Foxy

We had a visitor to campus yesterday. He/she was seen on the track at the stadium, behind one of the dorms, and I found it behind the rec center sunning on a pile of lava rocks.  It has also been seen in the neighborhood around campus recently and seems to be accustomed to people and noise as most urban critters are.

Arbor Day

The Tree Campus USA Committee planted a redbud tree at the southwest corner of the Rike Center at Otterbein University in observance of Arbor Day.

5K for K9 Cancer

Great time photographing the 5K for K9 Cancer at Otterbein. The pups had fun too. @800 run/walk; @400 dogs and 1 pig.

Early Snow Storm

This morning I took my camera to work because it was just beautiful outside. I got some really nice photos of the students and around campus. Several people told me or Andrew that my photo (below) was featured on the channel 6 news Monday night but we didn't get to see it and I'm not sure who sent it to them.

Otterbein Homecoming

I spent the Homecoming day as usual covering parade photography for the university and a couple other events; but I did manage to have quite a bit of fun in the process. Our department held a 40th Anniversary Reunion as our building was built in 1974. This was the best Homecoming ever!

 Pre-Parade, our department

Nolan in the parade with my friend Sherry

Nolan had a super bad day (not) with the Otterbein cheerleaders.

Andrew and I managed to have a photo taken together.

It was a full house for the reunion

Spirit Wear

I made three dozen doggie scarfs in assorted sizes for our alumni dogs to wear at Homecoming.  Nolan was my model. Here he is all ready and showing his spirit.

5K for K9 Cancer

Our Sport Management students held a 5K for K9 Cancer to benefit our local veterinary emergency medical hospitals charitable foundation that funds canine cancer research.  The event was an overwhelming success and participants and vendors were already talking about "next year".  I served as the event photographer for the university. Nolan did not come with me as he is recovering from his boy surgery but I bought him a present that he was quite delighted with and commissioned his portrait by a very talent doodle artist (pictured below).  The final numbers are not in yet but I would guess there were around 400 participants, another hundred or so other visitors, a dozen vendors, and some media personalities from WCMH 4 Columbus who served as MC's.  Since this was the first time for the event and it poured down rain from 7:30 am to 10:15 am prior to the 10:30 am start the turnout was fabulous.  People love their dogs! And they love running... An estimate of $16,000 was raised, but again the final tally could go higher as donations are still being taken.  It is likely that our own Little Daisy died from complications due to cancer. I'm just glad she didn't suffer long and that we were blissfully unaware until almost the end.  We would not have wanted to have to decide on whether or not to treat her for cancer. Thankfully we were spared making that agonizing decision. By the time we discovered hers it was to late to treat. That might seem selfish to say but at least she got to live her life until the very end and enjoyed a vacation with us to Michigan the month prior at which time she was able to enjoy a dogs perfect day.

Did you know...
Dogs get cancer at the same rate as people. Dogs are living longer so we are seeing more prevalence of cancer. Twenty years ago, most dogs died of trauma from being struck by a car. Our dogs are more home bound now, with leash laws and more urban living, we are more likely keep our dogs indoors. Cancer is the major cause of death in pets greater than 10 years old. 45% of all dogs older than 10 years of age die of cancer.

Did you know...Some of the most common cancers diagnosed in dogs include lymphoma (or lymphosarcoma), hemangiosarcoma, osteosarcoma (a tumor of bone), mast cell tumors, melaonoma, squamous cell carcinoma, mammary carcinoma, anal sac carcinoma, transitional cell carcinoma and soft tissue sarcomas.

The first ones out

And the tail end

 A present for me

 Nolan's portrait artist

A present for Nolan

Snow-rollers

The formations you see are called snow rollers. They are created when the temperature rises enough to make the snow packable and then strong winds blow the snow into rolls. The largest ones are about 12-24 inches in diameter. Not sure if we have had these in Ohio in my life time but on Sunday evening they formed all over parts of Ohio in open areas.  These photos were taken by me at Otterbein University and by Andrew at the high school near our house.

Click here for more about the Snow roller invasion

How Full Is Your Bucket?

"Each of us has an invisible bucket. It is constantly being emptied or filled, depending on what others say or do to us. When our bucket is full, we feel great. When it's empty we feel awful. Each of us also has an invisible dipper. When we use that dipper to fill other people's buckets-by saying or doing things to increase positive emotions-we also fill our own bucket. But when we use that dipper to dip from other's buckets-by saying or doing things that decrease their positive emotions-we diminish ourselves. Like the cup that runneth over, a full bucket gives us positive outlook and renewed energy. Every drop in that bucket makes us stronger and more optimistic. But an empty bucket poisons our outlook, saps our energy, and undermines our will. That's why every time someone dips from our bucket, it hurts us. So we face a choice every moment of every day: We can fill one another's buckets, or we can dip from them. It's an important choice-one that profoundly influences our relationships, productivity, health, and happiness. " Rath and Clifton-How Full is Your Bucket?

