22 minute read
Voices
We offer Voices as a place to share a story, a memory, an idea, a comment, a criticism, or a solution. Contributors must include name, address & phone number. (Please keep submissions under 500 words)
Exploring Hendricks County
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By Jackie Horn
With Groundhog Day this past week, I feel the need to ask the question,
Groundhog: Harbinger of Spring or Just Another Large Rodent?
Every year on February 2nd, the folks in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, pull a poor drowsy rodent out of his man-made winter burrow and ask him to tell the world whether Spring is here or if we need to endure six more weeks of winter. Punxsutawney Phil isn’t the only groundhog to be abruptly awoken to predict the weather. Wiarton, Ontario; Sun Prairie, Wisconsin; Dunkirk, New York; Staten Island, New York; and Atlanta, Georgia, all have their own woodchuck weathermen. (Sorry ladies, for some reason all the prognosticating whistle pigs are male – or at least have male names.) As a kid I really believed. The groundhog didn’t see his shadow? “Get my shorts and sandals out, Spring is just around the corner!” As I got older, and wiser, I questioned why I didn’t see any Hoosier woodchucks getting out to check the sun? It seemed to me that winter dragged on regardless of the sky conditions on one early February morning. So what’s up with Groundhog Day and Spring? The tradition of waking up a groundhog to foretell the end of winter was brought to America with Dutch and German immigrants. February 2nd is the mid-point of winter and in the Old Country, a badger was thought to be able to predict the coming year’s weather. Woodchucks are more common (and a little less feisty) than badgers here, so a groundhog was used.
Groundhogs (which are large ground squirrels or marmots also known as Woodchucks or Whistle Pigs) are one of the few true hibernators. They build a winter den, usually in a brushy or wooded area, below the frost-line. After gorging themselves all summer and fall to put on weight, they enter the den in October and “sleep.” While they sleep, their body temperature can drop as low as 35 degrees Fahrenheit and their heart rate falls to 4–10 beats per minute. They breathe once every six minutes. When Spring comes (usually in March or April in Indiana, NOT February) they wake up, emerge from their dens and mate. The 2-6 babies are born about 30 days later. Dad may or may not stick around to help out with rearing the young. By August the young are ready to build their own burrows for the following winter.
The problem I see with trusting the groundhog for weather reporting is visibility. Unless you know where a burrow is and stake it out, or one crosses the road while still drowsy and becomes roadkill, you miss the heralding of Spring’s arrival. A much more dependable animal for announcing Spring, in my humble opinion, is the Skunk.
Skunks are not rodents. They are most closely related to weasels. Not a “true” hibernator, the skunk does enter into torpor (think Hibernation Lite). They move into a den (often the same one every year) and enter a dormant phase. They become inactive, eat very little and sleep deeply. Like groundhogs, skunks emerge from their dens in early spring to mate. The females birth 4-7 kits, usually in May, 66 days after conception. (Counting back, the skunks are reappearing and mating about the same time as the groundhogs.) Mom raises the offspring alone. She protects them with the scent that we all associate with skunks.
Interestingly, a skunk will give predators plenty of warning before spraying. Skunks’ memorable black and white striped coat is a warning. “Remember me? You don’t want to get too close there Buddy.” If that doesn’t work, the skunk will flip its tail around, hiss and stomp its feet. If all else fails, it sprays. A skunk doesn’t want to spray. Its limited supply of stinky chemical takes ten days to replenish, rendering them almost defenseless until then.
It’s that smelly spray that makes the skunk my favored harbinger of Spring. You don’t need to see a skunk (or their shadow) to know their winter slumber is over. Skunks have terrible eyesight. They can’t see anything beyond 10 feet away. Add to that, when they first leave their burrows, they’re a bit groggy and wander into the road.
Forget groundhog shadows. Use your nose. You’ll know when spring is in the air. ______________________________________________
Hinduism: We Don’t Bite!
