Retirement, techie style: Sculptures in the woods -- and a surprise

Our lovely fall weather has ended, with rain here in Duisburg starting today and going all next week. Too bad. Helps me remember why I like California, though.

Having seen the weather forecast, I made an effort to get out in the woods yesterday (which is why you didn't see a blog post from me). I had found a map of the various statues in the Duisburger Wald. I came across two of them on earlier trips (both versions of a female figure in a red dress), and had learned there were more. Someone told me that they were by Regina Bartholme, a local artist, who calls these "sculptured plants" (they are made of wood and attached to trees) and pointed me to a page of pictures and a map. I had also been warned that a few of them had disappeared, which was sadly true.

The first one I looked for was called the "White cocoons". Three white (rather faded) lumpy figures attached to adjacent trees:

White Cocoons

The next was one I had seen before, the large (maybe 12 feet tall) sculpture of a woman in red. I could find the stump it had been on, but not the statue -- not sure if it was stolen or is being restored in some way. Next was one called "Blooming Beech" (those are wooden blossoms on the tree):

Blooming Beech

Next was the smaller woman in red (which I had seen before). This is about 3 feet tall. It's called something like "Looking down there":

Looking down there

The last sculpture, Blue Angel, was also apparently gone, though since I couldn't find the stump it had been set on, there is a chance that I missed it.

It was a fun romp through the woods, sort of a bit like orienteering (since most of these paths, while having names, are not signed).

Now for some gratuitous pictures of fall colors, for you Californians who don't have this sort of thing (much):

And then my final find of the trip -- wild pigs. According to a woman I talked with at the site, about 2 years ago half a dozen wild pigs were found roaming in town. They were rounded up (by some teenagers, if I understood right) and this pen was created for them. They live on the acorns they find on the ground, and as you will see, they are multiplying. Grown wild pigs are somewhat ugly, but the babies are adorable. This woman said that they were not supposed to be fed human food, but if you must, only noodles (I swear -- I asked "you mean pasta?" and she said yes. )