SERVING HENDRICKS COUNTY SINCE 1847
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The Republican
Voices Exploring Hendricks County
By Jackie Horn
Thursday, February 18, 2021
ASK MR. TRAFFIC By Chet Skwarcan, PE, President/ Founder of Traffic Engineering, Inc. Chet@TrafficEngineering.com
(Please keep submissions under 500 words)
Our Readers Write This morning an Indiana friend (whose politics are irrelevant as most of my friends’ are) alerted me to the fact that one other thoroughly good and honest political Republican is resigning, secretary of state Connie Lawson. I can’t say we were exactly friends, but I have known her since she was a sweet clerk at her husband’s auctions, hoping he remembered to bid on a vacuum cleaner she wanted. I saw her frequently since we both liked to eat at the Clayton Cafe. I’m not sure how she got into politics, but state government, never a high mark in Indiana, was I am sure, the better for her presence. And while I am at it, I have recalled another Republican politician for whom I have some respect, Dick Thompson. My father always said the closer to home the government is, the better it is. Lynn Hopper ______________________________________________ ROAD SCHOLAR If it weren’t for the panademic we would be looking at Road Scholar catalogs trying to decide what program to take this coming year. Many people have never heard of Road Scholar. ( Roadscholar.org./ 800-454-5768). It is an orgainzation that promotes furthering education for people 50 and over. Road Scholar has something of interest for everyone. They also have intergenerational programs for grandchildren) We have gone to about 23 programs over the years. Usually there are about 40 people really nice people in a group. Road Scholar brings in knowledgeable people to lead the programs but no study is required. One of our most recent programs was Ken Burns and his documentaries. A favorite was about Cape May N.J. during Victorian times. You have to get yourself to the site but one price takes care of lodging, food, field trips, and even gratuties. Road Scholar not only has programs in the US but internationally. Don’t be like us and wait 10 years after we heard about it to take our first program. Bee Jones ______________________________________________ Growing up in America, we often heard the expression “Anyone can be President if he or she wants to.” When Obama was elected, that brought the idea home. Then Trump came along and now we were seeing someone from the business world coming forward and throw his hat in the ring. I listen to his speeches and felt like he would be a welcome change from the smooth talking politicians we had been used to. I thought “If there is one thing we need it is a businessman’s approach to our problems.” After 2016, I realized I was right. Our economy came roaring back. Taxes went down and jobs went up. Now we were cooking. What I did not expect was the constant attack that Trump would have to endure. Why? Could it be that Washington didn’t just dislike him, they truly hated him. Trump, being the New York Real-estate Businessman was very successful in a cut throat, in your face world. I believe he thought the same business tactics would work in Government. All his out spoken rhetoric fueled hatred with the Press and the Democrats. They looked constantly for things to embarrass and radicle him. I liked the fact that his messages on social media keep us citizens informed when it actually gave the Trump haters fuel for the fire. Now these same people are trying to eradicate him for a second time but they have moved it to the next level, make it impossible for him to ever run for President again. What a mess. I am so thoroughly discussed with Washington DC.
Navigation Apps Waze vs. Google Maps
Hendricks County Parks & Recreation A visitor tries out the power tool method of tapping a maple tree.
WARNING: You may never think of syrup the same again. For the past 11 years, the first two Saturdays in March have been Maple Syrup Days at McCloud Nature Park near North Salem. This year the event is scheduled for March 6 and 13, and although the format has been modified due to COVID-19, it still promises to be fun and educational. Self-guided tours and activities start at 9 a.m. and run until 3 p.m. with guided tours at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., which will lead visitors to the sugar bush (grove of tapped trees) and the sugar shack (where the sap is cooked). When I think about maple syrup, I picture a stack (about four) of perfectly round pancakes. A slab of partially melted butter is pooling in the center. Thick golden brown maple syrup covers the top and is slowly oozing down the side of the stack in synchronized rivulets, puddling on the plate. As a kid, our syrup came in a brown bottle shaped like a rotund woman. Mom would put the bottle in a pan of water on the stove while breakfast cooked because it was too thick to pour. Much like the Tooth Fairy, it was all a childhood fantasy. That wasn’t maple syrup. It was corn syrup. It wasn’t even maple-flavored. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I learned true maple syrup is light gold in color, watery, and made from tree sap. While that description is quite different from the pancake syrup offered in the grocery store, it does taste great on pancakes. All deciduous (i.e. trees with leaves) produced sap. Sap is a watery mixture of enzymes, minerals, nutrients, carbohydrates, and sugars. It is stored energy that the tree will use to jump start its growth and bud in Spring. Sap is stored in the tree’s roots all winter while the tree is dormant. When early Spring daytime temperatures rise above freezing (32 F) and then fall back below freezing at night, the sap “runs” or travels up the tree. Syrup is produced by “tapping” or inserting a spigot into a tree and capturing the sap as it’s traveling through the tree. While Sugar Maples are popularly known as syrup producers, other varieties of maple trees such as Boxelder and Maple-leafed Ash trees can be used as well. The more leaves there are on a tree, the higher the sugar content of its sap. For example, a leafy Boxelder tree can produce sap with a higher sugar content than a sparsely-leafed Sugar Maple. The collected sap is then boiled and cooked to a temperature of 219-degrees Farenheit to concentrate the liquid and make it sweeter. Maple sap is 1-3% sugar, but when it’s boiled and made into syrup, the final sugar content will be 66%. It takes 40 gallons of sap, several BTUs of heat, and many hours of cooking to produce one gallon of pure maple syrup.
