My friend, Julie, lives 26 miles northeast of the barndo. We were talking on the phone and both of us were outside. I was out with the dogs and commented how foggy it was here at just after 7:00 PM yesterday evening. I told her we still had some drizzling rain. She said it was clear there and the sunset was beautiful.
I took a photo and sent it to her in text:
It was so gloomy looking, I checked to make sure my camera lenses were clean and free of fingerprints. Sure enough… they were just fine. So I took a photo from another spot, looking toward the west. I had to prove my point that we had low lying fog easily visible through the trees.
To prove her view was drastically different from mine, she took a photo and sent it to me.
She wasn’t lying about her beautiful sunset. And there’s only 26 miles separating us. Crazy, right?
And finally, its important to note that even though it’s October 1st, the trees here — and at Julie’s place — are all still green. No changing colors yet although they are dropping a few dead leaves. Happy the pool is covered!
Now you know: Marlon Brando often refused to memorize his lines for movies like The Godfather. Instead, the crew used cue cards placed around the set, even on other actors. Brando claimed this approach made his performances feel more real and spontaneous, capturing the uncertainty of real conversations.
Most important thing first — happy birthday to Alisa Lou! She’s 39 with a few practice years. If she would run for Mayor of Crothersville, she would have my vote. 🙂
And more in local news…
Jackson County, Indiana — and especially Seymour — is in an uproar over a proposed inclusive economic agenda. You can view the agenda by clicking here. Monday night’s city council meeting location was filled to capacity with community members voicing their opinions — but not everyone that wanted to attend was able to get in. Another meeting will be held at Seymour High School at a date to be determined.
It’s a PR nightmare.
First, the person that chose to call the proposed building “Immigration Welcome Center” instead of “Resource Center” should be out of a job. When you include the word “immigration” with “economic development” you should expect pushback and powerful feelings of opposition.
When focus groups are listed (both verbally and in writing) as resources for the agenda’s data, it looks bad when those serving on those boards and are members of those groups — including city council members — publicly state they were neither approached nor received any type of communication. Thoughtful planning? I think not.
I watched the meeting on a live feed from start to finish. Sadly, I don’t think opinions matter at this point — and I’ll be surprised if a compromise is reached.
Choose your residential housing location carefully!
No one can predict the future. But all of us can consider the impact certain changes might have on our chosen residential location with forward thinking. It doesn’t matter where on God’s earth you plan to live.
You already know to check tax rates, quality of education, available services, etc. when you decide where to live. But what you might not consider is how deeply you should anticipate the unknown factors.
Play out long-term scenarios in your head and the likelihood of them happening.
Are you in an established neighborhood where there’s no room for unwanted development? If your setting is rural, what are the chances property near you will be sold off for something you don’t want to live beside?
It’s an investment of time to reflect on the possibilities that might impact what’s important to YOU. Personal… not political.
For example, before purchasing this property I asked myself this question: What’s the likelihood that the Kovert farm will be sold for commercial development or apartments to be built in my lifetime? Not likely, me thinks. While not an important consideration for some, it was paramount for me.
Now you know: In 2022, James Earl Jones officially retired from voicing Darth Vader, but signed permission for Lucasfilm to use archive recordings and AI to continue using his voice for the character.
I know the following complaint is out of my control, but rather than take my own advice, I’m going to complain anyway. But just about ONE thing…
USPS mail delivery is different when it comes from the Crothersville post office as opposed to delivery from the Seymour USPS post office.
Pros and cons of living on the outskirts of Crothersville.
If I made a list that contained “pros” and “cons” columns for living here instead of in Seymour, the entries in the pros column would greatly outweigh those in the cons column.
BUT… USPS mail delivery here would be in CONS column written in bold black, tall italic letters, and highlighted with the brightest pink marker on the market.
In Seymour, USPS would’ve placed a package the size of the one above on my doorstep. It might’ve even had a couple small doggie bones resting on top. BUT NOT HERE! If they can roll it up, smush it up, and cram it in the box… that’s where it’s left.
In about a year and a half, they’ve pulled in my driveway to deliver a package exactly ONE TIME.
“Our deliveries are made quick and easy — for us.”
(suggested motto for C’ville’s USPS office)
Now you know: Postal codes in Ireland are so specific that every single house has their own individual postcode, or Eircode (air-code).
Katie called me the other night just before midnight. She’d seen someone walking near where she’s living — at the MasterSbilt shop’s apartment for the time being. Dude with a flashlight was creeping around and creeping her out!
No calvary to call in.
The Ville currently doesn’t have an on-duty police officer overnight. I guess I was the next best thing. When the lights went out in the front of the building, I told her to call her Dad. Katie has a personal protection permit and a firearm… still, it’s scary when your dogs go bat shit crazy and are on high alert — something even ole’ Dharma does on occasion.
But not today.
Tader and Jeri arrived and checked everything out. The lights are on a timer so that was a false alarm. Still, what was a dude doing walking around and where did he go? We all told Katie to call the police department the next morning and see what they could do.
There’s homeless living in the woods behind her. 😯
Not sure how many are there, but the Chief of Police told her there’s NOTHING they can do unless something is stolen or broken. I guess it’s up to the landowner to evict them. (Sorry, Katie — but you can keep them. I don’t want them out here in the woods we own.)
Of course, there are homeless people everywhere and I don’t think anyone knows what to do about it. I know there’s the Anchor House in Seymour — but not sure how that works. With the rising cost of just surviving, I’m sure the number of people down on their luck will only grow.
It’s not that I don’t care…
I know this sounds like I don’t feel awful for those that don’t have a home, but I appreciate that I own a bit of property primarily because I value my privacy. I don’t discriminate in this regard — I don’t want anyone living right next to me anymore. Not in a house and not in a tent.
Now you know: Many choking deaths happen in bathrooms. It turns out that people who start choking often feel embarrassed and rush to the bathroom for privacy, only to end up dying alone, often next to a toilet.
I’m a remote worker nearing retirement age and I’m great with that. In the summer, I try to keep a flexible routine and I can do that since I don’t have to go elsewhere to do my job. Sure, it’s not always perfect. When deadlines crop up — no matter the time of day for me or time zone for the client — they still must get done.
My summer days look different now — geography does that.
Having lived in the City of Seymour for just at 10 years, I’m doing the same things as I did before but they look different — and for the most part, they feel different too! My mornings now look like this…
Next comes daily exercise. During decent weather, instead of walking through a community and past a football field, I walk down a dead-end road that offers this for a view:
There’s a difference between a small city and a small town.
All the controversy over Jason Aldean’s song “Try That in a Small Town” has many of my friends that live in Seymour posting their political thoughts on Facebook. Many are butt hurt… and most refer to Seymour as a small town to make their point. It’s making me crazy and I can barely keep my fingers from responding with some scathing, ugly comment.
People, Seymour is not a “SMALL TOWN” no matter what John Mellencamp says.
Seymour, Indiana is a CITY with a population of 22,000 plus people. You want to call it a small city? Go ahead! Vernon township — that includes the Town of Crothersville — has a total population of around 3,400 people. Having lived in Seymour and on the outskirts of Crothersville, I can tell you — Seymour people have NO IDEA the vast difference there is between the two.
Mellencamp — and ME — were born in a small city.
I don’t claim to live in a small town, but I’ve lived close to one for the majority of my life… and I attended school in one. I figure that makes me enough of an expert to state that there’s a distinct difference between life in a small town and that in a small city — and it’s not just the evening views. 🙂
Today I Learned: The average number of hours per week that Americans work is 34.4. Alaskan residents work the most hours in America at 41.6. 80% of all Americans are dissatisfied with their jobs.
