Airport digging

If you have driven past the airport recently, you must have noticed that dirt is being tossed around.

The earth moving is being done to create a new drainage system. Above the excavator is digging a hole that will become a retention pond.

The new system, like the old, connects to a ditch, which is usually dry, that runs east of the fairgrounds until it dumps into another ditch that is just to the south of the south entrance to the fairgrounds.

It seems that almost every new construction project comes with some kind of retention pond. There is even one now in Iroquois Park for the water treatment plant. It must be a legal requirement. Does anyone know what the rules are that are giving us lots of little wetlands?

Number one in corn

I noticed a pattern in a field north of town and remembered that I wanted to mention something in JCEDO's April newsletter, that Jasper County was the number one producer of corn in Indiana for 2012. I was able to find the USDA report, which is here. Jasper County had more acreage in corn (177,500 acres) and produced more (24 million bushels) than any other county. White County was second, Benton fourth, and Newton fifth. 

Jasper County did not do as well with soybeans. It planted only 84,700 acres and was ranked twelfth in total harvest. The report is here. The only other report that I could find for 2012 was for cattle, where Jasper County was third.

While I was north of town, I noticed an outhouse for sale at Smith's Farm Store. I have seen several of them by a house near the power plant, so I suspect that they are produced locally.

Update: The decorative outhouse could make a nice tool shed, a place to store rakes and shovels.

Spring is finally arriving

I spent Easter in central Kentucky. I expected to find spring there--leaves sprouting on trees, nesting birds, and lots of wildflowers. But the trees there were as bare as the trees here. However, their daffodils were blooming and I have not seen any blooming here. One night it was cold enough to put a layer of ice on a bucket of water left outside.

Even though there are still remnants of snow piles in parking lots, there are lots of signs that spring is beginning. I have some crocuses blooming in my yard. (A Facebook friend had some kind of flower blooming in February, so mine are far from early flowers.) More importantly, my rhubarb looks like it is starting to grow. Walmart is setting up its garden display.

The Community Garden, which got a lot of publicity in the past week from the Rensselaer Republican, was tilling the garden plots this afternoon. There are still a couple of empty plots. That is very different from what happens in some other places. My son got up extra early in Bloomington, IL to stand in line to claim a garden spot a few weeks ago. If you do not get there early, you do not get a plot. He is taking gardening seriously--he has dozens of little plants already growing under grow lights.

Brookside Park has its summer complement of trash cans out. Last week the park people were setting out picnic tables in the shelters. This year all the benches will be the plastic tables made from recycled milk bottles and some of them are designed to accommodate wheel chairs. Some of the old wooden picnic tables will see use at the Little Cousin Jasper Festival and maybe some short duration events.

I thought that demolition activity at Monnett would be over this week, but when I stopped by I saw that a large fuel tank had been partially uncovered. It seems to have been a tank to store fuel for heating. I suspect that at some time after Monnett was built, the heating was switched to natural gas.

 I stopped by Lending Hand because the office is now open with a big "Grand Opening" banner in front. The office was very simple--a couple of desks. I learned that the headquarters of the company was not Lafayette, as I originally wrote, but in Monticello.

Steinke Funeral Home will soon be undergoing renovation. There is a sign in front showing the planned changes with the names of contractors and architect.

Stained Glass at Brushwood Methodist

The Lenten Luncheon last week was at the Brushwood United Methodist Church, and I noticed that they had stained glass windows in their sanctuary. It has been a while since I have had a chance to do a post on stained glass windows, so I jumped at the chance to take some pictures.

There were five windows with episodes from the life of Jesus. First, the nativity.

My guess is that this is the baptism in the Jordan.

Jesus as the Good Shepard.

There were two with a Holy Week theme. I think this is the Agony in the Garden, after the Last Supper.

And finally Jesus carrying the cross, a scene appropriate for a Good Friday post.

Depot and more

Last week the base was set for the new Amtrak depot. This week a concrete foundation was formed. On Tuesday the first pour took place.

On Wednesday new forms were put up on the concrete base of Tuesday.

And on Wednesday a second concrete pour took place, this one with two concrete trucks.

Over at Monnett the demolition is complete and the crew is smoothing black dirt that was trucked in. The fence was taken down today.

Meanwhile, behind the Eger substation on Melville a different crew was busy installing a fence. (No picture.) Below you can see work on the other substation that is under construction, the one next to the power plant. A series of trenches have been cut and some kind of wiring will go into them.