Last night we had our 8th annual student recognition night. The first year of this event (2003) we recognized 23 students; this year 137-for contributions to the college, community and their profession. I believe this demonstrates the great bond and camaradarie that we share within our department in that we are so able to motivate students to strive to be their best and prepare them as young professionals and it is certainly one of the many benefits of attending this college.

It was also Faculty/Staff Appreciation Night. I was both surprised and honored to announced as having been chosen by one of the men's basketball players for this recognition. It's always nice to know that you have made a difference to someone!

Chalk up both of these events as bucket fillers! Ways that people show that they care about each other that mean more than words. Add to that our teams victory over "Crapital" and you have the perfect night.

Students, faculty and staff pose for a group photo

Healthy eats for the parent reception

My goodies for being recognized

Onward to victory!

Yes-he's one of ours too. He's got the word "Crapital" (Capital U -our arch rival) on his butt. "

Otterbein Cemetery

On my way home from work last night the sunset was stunning. (A just reward for being holed up inside all day if you ask me). As I was going down Walnut Street I noticed it over Otterbein cemetery and decided to drive through to get a couple photos. Since my camera is out of commission (i.e done for) I had to use my iPhone. The photos are adequate. This is such as pretty place even if it is a cemetery. In every season is is very peaceful and quite a nice resting place for those who are there. "The most famous person buried at Otterbein Cemetery is Benjamin Hanby. His grave is easy to find since there is an Ohio Historical Marker in front of it. Hanby was an 1858 graduate of Otterbein college, and he was also the minister at the United Brethern Church in Westerville. But most know him for his accomplishments as a songwriter. Some of his songs include "Darling Nellie Gray and probably the most well known, "Up on the Housetop" - a popular Christmas tune.

Cardy in the Kitchen

I was asked to photograph Cardy for the cover of an Otterbein cookbook. My two co-workers, Kathy (keeper of Cardy) and Julie (campus center liaison and Cardy for the day) agreed to help me out with this task and we all ended up having fun in the process!

Go Cards!

It was a victory for the Otterbein Cardinals today as they defeated our arch rival Capital University in a nail biter that wasn't decided until the last second. Luckily the rain held off until around 3 pm. I served as event photographer for the Homecoming festivities again this year and then Andrew and I had a delicious lunch in the alumni tent, visited with friends and attended the game. My feet are killing me as I covered a lot of ground during the parade, tailgate and game and shot about 600 photos.Cardy waves to me from the parade route.

The crowd goes wild..

OC remains undefeated for the season!!

OAHPERD Convention

I served as the event photographer for the Ohio Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance's annual convention today. My feet are killing me from all the running around I did trying to make sure all aspects of the gathering were given adequate photo coverage. I shot 500 photos. There were over 1000 in attendance and it was, as usual, well organized and worthwhile. Some of our students volunteered to help out at the convention, in order to attend for a reduced rate, and they also participated in "Super Games". Teams from various colleges compete against each other in different sport related activities. I'm pictured above with one of my colleagues and the students who represented Otterbein.

Otterbein Homecoming

What a beautiful day! Otterbein had Homecoming today and I was drafted into service as an event photographer by the Office of Alumni Relations. Since my first assignment of the day was the Fun Run for St. Jude's at 8 am at the campus center; Andrew decided to go with me and participate in the fun run. He placed 4th -I think there were around 40 participants. Not bad for someone who hasn't run 3 miles competitively since high school. Anyway around 9:30 Andrew went home to work on the lawn mower and I hoofed it down Main Street to my next assignment-the gathering of parade participants. Luckily I was able to get a ride back uptown to catch the parade in time from my friend and co-worker Amy (the painter), whose son Adam and his dog Zen were walking the route. There was a huge crowd for the parade and it was all very colorful and festive. I drove home after that and got Andrew and Daisy and we went back for the big Alumni lunch which was yummy. There were lots of other dogs there and Daisy was right in her element wearing her Otterbein bandana and having many people around to lavish love and attention on her. After lunch we went home and about 2 hours later I went back once again to cover the football game and coronation of the Homecoming King and Queen. Two students from our department were nominated for King and Queen and I was excited and anxious to find out if they would be the ones crowed. They weren't but they came in as runners up so it was still a victory as far as I'm concerned. I home now, exhausted and going through 600 + photographs and looking forward to watching the British comedies and having a hot bowl of soup.