10 Lucky Stones and a 4-Leaf Clover

I took the dog to the beach the other weekend for a little swim. Of course I always keep an eye out for lucky stones. Lucky stones are actually the ivory colored ear bone found in Sheephead fish. After a the fish dies and the body decays these white "stones" wash ashore. The unique thing about them is that every single one of them has an impression of the letter L. Lucky stones have been found at ancient archaeological sites, where they are thought to have been used as good luck charms to ward off illness. I first learned about these a few years ago and I began my search. I think it took about 7-months before I found my first one. Some days I might find one or two and then I might go a period of time before I find another. I was fortunate enough to find ten of them in an hour and a half this past weekend. A personal record! Add on top of that the four-leaf clover I found over the weekend as well. Now maybe I can channel some of this luck to use towards my favor.

Silly Puppies and Crazy Cats

I make a weekly visit to the Humane Society in Ottawa County to get photos of the various pets that are available for adoption. While some are easy to get photos of other can take a bit of work. Every once in a while a photo just does not come out right at all which can make for an interesting photo. Here is a look at just a couple from the past two weeks.

Jungle Gym

I headed to Fremont bright and early on Friday morning. My plan was to get a jump on next weeks assignments by shooting Camp Endurance at the Fremont Rec Center. It was a running camp that I thought would have worked great for a youth sports page. I guess they decided that they would let the kids spend the last day of camp swimming. I wasn't about to leave without shooting something. Thats when I found kids playing in the park at a nearby elementary school. I took this picture of three of the kids playing on the jungle gym. So here it is Monday and I'm stil looking for a youth sports page for Thursday.

Wacky Pants II

Another day of golf, another pair of wacky pants

Mayflies

The Mayflies have returned! You can't walk down the street or take your dog out in the yard without getting swarmed. They say these things live in the water for a year and then when they hatch they live anywhere from a few minutes to a few days. They can be really annoying but supposedly they are a big part of the food chain for the walleye and other fish here in Lake Erie. There's 630 different species of mayflies in North America and over 2500 worldwide. I think I'll try to get out and get some other photos of the mass gatherings and I'll post a link.

In Training

A young ref was in training learning the ropes prior to the start of the S.B.C. vs S.L.L. All-Star football game in Genoa on Monday, June 14, 2010.

NASCAR

NASCAR driver Tony Stewart made an appearance in Fremont Thursday night and took a turn at racing on the clay oval at the Sandusky County Fairgrounds. Stewart wasn't willing to talk with anyone and also showed up late. Marcos Amborse seemed like an all-around good guy. He came out and signed autographs and took pictures with the fans. I had issues with the pit crew intentionally trying to stand in front of me to block my shots as you can see in the last photo. Dispite the issues I was able to walk away with some good stuff.

34-SECONDS

With the Chicago Blackhawks being crowned the winners of the Stanley Cup last night I couldn't help but be reminded of a small fraction of time... 34-seconds. In 2008 I was at game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals in Detroit and thought I was going to see the home team win the cup but with 34-seconds left on the clock Pittsburgh scored to force over time and finally got the victory 3 overtime periods later. Detroit won two nights later and brought the cup home to Detroit. I got to cover the victory parade for the News Herald and News-Messenger and it was a day I won't soon forget.

TORNADO CLEAN-UP

I don't think anything could have prepared me for what I saw Tuesday morning. I made my way out to Clay Center just north of Genoa, Ohio to get photos of residents cleaning up following a string of storms that brought tornadoes along with it. I heard people refer to it as "unreal", and "like being in a war zone". I think the most amazing story was from the man who tried to get his 100+ pound 13-year-old dog down in to the basement. He could only get the dog to the landing about 5 steps down and had no choice but to leave the dog and seek shelter for himself. He emerged from his basement to find his house completely destroyed but his dog was still sitting, untouched, where he had left it on the landing leading to the basement. It'll be a long time before I forget what I saw Tuesday.

WACKY PANTS

Some of the wackiest pants I've seen in a while (on or off the golf course)