TV and Eclipse Glasses

As I wrote last time, our TV reception had deteriorated and we couldn't watch anything. Sometimes I think we watch too much TV but I don't think we're ready to ditch it completely. By late afternoon on Tuesday, the new lead from the roof to our apartment was installed! Since then we have had excellent reception. If we have no problems during the next week or so, we will declare the problem solved.

On Wednesday I began a serious search for eclipse glasses and realized that I should have purchased them weeks ago. I telephoned some stores and optometrists without any success. On one of my calls, the receptionist told me the doctor had ordered 25 glasses with delivery expected during the day; she had no idea when or who would deliver them. She suggested I call back later in the day. Around noon, after no luck with my other calls, I called again and, to my surprise, the order had arrived and they had glasses. Within a few minutes I was on my way and came home with one pair. They were only giving one per family but I was happy to get one. Now, if we have clear skies tomorrow, we will use our glasses between 12:57 p.m. and 3:45 p.m.

Last evening we watched some of the Colts' 2nd preseason game of the season. Andrew Luck is still recovering from shoulder surgery and the Dallas Cowboys were more than the Colts could handle. Wondering how the new players, a new general manager and a rusty quarterback, once he gets to play, will fair once the season gets underway.

Fall can't be far away; I've heard cicadas singing in the trees and, in less then two weeks, we'll turn the calendar to September. The year is slipping away, but it has been a busy and fun summer.

Recapping a Busy Week

• Played Pickleball at the Y Monday morning and later put in screens so we could open the windows and enjoy fresh air. Ray challenged me in several corn hole games but I couldn't find the range. Watched Hacksaw Ridge, the story of Desmond Doss who carried 75 men to safety as the Marines try to take Okinawa. Doss never carried or shot a gun.
• Tuesday was a beautiful morning for a run on the Tracy Trail and then outdoor Pickleball at Old City Park. Donated blood. Returned the book Alexander Hamilton to the library. It took nearly three months to finish this 700+ page monster of a book, but one that I thoroughly enjoyed which gave me new insights into the beginning of our country. Hamilton died in a duel with Aaron Burr in 1804. He would be called a workaholic in today's terms and was a prolific writer and set many precedents in monetary policy as the first Secretary of the Treasury.
• Played doubles Pickleball again at the Y on Wednesday and with only four players we played constantly taking an occasional water break. The last game of the day Ray and I played Don and Sharon (not a couple) and we finally prevailed 17-15. Games usually only go to 11 but need to win by 2. I'm still feeling the euphoria -- it's the longest game I've ever played. After the game we drove downtown to pick up vouchers that I had won for tickets to a baseball ballgame.
• Another run on Tracy Trail Thursday morning and after lunch our weekly bridge game at The Social, Greenwood's Senior Center. I was dealt good cards and had great partners and scored the most points of the twenty players. It's been a good week so far! In the evening we watched the conclusion of The Aviator, the story of Howard Hughes played by Leonardo DiCaprio.
• The gym is closed this week for annual maintenance causing many players to look for outdoor courts for Pickleball. The city of Greenwood has only two outdoor courts, rather puny for a city of 50,000+ but we managed to play for 1-1/2 hrs on Friday morning. Our TV reception has given us trouble in the past but it became much worse with constant freezes and flashing 771 error signal so much so we couldn't even watch a program. Ray made several phone calls and even had an AT&T tech come out to check the problem. Unfortunately, since we don't subscribe directly for DirecTV through AT&T, but through out apartment management, he couldn't help us at all. The next call was to the tech who has serviced us many times (he's become almost like a family member) and he immediately had a plan that he hopes will solve the problem but needs to get permission to enter the two apartments above us before he can put the plan into motion. So that means we'll have to wait until next Tuesday and we'll only be able to watch prerecorded shows until then. Not all of them are perfect either because of the ongoing problem.
• We've been part of a committee planning a BBQ and corn hole tournament for the 50s Plus club at church so on Saturday morning we headed to the shelter house on the church grounds to clean the picnic tables and prep the area for the evening's activities. Much of the food had already been purchased by other committee members but I put together a bowl of cole slaw and a corn and black bean salad. Ray was responsible for working out the logistics for the tournament. We couldn't have asked for a lovelier evening--especially considering this was almost the middle of August. Thirty-eight people attended including two guests who were representing a tutoring and mentoring program for children in the area around Our Savior Lutheran Church, Indianapolis. Food was provided by a Thrivent Action Team and everyone was asked to bring a gift for the mentoring program known as Rebecca's Garden of Hope. Jim & Pam from RGOH were presented $545.00 for their program, thanks to the generosity of those attending. Even though everyone didn't play, the corn hole tournament was fun for the players and even for those who chose to be part of the cheering squad for the ones who were playing.



Four Games at Once



Ray presents prizes to the winner
of the Intermediate Division

• After church and the monthly LWML Bible study on Sunday we were on our way downtown for the baseball game using the four tickets I had won. We found a friend from church who was able to go and she brought her friend who is a huge baseball fan (and Cubs fan too). Our seats were behind the visiting dugout on the first base side just far enough under the overhead balcony that we were seated in the shade! Again, the weather was perfect and the Indianapolis Indians won 2-0 over the team from Syracuse.

The JW Marriott reflects the beautiful clouds on
on a perfect Sunday afternoon

As I look back on the past week I feel blessed to have good health and the ability to have an active life participating in many events.

Amazing August

Mostly I think of August as hot days and nights, but the past few days haven't lived up to the image. In fact, on Friday morning, we went to an outdoor park to play Pickleball and between games I was chilly and donned a lightweight shirt.

With no rain predicted, we headed south late Saturday morning for Charlestown State Park located on the bank of the Ohio River. We were not familiar with the park but found it interesting. Our hike began with a steep decline on a paved path. We were headed to an area known as Rose Island. Technically, Rose Island is not an island but a peninsula separated from the mainland by a wide creek. We walked across the bridge and entered the island.

The bridge over Fourteen Mile Creek comes from Dubois and Daviess
counties where it was dismantled and rebuilt here between 2008 and 2011.

According to park literature, Rose Island was an amusement park in the 1920s. Attendance slowed after the great Depression and the 1937 flood damaged the park beyond repair and it never reopened.

The trail begins at this point with several plaques and a timeline.

Signs along the trail were informative. We also saw
markers depicting the height of the flood waters in 1937.

At this point visitors from Louisville would arrive
by boat to disembark for a visit to Rose Island

The swimming pool was a perfect way to cool off in the
days before air conditioning. The pool has been filled
in as a safety measure.

The Rose Island trail was less than a mile in length; at its end we were back on Trail 3 for another 2 miles walking through deciduous forest over some rugged sections and some smooth and easy. 

Before long we were back on the highway headed to Medora to revisit the covered bridge we first saw last October.

This is the longest historical covered bridge in the U.S.

We had tickets for "Dinner on the Bridge," an annual fundraiser for the preservation of the bridge.

The woman who designed and made the decorations
for all 50 tables happened to sit at our table.

We parked at the east end of the bridge as did members of a local Corvette Club. At the west end of the bridge there were restored Model T cars and one Model A (we were told). I'm disappointed now that I think of it, that we didn't walk to the other end to see these vintage cars.

This is only a portion of the corvettes.
The police made a special effort to park them together.

After all the door prizes were given out (we didn't win any), we headed home planning to take State Road 135 all the way. We had gone a few miles, when we came to a road closed sign and had to take a detour all the way back to I-65, but we still arrived home by 9:35.

Will Amazing August weather continue? I suspect we'll have some hot and humid days before the month is over. What do you think?