Happy New Year!

The weather was unseasonably warm today, the last day of 2010.  All the snow that had accumulated on the ground in the past couple of weeks rapidly vanished and to our pleasant surprise it uncovered a verdant lawn lying beneath, greener than it sometime was in the summer, during the drought.  I believe we have acclimated to the cold weather in Bloomington, for when the temperature reaches the upper 30's we regard it as kind of balmy.  


I hope 2011 brings us much laughter and lightheartedness.  
Here's to you all, in sympathy.

Crackling Fire

First Fire

We lit our first fire in the fireplace a couple of nights ago. Although there were fireplaces in the four houses we lived in Florida, we had never used them. Somehow they seemed to be more decorative than functional and there wasn't the right kind of weather for one to be in the mood for a crackling fire.  

We weren't really sure if the fireplaces, there are two, one in the living room, one in the basement, had been swept or inspected recently but we took a chance and lit the fire anyway.  After some fiddling with a stuck damper, Kirk managed to start a roaring fire in no time.  It created a cave-like atmosphere of warmth and safety, very primordial.

Speaking of warmth, I have to mention that the heating system in our house is very efficient and that the house itself is very well insulated, in contrast to the most recent house we occupied in Gainesville.  The heating system manages to maintain a constant 72 degree indoor temperature throughout all three floors of the house, seemingly without any effort.  I especially like the feature of the floor registers (heat vents) in the house, which are very common here; they help circulate heated air more efficiently and keep the feet warm on the bare floor.  

Snowed under

Ninja Warrior

The winter storm that swept past most of the Midwestern states this week dumped several inches of snow in our neck of the woods last night.  Luckily, a Ninja Warrior alighted on our driveway this morning to come to the rescue.  Attired with a sky mask and a pair of prescriptive goggles, though designed to be used under water, worthy of the niftiest ninja warriors, she set to work ploughing the snow off our driveway.  Even with her relentless weight training and running in bitter cold, it still took her close to three hours to get the job done, well, maybe, just tolerably.  Like Moses parting the Red Sea, she carved out our driveway from under the heavily packed snow with superhuman powers.  Before I could properly thank her for rescuing us from being trapped inside our house, she vanished in the thin air without a trace!  You are not to confuse those footprints on the roof in the other picture as hers; they belonged to the phantom squirrels who never stop hopping from roof edges to tree branches and vice versa as the quickest and safest mode of travel.

Phantom Squirrels Strike Again

Halfway Through

Mission Accomplished

Hoosier Values

During the mid-term election, I occasionally saw on TV, commercials of some state candidates, regardless of their political persuasions, touting "Hoosier Values", with special emphasis on their "gun-toting" tradition.  Exactly how the Hoosier values were different from the 'values' held by people from any other states was not clear to me.  However, there is something about the Hoosiers, or at least the Hoosiers we've come across, which stands out in our impressions and that is their kindness to strangers, a kindness which is trusting and unsuspecting, almost naive.  Some of you may protest by saying that kindness knows no states boundaries and after all we've only lived in three states so far, California, Florida, and now Indiana.  Well, I can only say that we derive our impression based on personal experiences and I will relate a couple here.


On Kirk's first visit to IU, flying into the Indianapolis Airport, which, by the way, is a gem of a small to mid size airport, unsure of where to go to pick up his rental car, he was standing around and looking somewhat puzzled.  A guy walking by stopped and asked Kirk if he could be of any help and upon learning that he was lost, pointed out to him where to go.  Kirk was pleasantly surprised by the kindness shown him, especially in a place where one least expects to receive random kindness from total strangers. Similar incidents have occurred to us several times since then, at street corners, at farmers' market, and so on.


