Walking in a Fog....along Grand Lake St. Marys

Yesterday when I resumed my hour long morning walks through the under construction streets of Celina, and around Lake Shore Drive on the north shore of Grand Lake...the day had dawned sunny with a nice breeze.  Last night as I sat out on the back step downing a Guinness Extra Stout and finishing off a cigar that I had started on Sunday evening...that cool breeze gave me the idea to shut down the A/C and open up the windows in the house.  By the time Patricia woke me up at 7 this morning, the breeze was gone, and the fog had rolled in.  The first day back to school for her students and some others in the area(Celina students head back tomorrow).  Fog and the start of school just seem to go hand-in-hand.   Only one delay, that a 2 hour affair at Coldwater, St. Henry, and the rest that are opening, started on schedule.

The fog was just starting to lift a bit when I headed out on the morning constitutional....my hour long excursion took me through the all-but-deserted streets of downtown Celina, and then around the lake drive where a the usual half dozen large Herons, waiting to grab a fish, and the female Mallards swimming along the blue algae crusted shore line....


I will make it a habit to take the Fuji Digital along on the walks that I plan on 5 or 6 days a week....the Herons didn't stick around long as I approached them, but I did get the blurry image of the one at the top as he grabbed a Crappie from along the shore line...guess the birds don't read the signs that blare "Don't Touch the Lake Water, or You'll Die a Horrible Death"?  Nope guess those guys can't read.  For some reason I don't see a lot of dead birds along the shoreline...wonder why?{insert sarcastic face here}

There was a film of algae in the old "Hot Water Hole"...named that for the unfrozen state that this small portion of the lake remained in throughout the winter months in year's past.  The bay, named the hot water hole, remained warm because of the discharge of heated water that was pumped there from the old City of Celina Power Plant...thousands of Shad also pooled there, and fisherman would snag them for entertainment...it had to be entertainment, because the smelly, bone ridden fish were not worth eating, even when Grand Lake was a somewhat clean body of water back in the 1960s.  I loved to fish as a kid, but could never figure out the enjoyment of snagging the Shad and then tossing their bodies to rot and stink up the coming spring.

By the time I reached home, the sun had tried to burn off the fog, and some blue sky appeared to the west...as I type, we are getting a mix of clouds and hazy sunshine.  

Today will be the last day before my football schedule begins in earnest.  Tomorrow a Junior High game at Delphos, then another at Crestview Thursday...those are followed by a JV game Saturday morning at Waynesfield and a Rec League Double Header to kick off that season on Sunday here in Celina.  That should give me an idea of how my legs and back will hold out....meanwhile, I'm off to get a haircut...

back later>>>>

Photos-A Blue Heron takes flight this morning with a hapless Crappie as breakfast...The "Hot Water Hole" and the accompanying "Warning Death Awaits You" sign from the State of Ohio BureauRats at ODNR....which I guess the above mentioned Heron, and the dozen plus female Mallard Ducks failed to heed, as I walked along Lake Shore Drive this morning.