Oh, Them Golden Colors!

Okay, autumn may be menopausal -- 

sunny or gloomy, hot or cold, generous or really witchy -- 

but every once in a while there's a glimpse of real beauty to be found. 

Ya gotta look close and real fast 'cause it could change 

with the direction of the wind, Poof! leaving you with bare, icy branches. 

(There'a a pill for that! Please, take it!)

Monumentally Cold

Saturday morning I went downtown to assist as a volunteer for the 4th Annual Indianapolis Monumental Marathon. The finish line was set up in the shadow of the Indiana State Capitol Building. I reported to the coordinator then was assigned to unpack, unwrap and hang the participants' medals on racks for distribution later. There were about a dozen of us working to prepare the medals for the half-marathon (13.1 miles), which seemed to have the most entrants. The medals for that race were red, for the Marathon (26.2 miles) blue, while the ones for the 5K participants were black. All together, there were about 10,000 entrants.

The morning was cold, in the 30s, and when I looked up at the dark sky I could still see stars twinkling; it would be a while before the sun rose and drove them into hiding, warming up the day. As we unwrapped the medals, our fingers got a bit stiff with cold and I wondered how it would be for the runners. While many were dressed for the weather, still others actually only wore singlets and shorts.

When we'd completed our tasks with the medals, I was sent farther down the line where I was assigned to clip and collect the timing chips from the runners' shoes after they had crossed the finish line. While there were points during the morning I barely looked up from thousands of shoes needing to have the chip removed, they were all attached to lovely, considerate people who came in all sizes, shapes and ages. I was very happy to note the number of middle-aged and older women who'd completed the marathon; not only were they pleased with their own achievements, but they enjoyed the success and camaraderie of their friends, as well. 

A lot of people after completing their race had to really concentrate to lift their foot so I could clip the plastic string. I believe the youngest participant I met was a five-year-old girl who ran the 5K race with her dad while the oldest may have been a man around eighty. 

The first finishers across the line this morning were the participants in the one-third mile Kids' Fun Run. Two of the proud contestants are shown - a young man posing for his mom as she took his picture with his medal, and the pretty girl below, on her way to collect her medal, accompanied by her father. 

The finishers below show the extremes in the participants' wardrobe choices for the race. Temperatures started off in the thirties and capped off in the fifties, feeling much warmer in the sun than not. 

The blue mats behind the runner contain sensors which recorded each participant's finishing time. Another set of mats at the start had earlier recorded their start times, picking up a signal from the chips attached to the runners' shoes. 

The runner below has made a lifetime commitment to his sport. Earlier, I saw a young man who had a drawing of a winged running shoe tattooed on his calf, also including flames. While I am not a tattoo "person," for some reason I found both attractive. Hmm. Maybe it was the lean young men who bore them. 

Reflection

Since 1977, the statue of Indiana Governor Thomas Hendricks has enjoyed this unlimited view into the rooms on the northwest side of the Hyatt Regency Hotel. In his lifetime, Hendricks not only served as the state's sixteenth governor, but was also a Representative in Congress and the twenty-first Vice President of the United States under Grover Cleveland. Even with all the experiences he had serving the people of his state and nation, it is a sure thing he's seen enough through those windows that could sear the bronze eyes out of a statue. Oh, wait a minute, I forgot ... he was a politician, after all.

  

For Love of the Custard and the Art of the Splat

Okay, I'll give - it's now autumn, time to drag out the pictures 

of pumpkins and their kin. I took these photos a month ago 

when the weather was still warm and I was more 
interested in lemonade than in cider.

With Thanksgiving now about three weeks away, 

it's time to get my punkin' on, to get my supplies together for

pumpkin custard and squash soup. Last year this time, there was 

a nationwide shortage of pumpkin pulp; there was none to be found, 

the grocery shelves were bare, bereft of pumpkin.

 Along with everyone else who hadn't shopped well ahead

of the holiday, I had to do without my favorite

pumpkin delicacies.  I suffered from a severe 
lack of squash-based food. 

Not this year. The pumpkin, nutmeg, brown sugar, and vanilla

have been stockpiled, awaiting the eggs, cream and broth 

that will turn them into my favorite treats.

But while the men retire to the family room to watch 

football games, and the women participate in our annual crafts event,

 I will be eagerly awaiting the Discovery Channel

telecast of the 25th Annual World Championship Punkin' Chunkin'.

While the competition itself will be held this coming weekend at

Bridgeville, Delaware, the highlights and finals will be televised 

Thanksgiving evening. I am all a-tingle.

FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!

  

Autumn Blues

Autumn morning on the Muskingum River at Lowell, Ohio

There is sometimes a longing so deep that the morning sun, 

burning off the mist, serves only to reveal how 

much farther the heart has to travel. 

The clear sky, echoed in the mirrored surface of the river, 

and the jewel-toned tapestry of the trees

balance the pain of betrayal hidden in the mists just beyond.

The trees create a jewel-toned tapestry to serve as
backdrop for our Muskingum River cruise. 

Textured Tu ... er, Wednesday

Last week, I was walking from City Market to the Historical Society building, from one side of the downtown area to the other. I'm always looking for pictures and it bothers me to know that just as I find one,

 I'm probably missing three or four even better ones. So...

...as I'm checking out the manhole cover, 

was I overlooking something else?

If so, maybe I'll find it next week.

November Theme Day: Fences

This little beauty, bootlegger Roy Taylor, was captured and put behind bars, 

arrested on December 9,1920 for distilling moonshine. It was during the time of Prohibition and three Indianapolis police officers had raided a farm just outside the city, where they confiscated a large still, thirty-eight gallons of "white mule" whiskey, one gallon of malt, fifteen pounds of flour, 

a hundred pounds of corn sugar, and two hundred gallons of mash.

Taylor later pleaded guilty to operating an illegal saloon, was fined $100,

and sentenced to serve 120 days at the Indiana State Penal Farm.

Mr. Taylor, who is otherwise unemployed, distilled the whiskey

as a way to earn money to support his family.* 

These photos were taken at the Indiana Historical Society exhibit, 

You Are There 1920: Busted! Prohibition Enforced, 

which is a recreation of the Indianapolis police headquarters

on the day they raided the farm at New Bethel, Indiana.

The exhibit explains how Prohibition resulted, in part, from an attitude of xenophobia and "nativism" which blamed immigrants, primarily

Germans, Irish and Scots for many of the crimes and 

social concerns of the day -- high unemployment, urban decay,

 health problems, delinquency and moral decline.

The exhibition asks visitors to draw comparisions with our attitudes

towards immigrants a hundred years ago and the manner in which

the same issues are addressed today.

*Information for this item was taken from 

Lesson Plans: Prohibition Undertones, a publication of the 

Indiana Historical Society, 2011

To see how others have interpreted today's City Daily Photo theme,

click here to view thumbnails for all participants