In early September, on a late Saturday afternoon, the day before our "Beginning of the Term" as well as our house-warming party, at which we were expecting over fifty people, we went to Lowe's to get some parts for a ceiling fan.  While there, we saw some end-of-the-season outdoor furniture on sale for 50% off.  A sales person approached us and showed us a set of wrought-iron furniture, a 48" round table and four chairs, at a great price.  We were very tempted as we did not have any outdoor furniture at that time and we thought having something for people to gather around would definitely help draw the guests outside more.  We have an incredible backyard, with a large redwood deck and several terraces, which is a perfect setting for late summer evening parties.  We decided to buy the set but realized shortly after that we would not be able to transport it home in our car.  After asking us where we lived, the sales person offered to deliver the furniture to us; she said that she had a Trailblazer which the furniture box would fit in and as she had to go by High Street, which is actually on the other side of town from Lowe's, to run an errand anyway, she would be happy to bring it to us.  She also said that she got off in about 30 minutes.  We were elated and couldn't believe that someone would offer such kindness to total strangers.  We loaded the furniture box into her 'truck' and went home to wait for her, without any misgiving.  Sure enough, in about half an hour, an SUV pulled into our driveway and this hearty woman unloaded the furniture for us! 


Another example of the friendliness and helpfulness of the Hoosiers has to do with the postal carrier in our neighborhood.  I met Darlene during the first week after we moved to our new house.  She is a jolly and talkative person.  Seeing that I was wearing my running duds, she proceeded to tell me about how she kept fit by drinking a certain protein shake for lunch and also that she would stop on her beat at certain place to do push-ups on the sidewalk everyday. She looks very trim and healthy.  She gave me a couple packets of the protein shake to try and said that she would tell me more about it if I liked them.  It turns out that she is a distributor of the product on the side and can probably claim several clients from the homes she delivers mails to.  I was sold on the product, partly by her friendliness, but mainly because I don't want the hassles of having to fix myself something to eat for lunch.  Anyway, I have been having protein shakes for lunch everyday; even when it's freezing outside I'll be drinking my shake and shivering at the same time.  But, wait, the story doesn't end here.  Not too long ago, I was asked by two future colleagues of Kirk's to help renovate a house they were in the process of buying in anticipation of their coming move to Bloomington.  Their house is also located in the area south of campus, not too far from ours.  On seeing the postal carrier walking past her house, she said to me, something like "Oh, there goes Darlene, the 'duenna' of the neighborhood.  I'd better go say hi."  She told me that she has stored several pieces of furniture at Darlene's from their previous year's stay in Bloomington.  The take-aways  of the story for me are that 1) people here are very willing to lend a hand to help others and 2) Bloomington is a very tight-knit little community where everybody knows everybody else.

IU Mini

While shopping at the running store last weekend, we were told about the upcoming IU Mini (half) Marathon on April 2, 2011.  Kirk and I both decided to train for the race starting immediately as the training schedule for marathons usually takes about 18 weeks.  We've learned from past experience that the only way to run consistently is to train for a race. We need all the motivation we can get to run in this weather in the low teens.

I hit the road this morning for a 4-mile run.  The snow on the sidewalk has turned into ice and is especially treacherous to run on.  I had to slow down several times and walk gingerly over the ice on stretches of sidewalk.  Fortunately I didn't have any mishap. Those homeowners with houses fronting sidewalks and roads who took the trouble to clear the snow off the sidewalks did the general public, especially pedestrians, joggers, and bicyclists, a great service but they are the minority, I afraid.

Now that I have announced that I'll be running the IU Mini next April, I will have to stick to my words and do the training four days a week come rain, snow, or shine.  Wish me perseverance.   

O.M.G.

The snow-laden branches form an intricate lace screen
around the back of our property

The snow has been coming down with a vengeance; we woke up this morning to an unbelievable sight - the whole place is blanketed in snow!!  Before we left the house this morning, the City of Bloomington's 'snowmobile' had already come around and cleared the snow off the road in our neighborhood - talk about an efficient local government, this one gets an A in my book.  We've been busy today, going to the stores to get Kirk a pair of waterproof snow boots, some cold- weather running clothes and another snow shovel.  We got the snow off our driveway now, as you can see in the video; our neighbor, Mrs. Kay Moldstad, is not so lucky.  She is an old lady living all by herself; I'm afraid, she will be snowed in.  I'll check on her tomorrow morning.

