Back in town

I spent part of last week visiting people south of us. I was surprised that the fall colors were just as far along in Kentucky as they were in Rensselaer. They were brighter and more vivid south of Columbus, Indiana. There was corn down there that was not harvested, which reminds me that I looked up state corn and soybean production a week or two ago. How do you think Indiana ranks? Who is ahead of us? (Answer at the end.)

Speaking of rankings, The big football shock on Friday was not that Rensselaer won again, but that Lafayette Central Catholic lost to Triton. The loss broke a win streak of 25 post-season wins for CC. Also in the sports news over the weekend was the state cross country meet, where the Twin Lakes girls came in 12th, a real surprise. They were recognized as an excellent team for a mid-sized school, but were never ranked in the top 20 statewide. They finished ahead of three teams that beat them at the semi-state. Twin Lakes was probably the smallest school there, with 787 students. West Lafayette with 1020 is considerably bigger, and it finished fourth, which was probably a disappointment. (Rensselaer Central has 565 students.) Still, I think Tri-County's appearance at the state meet a few years ago was more impressive even though they did not finish as well.

The downtown stores will be able to keep their windows painted for another week.

While I was away I missed a couple of ribbon cuttings, one at McDonald's by the Interstate and one in DeMotte that I would not have gone to.

Coming back from Kentucky we had a pleasant surprise--we found gas at $2.86 a gallon in the Seymour area. I do not know why the stations here were so much less than the other stations along the route, which were mostly charging about $3.35. It is always a good idea to check the Internet for gas prices whenever you travel. You do do that, right?

I missed tricks and treating in Rensselaer, but because Indianapolis delayed theirs for a day, I did catch some of it in Indianapolis, where I watched a witch protecting her candy hoard. She was not quite sure what tricks and treating was all about before she started, but she caught on fast and really like the idea of people giving her candy.

Indiana usually ranks fifth in corn production after Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, and Minnesota. However, Indiana seems to rank fourth in soybean production, behind Minnesota but ahead of Nebraska.