By Krishna Lathish
[This week, Voices welcomes a new contributor. We’ll let her introduce herself:
Hi! My name is Krishna Lathish, and I’m a junior at Avon High School. I am 16 years old and very excited to be able to contribute to The Republican! I’ve always been an avid reader and a childhood with my nose in the books eventually led to wanting to write myself; I hope to go to college on the west coast with a major in journalism/media studies and become a literary editor or journalist. I’m excited to get to know the community!]
The first school I ever attended, from 1st to 2nd grade, was Chapel Hill Christian School in Speedway. Learning bible verses at school and coming home to the Ramayana may seem confusing for a child, but I never had a problem with it. No one had to explain to me that you could go to school, read about and respect Christianity, and still be Hindu.
However, when I brought up being Hindu as a child, I was met with confused stares and insensitive questions. Why did I have to respect their religion when they didn’t do the same? Did The Golden Rule only apply to fellow children of Christ?
But I wanted to be rational. There’s no point in holding grudges against children, and what knowledge they didn’t have of world religions would develop through the school system and world experience, right?
But by my friends’ own admissions, they barely know anything about Hinduism, aside from some vague memories of freshman year history. Most didn’t know there was a Hindu temple in Avon. This didn’t make me angry, but more disappointed.
There are many Indian people in Hendricks County, a lot of them practicing Hindus. I’ve always appreciated this town for it’s diversity, but what’s the point of diversity if people are made to feel like outsiders?
But idle complaining doesn’t accomplish anything, so instead I’ll give you a crash course on Hinduism. It’s the world’s oldest religion, dating back 4,000 years, and is polytheistic, emphasizing the importance of samsara (the cycle of life) and karma (cause and effect). The “goal” of Hinduism would be to attain moksha: freedom from the cycle of life and death as part of the supreme soul. God is referred to as Brahma when formless and Paramatma when corporeal; in this form, God comes as the figures Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu.
All this could be learned from a simple Google search, or even better, through asking a Hindu friend. My experience in Hendricks County leads me to believe that this lack of education isn’t malicious, but rather from a fear of asking the wrong questions or not knowing the right people. But as a Hindu girl, I can assure you that your Hindu friends are more than happy to explain. And if you don’t have any yet, make a visit to one of the numerous (over 15) Hindu temples in Indiana! If all of that isn’t convincing enough, just know that we love to feed people.
I’m not perfect either. I don’t know every catechism or perfectly understand the Torah or Quran, but I’d like to take the first step. There’s so much to be gained form learning about the world and beliefs that you haven’t considered before, and there’s never anything to be lost by making someone feel more welcome.
When we all move towards inclusivity in Hendricks County, there are no losers. ______________________________________________
A Squirrel About Town
By Archy
“Pendergast took this one.”
Archy was showing me his family photo album. We were looking at a cabinet photograph of a well-fed squirrel, balanced on his haunches, beside a pile of walnuts that exceeded him in height.
“It’s an occupational,” he added casually, describing a vintage photo showing someone in the garb of their profession or with the tools to their trade. “Grandpa Phineas was a noted gatherer.”
The album was old fashioned, with a plush velvet cover, but the photographs were of exceptional quality and sharpness. He turned a page to show a view of Main street from a considerable height.
“Taken from Grandfather Enoch’s nest,” he explained, “near the top of the hackberry tree that stood on the northeast corner of the court house yard. Planted when the old Gothic brick court house was completed, by one of the men who helped build it.”
Archy’s collective memory kicked in. “Young squirrels used to race to see who could be the first to climb to the top. The squirrel brides used the witch’s brooms from the tree to fluff their nests when the in-laws were coming. It was a shame they cut it down.” I didn’t know squirrels had their photos taken. “We town squirrels had an agreement with the photographers,” he explained. “They took our pictures, without charge, and we agreed not to bombard their skylights with walnuts. Equitable, don’t you think?”
He turned to a photo of a desk with open books scattered across the surface.
