Spring Training

It will be just about a month until Spring rolls into Indy,

but Saturday gave us a preview in the form of sunny skies

and temperatures in the seventies.

People took every advantage of the unexpected warmth

by coming downtown to see the sights, to shop, and  to enjoy 

the company of other people doing exactly the same.

Whether it was folks people watching, enjoying their lunch 

or an ice cream cone on the steps of the Circle,

people took the time to speak with others.

They chatted with visitors from outside the city

while lined up on their Harleys near

the Hilbert Circle Theatre.

Others spent time practicing 

their skateboard skills on the plaza 

of the Regions Bank, watched by 

commuters waiting for their buses 

just across the street.

It may have been a month until Spring 

rolls around, but the people of Indy used 

the day well. I guess it could be 

called Spring training.

A Summer Morning

In between the hot humid days that have hung in the air 

this month, we have seen quite a bit of rain. 

The storms that have flooded other parts of the country, 

such as Texas and Missouri, have wended 

their way into Indiana. As I look out my window 

to the south, the sky is bright blue above 

a curtain of gray clouds; southern Indiana is 

experiencing storms, accompanied by the real threat

of tornadoes.

I like to get up early in the morning,

sometimes leaving early to walk around downtown

to take pictures, Here, about a month ago, the sun

bounced brightly off the glass of an office building, and

cast its aura through the pale, pink blooms

on the trees outside the Federal Court Building.

These walks often make me think that we have

quite another storm brewing in our midst at street level.

Here, the beauty of the morning is sucked

away by the reality of homeless men sleeping

on the sidewalks. I am not afraid at these times.

Instead, I feel embarrassed, as though I've walked

into someone's home, unwittingly crossing 

an invisible wall, one that exists on 

the sidewalk just outside a hotel.

The number of these folk is increasing;

people caught in a void of no job, no home,

little food. Snared by some

vortex of bad luck and/or poor choices,

 they are the stormfront, warning us of future

upheavals. Every day, I tell myself,

There but for fortune go I,

and one of these days, it could just as

easily be me or any number of my friends.

The chasm is growing.

Spring Around Us

Puddles of water from Saturday's cold storms 

remained on the sidewalks when I walked 

to the store Sunday morning. 

Here, one of last summer's hydrangeas had been 

blown into one of those puddles.

Barely more than a wisp of its former self, 

the dried flowers served as both 

a reminder of past beauties and 

the promise of more to come.

Earth Day Dawned ...

... Not bright and clear, but with cold rain whipped 

by gusts of wind and thunder.

I went to swim practice this morning,

my new blue training fins sticking out from

a pocket on my backpack.

The irony was not lost on me --

that I should huddle and cringe from the rain,

all the while looking forward to jumping

into a pool full of coolish water.

There, I would relish the feel of my body

pushing through the clear liquid,

knowing that later I would stand, stolid

and miserable under my umbrella,

as I waited for the bus to return home.

Rainy in Speedway

I walked over to the grocery late this morning. 

It was overcast with light showers then.

When I left the store heavy showers drenched 

the neighborhood. Rain ran down the sides of the bus stop 

where I took the first picture, and added strings 

of crystal pendants to the benches.

Before the Rust Appears

April has entered, as promised by the adage, 

with showers. Heavy rains have grayed the skies 

all around, creating a backdrop for the newly 

bloomed daffodils, jonquils, and -- dare I say it?

dandelions. Better yet, the magnolias have

shed their little velvet sweaters and

are starting to bloom delicate shades of mauve.

I got these pictures just after the flowers

had opened, and well before chilly spring winds 

whip the flowers into a frenzy, coating the 

petals with rust-colored tears.

Bleh.

April has so far been cold and chilly, 

with icy showers that knocked down daffodils' 

efforts to show off  their blooms.

The people of Indiana rose up in furor this past

week, when the Governor, a man who achieved the

office with backing from a narrow segment

of the state's population, radically conservative

and hell-bent on bending the state government

to suit their interpretation(s) 

of the Bible -- never mind the ol' "separation 

of church and state" bugaboo. 

