Keith Walters: Life through my viewfinder

The Geneseo Women's Basketball team sported pink shoelaces over the weekend to support the fight against breast cancer. While both the Men's and Women's team put on quite a show pounding the Plattsburgh Cardinals, I couldn't overlook this great gesture. 

The Gerbera Daisy is currently one of the most popular selling flowers in the United States. The flower was named in honor of German botanist and naturalist Traugott Gerber, and has approximately 30 different species in the wild. Did I know this when I bought them? No, they just looked nice! 

A look at the famous bear fountain on Main Street - Downtown Geneseo.

In the spirit of the Westminster Kennel Club dog show I have decided to put our own pup, Sampson, on local display. At 10 weeks old he is the furthest thing from show dog material, but he is still unbearably adorable. So if you are having a stressful day at work or anywhere for that matter… just take a look at this photo and hopefully you will feel better. 

Happy Valentines day! Families gathered over the weekend to celebrate this year's Valentine's Day with a Family Sweetheart Dance at the Gates Community Center. The annual event featured a live DJ, free food and great door prizes from local businesses. Every family walked away with a prize and had a chance to dance the night away with their sweethearts. How are you celebrating your Valentine's Day?

For the past three days men and women from around the SUNY conference have been competing in SUNYAC Swimming and Diving conference championship. The event wraps up today, with SUNY Geneseo men's team looking to claim their 14th consecutive championship, while the women's team is looking for their 5th consecutive title. As one can deduce from those statistics, Geneseo has been a swimming and diving powerhouse for well over a decade, but this year SUNY Cortland is giving them a run for their money. Heading into the last day of competition, the Geneseo men have a slim 9 point margin over Cortland. The Women are sitting comfortably with a 30 point lead over Cortland. Anything can happen though, and today's events will surely be nail-biting. If you are looking to attend, the events are being held at the Erie Community College Aquatic center.

This is a photo of Rt 490 shot from the Culver Road overpass in Downtown Rochester. The long exposure meant I had to stabilize my camera, but my tripod wouldn't sit flush against the concrete barrier. So I knelt down and rested the camera on the concrete, holding it stable by hand for several seconds as cars were speeding by. I was praying a cop didn't see me because it must have looked suspicious! At any rate, it turned out to be a pretty neat picture. Although if I had done this during rush hour I think the effect would have been much better.

I drove down to Lake Ontario the other day to see how the Lake was shaping up. Usually at this time of year there are dramatic ice chunks that stretch several yards out from the shore -- thick enough to walk on. However there was no ice to be found on this occasion. What I did find was an awesome mini break wall that was formed from sediment carried into the outlet by a stream (located behind this vantage point). The wall was large enough to form a reflecting pool that contrasted nicely with the rough lake water.

My co-worker brought in some delicious homemade cupcakes the other day, and I thought I would get some photos of them and share the recipe. Follow the link below for the full recipe and other tasty food on her blog!

Laura Rebecca's Kitchen:
http://laurarebeccaskitchen.com/2012/02/03/chocolate-peanut-butter-cup-cupcakes/

Geneseo's Invisible Children Organization hosted a fundraiser Thursday night at Muddy Waters Coffee House (Main Street, Geneseo) to raise money for rebuilding efforts in Uganda and the DR Congo. The fundraiser featured live music by students and alumni, raffle prizes and great coffee! Photo: Dominick Ciruzzi, Ronni Chow and Audrey Schiffhauer perform a rendition of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" in front of a packed house.

If you are like me, then you like to drink coffee to jump start your day. If you are even more like me, random trivia about things like coffee will be right up your alley this lovely Thursday morning. So here you go, some random facts about the drink that makes you productive, courtesy the oatmeal.com! In case you were wondering, this is not an actual lens, but rather a replica shell of a canon 24-105, so no worries!

1.) Legend has it Ethiopian shepherds first noticed the effects of coffee when they saw goats appearing to become frisky after eating coffee berries.
2.) Coffee was originally eaten by mixing the coffee berries with fat
3.) The rise of Islam contributed to the popularity of coffee. The religion prohibited the consumption of alcohol, but coffee was an acceptable alternative.
4.) All coffee in the world is grown in the "Bean Belt" (An area between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn)
5.) In 1675, the King of England banned coffee houses because he believed it was where people conspired against him.
6.) Coffee grows on trees
7.) Hawaii is the only U.S. State that produces coffee
8.) Coffee is the second most traded commodity on Earth.
9.) Espresso is not a particular type of bean, roast or blend. Espresso is just a way that coffee is prepared: shooting pressurized, hot water through finely ground coffee.
10.) The largest Coffee Producing nation is Brazil (responsible for 30-40% of total world output).

I found this cool winter scene (before the snow melted away) off of route 39 in Avon, NY. I have driven past this location dozens of times but had only just realized that it was there. It is always a good day when you find a new spot that offers up cool photo opportunities.