This is the view out of my office window - did I ever mention that I have the best, the most strategically placed, room in the house?  It is the room directly above our living room; it was also the previous owner's office.  At my desk, a command look-out post, I can see any car entering our driveway and people coming around to the front door, without their suspecting that they are being watched.  I once spooked a visitor by tapping on my window from above; I only intended to make him aware that he was being observed.  As you can see from the picture to the right, our driveway is spic and span while the snow has completely overtaken Kay's driveway up to her garage door.  An urgent question in our mind is where the deer go for shelter in weather like this.  I've been looking closely at the snow on the ground for deer footprints.  

12.14.10 Update
Here they are, side by side along Kirk's, found on our entry path this morning.  The deer seem to be uncommonly lively these days; I often see them prancing about in the large tract of land behind our property or leisurely making their way, from lawn to lawn, heading somewhere, en famille, of course.

Here comes the snow!

The first snow of the year sneaked up on me last night, while I slept. It has transformed the landscape overnight with a thin layer of the purest and lightest white.  I have not stopped grinning from ear to ear since Kirk woke me up this morning, announcing "Ah-Ping, it's snowing!"  I have been outside several times since this morning taking pictures; my neighbors must have found me quite comical to watch.  The locals don't seem to be as excited about the first snow as I am.  Here are some of the pictures I took -

P.S. A very happy birthday to you, 'Little Cat'.  

Happy Thanksgiving!

The word 'snow', as in "chances for snow", has been uttered for the first time this year in the weather forecast for this Thanksgiving night!  Wouldn't it be great if it were true?!  We are going to Kirk's colleagues, Mark and Joan's house for Thanksgiving dinner and I will be keeping my eyes at the windows at dinner so as not to miss the first indication of falling snow.  Besides, we are now properly geared up to face the snow challenges, with the mighty snow shovel and scraper for the car windows.




Another bit of evidence that we have settled in was that we've gone to our first IU basketball game last night at the Assembly Hall.  Out of the blue our next-door neighbor, Mr. Sam Bell, the famous retired IU track coach, http://www.usatf.org/halloffame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=16, came over yesterday afternoon and gave me two tickets to the basketball game!  It seems that we've somehow managed to live next-door to people who have season tickets to sporting events but cannot make it to the games all the time.  (To wit, the couple who live in south Florida but keep a pad across from our house in Golf View just to go to Gators games.)  

The basketball game, though not as full of pageantry as those in O-Dome, was a lot of fun.  IU has had a very illustrious history in basketball under the reign of Bobby Knight, the winning-est and most controversial coach of NCAA Basketball, who was fired by IU in fall 2000 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Knight.  During the game they have this "Big Heads" thing - fans waving big cardboard faces of cheesy entertainers at the opponent players behind the backboard during free throws - which was something else!  Compared to what the Gators fans do, i.e., waving skimpy bikinis, this seems like a more tasteful thing to do. 

Finally, after forty some years, I've got to learn to play the piano!  It is like learning a new language at this time of my life but, I suspect, probably not as difficult as learning, say, German or Russian.  You're probably wondering what those disfiguring marks are on the keyboard.  Well, those are drafting dots with inked letters on them to help me memorize the names of the keys; not a very kosher thing to do to a piano, to be sure.  As you know, there is a piano in the basement which comes with the house we bought.  As it turns out it is more like a painted, 'crippled' (two of the pedals being broken), maiden, trapped in the basement of the house.  I had it looked at and learned that the reason why the piano, I suspect, as well as the billiard table, was offered free with the house was probably because that it was not possible to be moved upstairs without first being taken apart.  The piano technician told me that as it is the piano is worth about $250 and I can have it refurbished and tuned for about $1000 but it would only then raise its value to about $500 and I'd never be able to get it out of the basement without having it taken apart!  He strongly recommended against my doing anything about it but learning to play it.  According to him, though sounding flat, all the keys work.  I have since been taking piano lessons once a week and practicing about an hour every day.  


I hope y'all have a great Thanksgiving wherever you are.  Be safe and enjoy the festive occasion.  I will be singing and dreaming, let it snow, let it snow ... 

The Elephants are Coming!