Last year, the state legislators' efforts to enact

a ban on same-sex marriages was knocked down

by the Supreme Court. In a snit of revenge, 

a couple of those legislators wrote what is commonly called

the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA),

widely regarded as an effort to allow discrimination

on grounds of "religious conviction" against

members of the LBGT community.

Thirty legal professors told him it was a bad law.

 Several state corporations advised him that, never mind

just doing business, they would have difficulty 

recruiting the best people for their businesses. 

Travel and tourism would suffer. 

Saying it was "no different" than a similar federal law 

passed in 1993, Pence insisted he would sign it. And did.

With the NCAA Final Four basketball tourney

being held in Indianapolis this year, the commercial 

gloss was off the prestige of that event, and eyes were

focused instead on the efforts of a minority

of tawdry folks who want to keep us all mired in

their prejudices and fears. 

After days of bad press and downright acrimony, 

Pence finally got the message and requested 

that the law be fixed. A patch was written and passed

before the week was up. The governor had acted

solely for benefit of the small-minded constituency

he was used to serving as a Senator, and suffered the

outrage of a more reasonable, tolerant, and practical 

general population. He signed the paper. 

Then left town.

With the promise of some wonderful college

basketball to be played here, he decided he needed

to take care of some business in Europe.

Shadows of Spring

I took a long walk around Speedway Saturday afternoon, 

taking pictures as I went. The most abundant floral offerings

 I found were the metal lawn ornaments; 

here and there were the coiled wire tendrils of vines, 

the bright enamel colorings of painted daisies, 

and the embossed cut-outs of metallic angels 

and stars. If the scatterings of volunteer crocusses

are precursors, then the real flowers can't

be far behind. The biege earth canvas has been 

washed clean, waiting for the flowers.

Eskenazi's Pointy Side: Composition in Gray with Clouds

Whenever I'm around Eskenazi Health, I inevitably 

wind up standing beneath the cantilevered bits

of the main building, trying to get those 

right angles to break up a bit 

of rectangular space in an interesting way - 

does this way give it enough tension?

 Will those windows zoom off 

into space for me? 

Will the soft clouds push against 

the hard surface to make it interesting? 

Oh, well ... anything to make the 

straight lines play well with 

the loose puffy stuff.

@The Bus Stop, 6:30 a.m.

After enjoying a beautiful weekend, 

I awakened to find cloud cover.

Actually, it was good to see. 

Otherwise, the sun and heat 

would soon become oppressive.

It's not yet summer - time enough for that

 misery a few weeks from now.

Instead, the morning sun made its 

presence known more discretely,

peeping through a split

in the overcast.

Looking West to See East

The Friday evening sun cast its rays towards 

the east, and were mirrored back into the glass-clad 

buildings to their west. For a few minutes,

the Downtown streets were doubly illuminated,

both by the sun and by its reflected light.

It's Race Weekend in Indy, with the promise

of fair weather bringing out happy crowds for the

Indy 500 and related festivities. 

A Watery Evening

Afternoon thunderstorms were forecast for the area 

and they hit practically as if scheduled.

I left work just after the worst of the watery

onslaught had passed through, only to have my co-workers

and myself repeatedly splashed by passing drivers.

The rain let up enough so that I didn't get soaked between

buses or walking the last couple blocks 

to the Natatorium.Which brings to mind another 

little conundrum: why is it that I don't mind 

swimming for more than an hour, 

yet get all pissy because I have to go out

into the rain afterwards? I'm as fussy as a cat

about getting my feet wet, stepping around, leaping,

and dodging puddles as though I was was shod 

in a pair of Jimmy Choo's finest satin pumps.

Winter Into Spring

The past few days have been rainy and cold.

 Flowers have appeared, only to be assaulted 

by temperatures verging into frost; the delicate leaves

of magnolia show the rusty scars inflicted

by the cold and the winds.

Here, the fresh green leaves on a shrub

stand shoulder to shoulder with the remains

of decorative grasses, its ashen colors revealing 

the hardships it endured during winter.

"Squirrel!"

