It's late July, early August, and to many people that means one thing crosses their minds during their free time — that monster fish that got away last year at about this time.

I've received zero big-bass pictures this summer and expect a rush of them to be coming in soon. Last year I probably had five or six marvel fish pictures sent my way, just like I do with other outdoor sports seasonally.

Deer and turkey come over the winter months and fish normally all summer, but not this year, not yet. That's why I'm expecting soon, particularly in light of my own success on the pond in late summer, early fall. There's larger, more hungry fish to be taken, and someone's got to want to show those bad boys off. 

This blog is an invitation to those that find it — send a picture of your big catch to Eastern Wake News, it will make the sports page first-send, first-print. 

A big fan of fishing myself, I truly enjoy seeing what has frequently kept me out on the water for too long on multiple occasions. If someone doesn't send me a picture of their beaut I might have to go hit one of my local ponds over the head and put a picture of my own fish in, and for humility's sake I don't want it to get to that point.   

Knightdale eighth-grader Morgan Morse has been taking pictures for two years but uses her camera quite a bit more than the average scrapbooker.

Morse got her start in taking pictures when her mom bought her a 2-megapixel camera. She found the camera worked decently, but decided she needed something above and beyond, so her mom went out and bought her a 10-megapixel camera.

It was then that she heard from a friend if she posted her photos to the triangle.com web site, there would be a chance for them to be published in the Eastern Wake News.

The picture snapping began. Morse went around taking all kinds of pictures and posting them on the web site. Since she began posting, Eastern Wake News has published 25 of her photos in the newspaper.

Now, taking pictures isn't just a hobby to Morse, it's a habit. When she gets home from school she gets the camera out and goes to work. She loves photography and hopes to take classes to fine-tune her skills once she gets to high school in the fall.

Morse encourages Eastern Wake News readers to post their photos to the triangle.com web site “because you will get your picture in the newspaper."

To share your photos, visit: http://www.triangle.com and click join.

Morse profile: http://share.triangle.com/user/4364

Congress has set June 12 2009 as the final date to convert to digital. However, two stations in the area will stick with the original date February 17 2009; those stations are CW22 and MYRDC.  The change for both of the stations will go in effect at 11:59 pm on February 17. For more information on CW22: http://www.raleighcw.com/dtv/index.shtml  and for MYRDC: http://www.wrdc28.com/dtv/index.shtml.

Stations that will be converting June 12 2009:

UNC TV
WRAL
ABC 11
NBC 17
ION
Fox 50

These stations will be holding off, because the Government ran out of money for the Converter Box coupons. They are hoping to solve this issue between now and June 12.  For more information about the new date visit http://dtv.gov/.

This will be my last Backyard Buzz blog entry.

I am leaving the company for another job opportunity, and Friday will be my last day in the office. In my new job, I will be responsible for providing content for a Web site, but my role will be quite different from what it has been here.

I am leaving with mixed feelings. Obviously, I’m excited about a new job and career, but at the same time, I am sad to leave my colleagues, columnists and sources as well as anyone who visits easternwakenews.com and this blog. I can truly say I have enjoyed my job and have come to work eager to start the day.

While I am leaving the company, I will continue living in eastern Wake. I will still get the Eastern Wake News at home, and trust me, I will keep an eye on the Web site and this blog. So in a sense, maybe I should say see you, instead of good-by.

Young John Sherman has a bright future.

He's an actor, you see, and an accomplished one at that. Why, just this year, he's already appeared in three stage performances in widely varied roles.

In his church, John, who is the son of Eastern Wake News staff writer Denise Sherman and her husband David, played the part of a frog in a play about the Exodus when the pharoah let the slaves go free. At the same time, he was a member of the chorus in a school performance of "The Seussical."

This summer, he played the role of a photographer trapped in the rain forest in a play produced by Arts Together, a Raleigh summer camp.

I have appointed myself President-For-Life of the John Sherman Fan Club. 

Last spring, when he was performing two roles at once, I marveled to his mother about how a 7-year-old could handle two such responsibilities at once. I wrote him a note to wish him well, but the journalist in me couldn't resist asking at least one question. How, I asked him, did he keep all his lines straight without confusing one play with the other? "Write me back," I told him.

As actors can be, John was very busy and I didn't get a reply until this week. When it came, my faith in another theory about children was confirmed: If you want the truth, go ask a child.

John's to-the-point response to my question:

"Dear Johnny,

"I keep my plays organized because they are on different times and on different days.

"Love, John"

John wants to be an archeologist, a paleontologist and a builder. If those plans don't work out, acting is a great fall-back gig. 

The lesson for parents in all this, I suppose, is that we should raise our expectations for our children. They will move heaven and earth to meet them.

Even if it means becoming a frog.