The long-awaited leaf-vacuuming trucks have finally arrived in our neighborhood, three weeks later than promised, after our 4-foot high leaf embankment has been greatly diminished to mere mound.  I captured the leaf-cleaning operation in action; the pair of trucks look uncannily like elephants on parade, slowly going up and down the block and sucking up vegetation to eat along the way.  That's a thought!  Maybe the City of Bloomington should consider importing elephants to help removing yard waste.  Nah, maybe not; wild animals and the suburban environment are not a good fit, the free-roaming deer in town may be an exception.

I saw a couple of deer casually lounging against the hedge in our back yard this morning; though alert to potential danger, they are not exactly afraid of people.  Unfortunately, humans should be the least of their concern in a suburban environment; instead, like the other free-ranging city animals, squirrels, possums, armadillos, etc. avoid becoming roadkill should be their number one priority.  I was watching a group of deer, en famille, grazing on the front lawn of a house by the High Street the other day coming back from a walk.  High street is one of the main north-south corridors linking the University to neighborhoods south of campus, of which ours is one.  It is a busy, narrow, 2-lane road, with a narrow strip of sidewalk on one side.  Cars were zipping by me while I was leaning against the fence watching the deer.  I was very still trying not to startle them but in the back of my mind I could sense danger brewing in the air.  All of a sudden one of the deer darted across the street and before I could turn around I heard a big thud and an SUV coming to a screeching halt.  I shouted "NO" and for a few seconds locked eyes with one of the remaining deer, who seemed to have frozen with her head up.  I don't know whether any of you has ever looked a deer in the eye; their eyes are big and very expressive.  Fear and bewilderment filled her gaze, while mine was more accusatory - how could you let it happen, why didn't you stop him?  I don't know if street smarts can be taught or learned by the wild animals, but surely only those who possess it can survive in the suburban wilderness.  I don't know what happened to the injured deer; he managed to dart across the street and disappeared behind the woods around the neighborhood on the other side.  According to an acquaintance who had a close encounter with a deer on his way to work one time, the minimum cost for car repair was about $2,500 for a deer collision.  

What do you do?

To me, the innocuous "what do you do?", the first question one is likely to be asked upon being introduced, is a very fraught one.  It has lately been asked of me rather frequently; being new in town, we seem to be constantly introduced to people whom we meet for the first time on different occasions.  These days an awkward pause inevitably follows that question and the answer I come up with is usually unsatisfactory to me.  The reason of my pause and dissatisfaction is complicated and by writing about it I am hoping to sort it out for myself, a little bit at a time.


One of the fallouts of being unemployed is that it prevents one from giving a no-brainer answer right off the bat when asked what one does for a living - an answer which seems not only to define one professionally but also as a person.  It gives people a convenient handle to place one in a social milieu, a name which calls up instant images, whether or not they have any basis in reality or resemble one in any way, in the mind of the person one's being introduced to and with which that person throws over one like a veil.  Without that convenient title, one is lost in the myriad crowd of nameless humanity, indistinct and hard to pin down.


What do I do for a living?  In a not too distant past, I used to be able to reply with alacrity that "I am an architect!", which, like a badge of honor, was something to be proud of.  I was, however, never comfortable saying that, for it gave people an erroneous impression about me which the title 'architect' conjured up in people's mind.  I acquired the title late in life through the conventional path of education, internship, and examination, which took up the past 10 years of my life.  As such, compared to a seasoned architect, my architectural career was only at its infancy and now already interrupted before it had barely taken off.  Am I an architect, even though I am not 'making a living' as one but holding an active registration?  How much does the title 'architect' describe me?  Very little, I'm afraid.  


So, what do I do for a living?  "Nothing at all at present" would be the proper answer. People look at me funnily if I say so.  Someone said to me recently that "... while you, you do nothing!", another that "so, you, just stay at home?"  It was remarks like these which got me thinking.  What does 'making a living' mean?  Is making a living living?  Are there alternative ways to live than devoting all of your life to making a living?  It seems to me that as this enterprise of making a living tends to be very time-consuming or all-consuming that we substitute it for living.  It becomes living de facto and takes on so much significance as to define a person's life and identity...


