Jungle Gym

It seems so sad and strange to see a backyard set up for kids, but where the kids have never shown up to play. It speaks, no, it shouts of abandoned hopes.

'Nuff said.

The Town of Speedway is Safe!

Alleged assailant during perp walk./File Photo from WISHTV.com

In a late-breaking news bulletin, local CBS affiliate WISH-TV reported that a small, grey kitten, identified only as "Kitten X" has been taken into protective custody by the Speedway Police Department. Late Thursday afternoon, the kitten had been reported to the police by a local resident who told authorities it had bitten him after he'd grabbed it from behind a woodpile and attempted to tie a string around its neck. Police found the kitten, lying calmly beside the tree to which it had been tied, and said it became agitated "only when provoked." Its captor, who'd obtained small puncture wounds to his thumbnail and the base of his thumb during the altercation, was otherwise unharmed. The kitten was taken into custody and turned over to the Speedway Street Department.  

Somebody's Watching ...

I turned a corner during my walk and saw this gleaming jewel, a blue and white '56 Chevy, parked in someone's drive. Obviously, I wouldn't dare touch its silky smooth paint because, well, it's not mine. Even so, there were at least six pair of eyes guarding it. The masks were everywhere, an unusual touch of decor in an area where one usually will see a plaster gnome. As the Chevy's owner drove away, my eyes followed the car. I had the feeling that eyes other than my own also watched the car as it went about its errands

Stolen Home

A couple weeks ago, as I walked under a tree, I felt the rush of wings as a robin left the shelter of the leaves above me. I took a look and found this nest, perfectly made to shelter the expectant Mom and her family. I thought then that it was a little low, easy access for the neighborhood cats, but if I hadn't startled her, I'd never have known it was there to begin with.


 I went back a week or so ago to check the nest. It was gone. Not just robbed by a crow, not torn apart by a marauding cat or blown down in a storm, but GONE! Was it taken by a well-meaning human who put it somewhere they thought safer? Was it stolen by a kid for "show-and-tell" at school? Was Mom behind on her mortgage payments? Who knows? But the simple beauty of this nest is gone, as are the robin mom's babies for Spring 2011.

Under Construction

"Under Construction" seems to be an appropriate way to begin this blog, to test the waters and find my way. There is so much going on around my neighborhood, not all of it good. Yes, the streets are getting paved and sidewalks put in where there had been none. New exits are being constructed as I type. The town is putting a lot of work into rebuilding and revitalizing our Main Street area, an effort that is centered on our history and connection to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. So far, things are going as scheduled.


But I wonder. Tommy the paver seems happy to have a job, resurfacing the street outside my little home. The exits on the other side are also on schedule, but the couch, abandoned and derelict, speaks to something more disturbing - are we just sitting, watching this happen while other things are neglected? Our educational system is in shreds. Too many people are idle, with nothing to do, no purpose to their lives. The education they received does not qualify them for even the most menial tasks -- and those jobs are disappearing, too.


Yes, the sidewalks are needed, as are the new exits but there seems to be such a gap between the work that needs to be done, and the people to do the work. We have plenty of people, but so few who can do the jobs required in today's society. Are we building the correct kind of bridges?