The Eagle Café on Route 66.
An odd place to park one boat let alone three.
I recently had reason to revisit a few pictures from the July, 2009 trip west. I’m queuing up a few favorites. Possibly more than a few.
The best part of taking pictures for a small town newspaper: you get to see stuff you didn’t know about.
To encourage 7th and 8th graders to enroll in agriculture classes in the fall, the ag teachers put together the Ag Olympics. Contestants (and sometimes teachers) compete in the football toss, the tractor pull, and the hammer event. There’s also a pie eating contest and an event that involves digging a set of keys (with a John Deere key chain, of course) out of some dirt (not pictured).
Current ag students talked about the cool things they get to do. It was a pretty good pitch.
This reminded me of shooting the 4H beef weigh-in a couple of years ago! Life in a small town, you know?
I had such a good time at the Paoli girls regional finals I decided to take in a game at my alma mater: Springs Valley High School in French Lick, Indiana. I didn’t shoot much, but I had a camera with me and before the game a friend asked if I could get a picture of her daughter when the kindergarten class sang the national anthem. Pass up something that stinkin’ cute? No way.
A few pictures for the Lost River Market and Deli’s site.
Paoli High School’s Lady Rams made it to the last game of the regional tournament. I was assigned “non-game” shots that night (which is good - I’m not much of a sports photographer).
You know Hoosiers - we like our basketball - but I had never seen so much support for girls sports. The lower stands were packed and plenty of people were using the upper deck. It was great to see.
There were some really poignant moments. The crowd spontaneously singing the school song. Paoli’s coach putting in the girls who hadn’t played yet on his own team then realizing that he needed to call a timeout so the opposing team’s coach could do the same. Dennis Ellis wrote beautifully about this game in the Paoli New-Republican. I’m not going to even try - find a copy and read what he wrote.
Staff setting up for an event at the French Lick Springs Resort
(that or the hotel really is haunted!)
Happy cows? Maybe. Happy barn? Definitely.
Weird scarecrow weeds in the pumpkin field. With frost.
Detroit River Walk
Virgil: Who Also Likes the Red Wings
So, on my little Detroit adventure, I wanted to take a picture of a Red Wings fan outside of the Joe Louis Arena, but I couldn’t find anyone wearing anything with the Red Wings logo on it. On my way back from the Joe Louis Memorial, I spotted Virgil. He let me take his picture even though I wouldn’t give him my phone number (I’ve decided to take his asking for my number as a compliment and not a creepy thing - at least not any creepier than me asking a stranger for a photo).
Beverly: A nice lady at the Joe Louis Memorial - Detroit, Michigan
Here’s the story:
I went to Michigan for my cousin’s wedding. When I was checking out the map, I realized we would be really close to Detroit and there would be time to kill the day of the wedding. Some people seemed a little surprised that I wanted to go to Detroit, but they didn’t know two things:
- I have come to LOVE the Detroit Red Wings. I considered dropping Nana off at the rehearsal dinner so I could go to a pre-season game, but I am nothing if not a good granddaughter and I was really happy to see the Aussie rellies. So, just getting to see the Joe was my consolation prize.
- The Joe Louis Memorial is a Detroit icon and I’ve wanted to see it since I started watching the Red Wings (they show it all the time). See, Joe Louis trained in my home town back during its heyday. I cross the Joe Louis Bridge on a regular basis. I’ve seen news clippings and heard his name in the list of famous people who were here. And that is a beautiful monument.
Nana and I didn’t have much time to get to Detroit and back and to the wedding on time. We parked at the Joe Louis Arena and Nana decided to stay in the car. I walked around taking pictures (nothing great) and thinking, “The memorial has to be around here somewhere.” I decided to take a chance and ask a stranger.
Beverly wasn’t entirely sure where the memorial is located and decided to walk with me. We chatted about the controversy surrounding its design and how we both thought it was a great way to honor both the man and the city. We talked a bit about Detroit.
In short, Beverly was a wonderful ambassador for her city and I asked to take this photo to remember her. I only wish I had asked for her email address so I could send her a copy.
Joe Louis Memorial - Detroit, Michigan
Out by Kings Bridge (where you can see the middle of nowhere and most of the Big Dipper).