I'm afraid that I'm not all that clear about what my thinking is regarding this question of livelihood but I'll continue to work on it.  Of course, I am well aware that I won't be writing about this if I had to worry about where my next meal will come from. 

b-town music scene

Bloomington, or b-town as it's sometime referred to, is famous for its rich and lively music scene anchored by the world-renowned IU Jacobs School of Music, http://music.indiana.edu/. Since the fall semester began, there has not been an evening, so it seems to me, without some musical events happening in one of its several performance venues, recitals or concerts by students, faculty, or guest artists, most of which are free and open to the public.  The music school attracts aspiring musicians of all ages and nationalities to this quiet little town, not in tangent with any major interstate freeways.  One notable instance is that there seems to be a big South Korean student population at IU and people attribute it without hesitation to the fame of the music school.  Why Korean students are particularly drawn to famous US music schools in this case is a mystery to me.  

The major musical performance space at IU is the Musical Arts Center (MAC), an understated concrete building, completed in 1972.  As one of the IU new faculty orientation activities hosted by the Vice Provost's office, we were given free tickets to their most recent opera performance, Die Fledermaus, last Friday with a pre-show reception and backstage tour of the facility.  We were told that its 90 ft x 60 ft stage space rivals that of the Metropolitan Opera House at the Lincoln Center and that its red interior color scheme is 'copy-righted'.  We have been to the MAC for six musical performances so far, of which three were operas - Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Little Women, and Die Fledermaus, all of which were credibly staged and performed by students with a full orchestra in accompaniment.  I am still in search of the best seat in the house for operatic performances as the height of the supertitles often conflicts with the optimum viewing of the stage proper.  The connection between the singing and the libretto is too difficult to establish when one constantly has to shift attention from the stage to the supertitles; one loses the sense of immediacy and one's attention lags as a result.  I plan to try the center Balcony seat when I attend the next opera performance there, as the height of the balcony might minimize the difficulty mentioned above.   


As a side note, I believe that the Met Opera HD Live at the movie theatre provides an invaluable service to people all over the world not fortunate enough to be in New York attending one of its live performances.  The sound and the immediacy, though miles removed, of live performances are captured; additionally, the theatre audience is treated to close-ups of the singers' faces in the throes of rendering dramatic arias and privileged views of the orchestra pit, the interviews with the principals and backstage activities during intermissions.  Hearing the stage manager's voice of "Maestro to the Pit" always gives me the goosebumps. I went to see the Met Opera HD Live performance of "Don Pasquale" yesterday and I must say that it was one of my most thoroughly enjoyed opera experiences ever!

As a contrast to the g-town, the home of the mighty Gators, where we came from, the football craze here is of a much smaller scale but with equal pride and frustrated enthusiasm.  Instead of the gator chomps, the de rigueur thing to do after each 'first down' at the football games is the curious 'cow-milking' hand movement, as described by Kirk, and the rather conductor-ish gesture, unfortunately not captured in my video, in sync with the abrupt cutting off of the tune played by the marching band.

Shades of Red

Shades of russet red have now appeared on the scene, gradually replacing the brilliant gold and orange which were the predominant colors in the landscape just a short while ago. 

  

One advantage of the thinning vegetation is that one can now see farther afield, though probably not an auspicious condition for the deer in the deer-hunting season; the other is that the warm rays of the winter sun are now able to penetrate to where there used to be full or partial shade in the summertime.  

Buried Treasures

Within the garden beds in these two photographs there lie buried 85 dormant daffodil, iris, and hyacinth bulbs of various kinds.  About half of them were planted in September and the rest were planted in the last two days.  The photographs will serve as markers to remind me where the treasures are buried and, when the bulbs are in full bloom next spring, as before/after comparisons.  


These bulbs were selected for their colors, fragrant quality and, most importantly, their Deer Resistant characteristics.  (In the few months since we moved here, we already have had several deer-related stories to tell, but they will have to wait for another post.)  I hope that this claim by the nursery where I ordered the bulbs turns out to be true.  I will be devastated if these bulbs, when they finally bloom, end up as fresh spring salad for the neighborhood deer families.  


