Duh..it is really hard to catch that picture without the camera in hand!  I had just set the camera on the table so I could play "fetch" with their dog when all of a sudden the geese came into view.  Not a problem had the patio table been nearby but, alas, they have a multi-level deck and that table happened to be on the second deck.  There was no way possible that I was ever going to run up that far to fetch a camera in time to get the photograph.  So, instead, I simply enjoyed the closeness of the geese!

Some of the incredibly nice folks at the Augusta Market.  This is only a small portion of the booths that were there!

Later that day, Joanna took us to a wonderful Farmers' Market.  This market was more like the size of a "State Fair" than a farmers' market.  Ok..maybe not that large but it was, by far, the largest and nicest market that I have ever seen.  This was the "large" market which is not to be confused with Thursday's "small" market.  This market had booths galore.  You could buy most anything (and everything) imaginable!  There were also entertainers present and lots of demonstrations.  While there, we bought lunch and Joanna suggested that we wander down to the far end of the market to eat our meal by the river.  We wandered down the brick road to the riverwalk.  There we found a number of small picnic tables.  While we ate our lunch, we were entertained by a gentleman that played the guitar and sang.  Between songs, he further entertained with a constant chatter.  The man was hilarious and provided us with a most delightful diversion.   We purchased to of his music albums merely because he said that he would take donations of money, clothes, books, small animals or even dead bugs!  (And no..we did not give him a dead bug...we actually bought the albums!  His entertainment was well worth the ten dollars.)

Ducks..Savannah River Ducks just being happy!

After this bit of fun, Joanna suggested that we walk a bit on the riverwalk.  This is a brick path that is landscaped gorgeously!   At one point, Mark pointed out a number of ducks swimming in the middle of the river.  I had left the zoom lens to the camera at home...another duh moment!   Well, ducks can be found in other places.  Then I saw them!  Right beneath us!  I looked over the railing at the rocks below and there were ducks!  Lovely, lovely ducks!  Savannah River ducks!!  I started taking pictures of the ducks.  Mark and Joanna were in deep conversation about some important subject like the bricks in the walk or which booth had the best okra and did not realize that I was lagging.  I did not want to leave my ducks!  Finally, I turned and had to hurry to catch up with them!

Riverwalk in Augusta during the Market.

We continued to meander around the market for a bit longer as we bought peaches, peas, okra and onions.  We also purchased some of the tastiest cupcakes ever created! These would all become our meal later in the evening but for now, it was just a matter of having a bit of afternoon fun.  I could have stayed at this market for hours and never seen half of what was there.  I, also, could have stayed at the riverwalk forever!  I am thinking that Georgia has the right idea when it comes to maintaining the beauty of a place.  Riverwalk of Augusta just proves that sometimes man and nature can coexist.  Yes, there were brick walks, benches. fountains and lights but there was also plenty of space for flora and fauna.  It seemed as if the man-made and natural mingled nicely.  AND!  They had ducks!!!! (I still have one morning left to attempt that photograph of the geese flying overhead!  Wish me luck!