Noel Gatlin _____________________________________________
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The Republican
Hendricks County Parks & Recreation The Sugar Shack at McCloud Nature Park demostrates the modern way to make maple syrup.
Interested in tapping and collecting sap from your trees? Want to make maple syrup at home? Just want to learn more? Contact the Indiana Maple Syrup Association through their website, indianamaplesyrup.org For more information on Maple Syrup Days (and all the other upcoming programs) check out the website: HendricksCountyParks.org or follow Hendricks County Parks and Recreation on Facebook. ______________________________________________
Anyone who travels is familiar with navigation apps. And anyone who has traveled for a long time is probably very far away. But, if you typically find your way back, you are likely familiar with Waze or Google Maps. And although you may be aware of both, most of us default to the familiar — supposedly, my uncle uses his familiar Magellan NAV 1000. But then again, I have not seen him for several years. I’m not even sure I have an uncle… Personally, I like Waze. Waze features crowd-sourced alerts that provide real-time information about unexpected congestion, delays, detours, hazards on the road, and where police cars are (in case you need to ask an officer a question). Crowd-sourced information is amazing. Recently, while driving on the interstate Waze announced, “Exit next right.” Although I was 100 miles from my exit, I obeyed. And as I was exiting, I noticed red tail lights for miles and miles beyond the exit. The Waze users ahead of me kindly shared their location and speed (0 mph) for the benefit of those behind — and this all happens automatically — no button-pushing required. Google Maps is owned by...Google. In fact, Waze is also owned by Google. In fact, Google owns everything. Waze was developed by an Israeli company in 2008 and purchased by Google in 2013. Not sure why Google continues to keep both apps...maybe the same reason Coca-Cola maintains 19 varieties of Coke. And although they are both owned by Google, they are meant to be used in different ways. Here’s what each does best: Google Maps — supports several different modes of transportation. It doesn’t matter if you drive, walk, cycle, or use public transportation. It also integrates with ride-sharing platforms like Lyft and Uber. Google Maps will even suggest a better time to leave on your journey: “You should have left 27 minutes ago,” (thank you). And with something called location sharing, you can communicate your location to friends and family before you get there. Waze — Waze is designed primarily for those who drive and relies heavily on user-reported data. “Wazers” alert each other to traffic and road hazards. Road closures, accidents, and other items pop up on the map as you’re driving along, helping you save time as well as avoid obstacles and hazards. All this happens in real-time based on information from other drivers. If a better route becomes available, you can trust Waze to let you know immediately. Because Google Maps and Waze are different, you might find it best to keep both on your phone (or have multiple phones). That way you can use one or the other, depending on the nature of your trip. Plus, having more than one phone is not only handy, it also complicates your life exponentially. ______________________________________________
A Squirrel About Town By Archy “You should bring back the estray pen.” Archy had a new suggestion for mankind in his crusade to help humanity. “The County used to keep an estray pen for animals who had wandered off and become lost,” the squirrel explained. “Right now, there are a lot of people who squarely fit that description.” I asked how penning people up would help the situation. “For one thing, it would keep them from being destructive,” Archy suggested. “Animals with no boundaries canbecome destructive. Herd instinct takes over and they do things they might not do as individuals. In many circumstances, crowds can cloud clear thinking.” That seemed evident. “Unfortunately, the ability to think clearly seems to be a bit lost itself,” he said, shaking his head. “People seem to have lost their sense of discernment when it comes to gathering information. They will follow what they perceive as truth without exercising any judgement. It’s sad, actually.” I agreed, but how do you get them to change? “It’s hard to get people to change their minds, and until they do nothing will change,” Archy said. They have to want to find the anwer.” And with that, the squirrel pull out a harmonica and began to play, “Blowin’in the Wind. _____________________________________________ I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain. James Baldwin