However, before they have a chance to bloom, they have to first survive the looting by rooting of the squirrels and chipmunks.  The squirrels here are bigger than those in Florida; I think these here are called 'Fox Squirrels'. They are big and fearless and they have a nose for buried bulbs!  I caught one digging at where I just finished planting the first batch of bulbs as soon as my back was turned.  He stood his ground without flinching when I tried to shoo him away; I had to wave a big branch at him before he turned around and scrambled up the tree.  I sought advice from the nursery and was referred to an on-line article called "How to Keep Spring Bulbs Safe from Hungry Squirrels", http://www.greenthumbarticles.com/article/How-to-keep-Spring-Bulbs-Safe-From-Hungry-Squirrels-a887.html.  There are several suggestions but most of them sound too complicated.  I liked the suggestion about using odors that might be offensive to rodents. You see, I have already been using a peppermint-scented deer repellent spray, called Deer Out, on my Hostas which had been decimated by deer before we moved in. The scent works on the principle of association; the deers associate the scent with something which probably didn't taste very good and learn to avoid going near it.  I thought this might work with squirrels as well.  But as there is nothing above ground that they can sink their teeth into at this moment, they probably won't be deterred by the taste of Deer Out.  However, the scent might serve as a mask to keep them from smelling out the tasty stuff lying beneath the ground. 


I am happy to report that so far the spray seems to have worked and my bulbs are lying safely underground dreaming about the coming of spring. That is my hope anyway and I'll be sure to report back in a few months' time to see if these buried treasures have been looted in the interim without my even knowing it.  

Leaf Embankment

leaf embankment

These neatly piled-up, 4 to 5 feet high, leaf embankments can be seen in front of the yards of all the houses along both sides of the street in our little neighborhood. 


Coming from Florida, it was an eye-popping experience to see the leaves on the trees, in what seemed like a week's time in October, changed colors from green to brilliant orange and yellow and then without any warning one afternoon all (or almost all) fell to the ground as if in unison. After this, troops of yard workers started to show up in the neighborhood and the sound of the blower motor could be heard nonstop, one day from this, another day from another house all around us. And then we saw people dragging huge tarps overflowing with leaves to the curbs and dumped the leaves there. We were holding our breath and anxiously watching and observing all these activities happening around us, not knowing what we, or any respected citizen, were supposed to do with all these leaves.  We were paying special attention to our neighbors next-door and across from us and decided not to take any action until we saw what they did.  I went to the local hardware store and sought help about this leaf-cleaning business and bought myself one of those blue-colored tarps and a rake that was supposed to prevent leaves from being clogged in the spikes.  And on one chilly morning last week, properly protected with puffed jacket, a hat and gloves, I went out there and, like a monkey mimicking what other monkeys were doing, started to rake up the leaves, put them on the tarp, drag the tarp to the curb and dump the leaves there in piles.  It was actually not too hard to do and I made some modest piles of leaves in front of our yard and was very proud of it.  However, I only managed to clear a portion of our front yard and there was still the whole back yard to do and the obstacle of terraced steps to overcome with regards to the fully-loaded tarp.  Fortunately, I got an e-mail last Friday from the owner of our yard maintenance company offering to give us an estimate to clean the leaves including those on the roof and the gutters.  I had forgotten that he had mentioned this to us when we first engaged him in July.  So, after about two and a half hours of work by four young men this morning, our yard has been restored to its pristine condition!  The tall piles of leaves embankment-like in front of our house are now waiting to be vacuumed up by the City of Bloomington which runs a free leaf-pickup service starting today to December 17.  How thoughtful!


I was, however, forewarned by Kirk's colleagues the other day that the leaf-cleaning task was just the beginning of what was to come for folks living here.  They told me about getting the cars 'winterized' which I have done for one of the cars, about shoveling snow off one's driveway, a task which cannot be neglected or delayed and the possible consequences of neglecting to do so in a timely manner and about having to shovel one's way in and out of the garage at times. They told me that this time around no City service will be coming to clear the snow off your driveway or street curbs. I can already picture in my mind's eye the leaf embankments turning into piles of snow and everyone being entrenched inside their own house by snow piles blocking all the exits! 

What follows are the photographs of the 'same' view taken about a month apart from one another of our neighbor's house across the street -

9/10/2010

10/7/2010

11/9/2010