City sprawl and sprawling posts

I noticed a map at the surveyor's office recently that had the current boundaries of Rensselaer. I think I posted a picture of those boundaries a couple years ago, but I could not find the post.

What a strange shape our city has. I suspect most of us still do not think of that shape when we think of Rensselaer. I still think of myself as living on the west side of Rensselaer, but the map says I am in central Rensselaer or maybe even a bit to the east of the center.

I do not think St Joseph's College is within city limits. I think that the area of SJC is in yellow because it is the community of Collegeville. The whole map has all the little settlements that were made in Jasper County, even though some of them today only have one or two houses. North Marion has the radio station (the old North Marion School) and nothing else.

Google recently updated its satelite view of Rensselaer on google maps. The photo was taken last summer because I can find my garden in the community garden. I can even identify where I grew sweet potatoes.

Fair Oaks Farms keeps posting updates on Facebook showing the construction of their restaurant. The shell is being constructed. Their most recent picture is here.

If you get up early in the morning on a clear day, you cannot miss Venus in the east.

I am tired of writing about the weather but spring finally seems to be almost here. We will be getting above freezing for many of the days in the next week--maybe even into the fifties on a few days. Ice coverage on the Great Lakes was at 92.2% on March 6, and perhaps it will be a bit more today, but then it will probably start dropping rapidly. It seems unlikely we will beat the 94.7% coverage of February, 1979. Lake Ontario is still mostly open. Lafayette still has a chance to beat their all-time snow record. This winter is the second snowiest since 1880 and only five inches away from the all time record.

We have a late Easter this year, which seems appropriate given the length of winter. "The Teutonic word Lent, which we employ to denote the forty days' fast preceding Easter, originally meant no more than the spring season."

Maybe the warmer temperatures will encourage me to get out more and see what is happening around town so I will stop writing rambling posts like this one.