A couple days ago, I told a friend that I'd spent 

the afternoon going through nearly 2,400 e-mails 

and downloaded about 350 images 

from my camera, all amassed 

during the time my computer was down.

The volume of e-mail didn't faze him, but he wondered

what I took pictures of, that I could have so many.

"Oh, flowers, buildings, just about anything

that catches my eye," I responded.

"Flowers? What flowers? There's been no spring!"

he said. I just laughed. All of us have felt the drag

of what seemed like an interminable winter.

It's been a real relief these past couple weeks

to finally see buds and bits of color emerge

from our somber surroundings.

I stood on the corner last Saturday, waiting for

the bus that would take me to my swimming session,

when I looked up to see these pink buds.

I was looking for something, anything, and found

these right above my head.

Then, of course, something else caught

my attention "Squirrel!" and I was 

off on another little mission. :-)

Summer Work

The weather has finally broken, allowing us to lean towards summer, 

leaving behind the chilly temperatures that plagued us 

through most of the spring.

No surer sign of spring exists than to see various

home improvement projects being started on the neighborhood

homes. At morning, trailers hitched behind pick-up trucks

can be seen leaving apartment complexes all around town. 

Traveling crews come into the area, performing work 

contracted earlier by various contractors.

I remember going to Des Moines one summer 

with Carl, who was having new roofs 

put on a couple of his properties.

The crew that came in was largely Hispanic, 

with a tall, lean man who seemed 

to be their foreman. They parked their trailer 

under a shade tree and went to work, neatly

and efficiently removing the old roof, 

that was tossed into the trailer.

Just as tidily the new roof was installed,

the men and women cleaned up after themselves,

then went on to the next contract, the next town

on their itinerary. Imagine my surprise when,

the following summer, I saw the same tall,

lean man supervising a crew as they 

installed a new roof on a nearby 

apartment building.

Sick

The day seemed bright and brand new when I took these pictures. 

A week on, fighting a sinus infection, I feel like crap,

unable to enjoy the beauty I've been given. 

I will go and huddle in my bed, watch TV, read, and possibly 

write to my muse, to let him know I think he's a dick.

We have hawks and falcons all over town.

I spied this one, perched on a telephone wire

looking for mice. He didn't have long to enjoy 

whatever reveries hawks might entertain,

though, because a squadron of sparrows flew in

to torment and drive him from his perch.

I last saw him flying towards the protection of

a tree, with six of the little birds in pursuit,

chattering and scolding him all the way.
To see our downtown falcons, maybe,
as four babies have fledged,
follow this link.

Whelmed by the Rain

A storm front moved into the Indianapolis area Thursday evening 

and has been with us since, clouding the day, drenching

folks as they run to their cars from work, making splotches on

clothes, and pounding the heavily laden rose bushes until all

the petals fall into the mulch. I took this photo at around 7:45 in

the evening as the storm front approached the city

People admired the huge thunderhead, 

but they didn't want to be under it.

Time of One's Own

It's this time of morning that is most precious to me, 

the time between I wake up and when I get on the bus for work, 

ready to take on the obligations of others as my own.

I cherish this time as the place where I can safely make plans,

entertain my day dreams, and enjoy the beauties of the morning.

As I waited for the bus, I was passed by joggers and walkers,

all of whom had their own reveries in mind as they

took a lap or several around the park, enjoying the sounds

of the birds and the golden morning light,

filtered by newly green trees.

Sunshine on a Cloudy Day

Actually, I enjoy days like these from time to time. 

They provide a change from the relentless sun, such as what we had last year.

These treetops greeted the morning with their backsides pressed against

the western clouds and incoming rain, while a bit of sun

sneaked through a crack in the overcast.

The sunlight just barely had time to illuminate the leaves

before we were inundated with a morning shower.

A Bit of Sun

Thunderstorms raked across the Midwest yesterday morning, 

causing devastating tornado damage in Oklahoma.

Overnight, storms had swept through Indy, leaving tree branches

strewn across lawns all over town.

However, while I was walking to the bus stop, the morning sun

had managed to break through the cloud cover, shining through the

Japanese maple leaves and seeds on a neighbor's tree.