I am sure enjoying watching Spring 2021 slowly slide into place. It is fun just to watch our yard start turning green. We have some flowers that have popped up and beautiful yellow buds have opened up. I also noticed a few buds were a bit upset with those cold overnights last week. They were all smiling again last Sunday.
Our neighborhood is a one-mile circle and we seeing more walkers, joggers and bike riders out last weekend. As soon as I finish this article, I’m going to hop on my tricycle and take a ride.
There is also lots of yard work going on and a couple of neighbors have started some great backyard projects. My wife, Lyn has been working on her garden for several weeks. She has a small greenhouse setup in our garage. Lots of seeds have been planted and have started growing. In May, she will move these little plants to her garden.
Our chicken girls are very excited about the warm, sunny weather. They love to have Lyn open the gate and allow them to roam around our yard. They have a special location up close to our house, behind some very large flowers where they totally enjoy taking dust baths. That area is under the roof overhang and it is always very dry soil. They love it.
Once the girls have finished their dustbathing, they quite often step up onto our back patio and shake all the excess dirt onto the floor. Lyn has mentioned that she is considering adding to the flock. We might invite four very young chickens to move here and join the fun.
This entire winter passed and I didn’t attend one basketball game. We generally attend a couple of Southport High School games. My high school class is still very close and for several years we have all attended both a football game and a basketball game. The Southport Athletic Director would always assign us a special location and recognize us on the public address system during the game. We didn’t attend any games this year. Hopefully that will change by next fall.
I always attended some of the Beech Grove Boys and Girls basketball games, too. I still have many friends that work in the school system. I also am connected with students that rode my school bus. A couple are basketball players. I really hated missing all those games.
We just found out that Dr. Paul Kaiser, Superintendent of Beech Grove Schools, is retiring at the end of March. Stuart (Our therapy dog) is really upset about this. They have been good friends for a long time. Stuart and I have done a reading program at a couple of the schools for several years. We are both hoping to begin that program again soon.
I also missed attending any of the Marian university Women’s Basketball games. Former Beech Grove student and basketball player, Katie Gearlds is the Head Coach of this team. This was her eighth year as head coach. Over the years, her team has won two national championships. It is so much fun to attend her team’s home games. During her time at Marian, she has coached a couple of players that attended Beech Grove High School.
Katie was just selected to be an assistant coach for the 2021 USA Basketball Women’s U16 National Team.
Stuart and I have been in contact with the nursing facilities that we have visited for many years. We have been advised that if things continue to improve, we might be allowed some cautious visitations in the near future.
The Perry Township/Southport Historical Society has also been without meetings for many months. Plans are in the works to begin to have meetings again starting in May.