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