Spring sports are sprouting

This morning a woman's softball game was underway at Saint Joseph's College.

The Busy Bee will be open on Monday. The weather forecast says we will be having days with temperatures in the 70s next week.

I can no longer see the setting sun. It has moved north so it is now blocked by my neighbor's house.

Finally, do not forget to turn your clocks ahead tonight.

Odds and Ends--March 9, 2012

I saw crocuses blooming today. Others have seen them earlier.

Last night we had the last full moon of winter. The next one will be the first full moon of spring, and the Sunday that follows the first full moon of spring is Easter. Spring is on the way.

Workers for Gatlin Plumbing and Heating were busy digging on Washington and Rachel. Gatlin was the company that was doing the storm sewer project last fall, so I guess they are back working on it.

A closer look at what they were doing.

A couple months ago someone told me that there was a manufacturing company in the back part of the old Schumaker building. I passed by today and saw the sign of the company. Melt blown is a technology for making microfibers that are used in filters. Google "melt blown" filtration and check the images. When I learn more, I will write about it.

Where are they now?

On Tuesday I went looking for the workers constructing the sewer to the I-65 intersection. When I last saw them, they were are the S-curve on Bunkum. On Tuesday they were working their way north along CR 850W, almost to the Oak Tree Estates subdivision (which I do not think will be connected because they are not in the Rensselaer city limits).

I think the big metal thing in the ground is to prevent cave-ins. You can see that there is a worker in there, and another worker was getting ready to send another section of pipe down.

Others workers were still busy along Bunkum. This little excavator was being used as a bulldozer, smoothing the soil where pipe had already been laid.

Returning to Rensselaer, I noticed that the bathhouse at LaRue Pool was getting a new look. The warm temperatures seemed to have been more important than the high winds in beginning the painting. There has been other work being done there this winter, but it was inside so I do not know what they were doing.

Today we again have very high winds. What you see below was a common sight on the south side of town, the section that has recycling pickup today. The wind speed both today and yesterday registered at 24 mph at the weather station at I-65, with gusts to about 40.

Racers Trade Show and Swap Meet

I visited the Fairgrounds on Saturday because the 8th Annual Racers Trade Show and Swap Meet seemed like ti might have something of interest for this blog. It was chilly and windy, and by the time I got there, people seemed to be getting ready to leave.

There were several people with stuff to sell (or trade?) outside the buildings. They looked cold.

Last week the Rensselaer Republican had an article about the show and the days in which the Fairgrounds would have weekend races on a one-third-mile dirt track. The Rensselaer Speedway was open from 1953 until 1987. I never went to a race, but I do remember that on the weekends (I do not recall if it was Saturday or Sunday) we could hear the noise from the racetrack. The article did not say why the speedway closed in 1987, and I do not know.

(Newton County has or had a drag strip north of Morocco. Is it still operating?)

I did not go into the show proper--the $5.00 admission price was too much for someone who has little interest in racing (I did not say no interest) and would not have bought anything.

Instead I turned my attention to the recently completed or almost completed sewer project that I had totally missed. The extent of the sewer digging was obvious--they had moved a lot of dirt.

There was even more dirt disturbed along what is the midway during fair week, and into the grandstand area. However, if the grass grows as it should, most people who attend the fair in July will probably not notice that anything was done.

St. Augustine painting--an update

A week ago I had some pictures from St. Augustine church showing scaffolding that was being put up so the interior of the church could be repainted. This Sunday the scaffolding was complete or mostly complete and boards had been placed at the top so workers would be able to reach the ceiling.

The glass globes had been removed from the light fixtures, and the bare bulbs were visible.

There was a lift in the main aisle--you cannot see it very well in the picture above--but there was also a ladder to provide a way to get up onto the boards.

The Sunday Masses were relocated to the basement.