Odds and ends to start December

Christmas decorations are going up downtown. Lights were strung across the street last week. 

On Tuesday City workers were putting up the old wreaths with three candles.

Also going up were the new set of decorations, lighted snowflakes.

The Christmas tree walk in Potawatomie Park has a couple of early displays. It is scheduled to run from December 5 until January 2.

Speaking of displays, I ventured into Illinois for Thanksgiving and coming home I was surprised to see hundreds and perhaps thousands of American flags lining the highway from  Crescent City to Watseta. They were on both sides of the highway and spaced about 100 yards apart. Once in Watseka the spacing was much closer.

They were to honor Sgt. Jeremy C. Sherman who was killed in a helicopter crash in Egypt.

The motel we stayed at in Illinois was almost empty. There may have been only one other guest. Other motels looked like they were busier.

Back in Rensselaer, the car wash north of Strack & Van Til reopened a couple weeks ago. It has new car-washing equipment.

On Tuesday City workers were preparing sections of streets for asphalt patches. The picture below shows Vine Street where the street was cut to replace a culvert.
While in Potawatomie Park, I noticed a couple of paintings that I had not seen before. I think they are quite recent.

They are south of the river.

I graphed the number of posts that I have done each year since 2008. (You can see the numbers in the sidebar.) There is a clear downward trend. If it continues, this blog has about four years of life left.