“Cousin Osorio attended Central Normal College,” he said with no small measure of pride. “Took the Scientific Course. Became Professor Tingley’s assistant. “
I pictured a squirrel in a white lab coat, holding a beaker of foaming liquid.
“Not that kind of assistant,” Archy snapped. “He and his comrades helped Tingley string the wires for the first telephone in town, in 1879. Wires had to be strung through the trees because there were no poles. The squirrels threaded the wires so they were windproof.” “Quite a family you come from,” I said admiringly. “Everybody’s got one,” the squirrel said. “They just don’t always know about them.”
ASK MR. TRAFFIC
All Developments Generate Traffic
Exception: Ice Cream Shops
Today’s column addresses, by far, the most asked question from my readers, “When do you plan to pay back all that money I loaned you?” On second thought, let’s move on to the second most asked question, “What are we going to do about all that traffic?”
This question has become the standard question to ask whenever a new development is proposed near your house (or in your community — unless it’s an ice cream shop or a Taco Bell — then we really don’t care about the traffic — nor should we). Granted, it’s a reasonable question. All development results in more traffic — some more than others — some, a LOT more than others. And as we all know (by now), increased traffic goes hand in hand with living in a desirable community. Maybe there’s a better question, “Is the proposed development consistent with community goals and land use plans?”
If the answer is ‘yes,’ then increasing traffic is no surprise. In fact, it’s a by-product of living in a flourishing community. Should traffic stop increasing, well, now that’s something to be concerned about. The important question then becomes, “How can we best accommodate extra traffic?”
This is where a traffic study quantifies existing traffic patterns, predicts future traffic, and overlays one on top of the other to identify what needs to be done. Recommended improvements such as more turn lanes or traffic control have a common purpose: to maintain accessibility, efficiency, and safety for both the existing and future traffic on the adjacent roadways. How soon we forget — all of us were, at one time, future traffic. ______________________________________________
Our Readers Write
Spring where art thou? Even though it has been a mild winter thoughts of spring always make me feel better. There have been so many downers this year: violence, political problems, and worst of all covid. The first day of spring this year is March 20th. But already we are seeing more daylight, signs giving numbers for baseball signups, trucks delivering farm equipment, and nurseries with opening dates to name only a few. Years ago we knew spring was close when the dairy queen in Brownsburg opened (They used to close for the winter) and Jesse’s market also in Brownsburg started having onion sets and seeds for planting. Let’s start the countdown to spring to give us a boast. It’s approximately 48 days til spring.
Bee Jones Brownsburg
Introducing The Indiom Challenge
What is an Idiom?
It’s a hot potato, rest assured, it’s a bitter pill, easy peasy really. Idioms set the bar, best thing since sliced bread, don’t bite off more than you can chew, though. Let’s not beat around the bush, it’s the best of both worlds.
There is a method to my madness, some may say I’m not playing with a full deck, off my rocker. I just take it with a grain of salt, don’t want to steal anyone’s thunder.
Now, don’t throw a hissy fit, God don’t like ugly. Bless your heart, now y’all give me some sugar.
Hold your horses, I reckon it’s time for a come to Jesus meeting on this. Don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya”
Well, I’m busier than a one legged man in a butt kickin’ contest, it’s time for me to fly, if you catch my drift.
I love these. My brother could “turn a phrase” as well as anyone and I do miss that about him.
Do you have a knack for “turning a phrase”? You are always welcome to stop by the paper for a chat.
Jerry Vornholt
Idiom Challenge Use one of the following idioms in a conversation this week: “It’s colder than a brass toilet seat on the shady side of an iceberg.”
“Hotter than a goats butt in a pepper patch.”
“I’m so poor I couldn’t jump over a nickel to save a dime” _____
Grow Micro Greens - The New Big Thing!
By Colletta Kosiba
Hendricks CountyMaster Gardener
Try something new this winter Grow Micro Greens!
Micro Greens are for the curious home gardener. Micro Greens are basically the seedlings of plants. They are not sprouts. They have more nutrients and vitamins than the adult plants. Microgreens may be used to garnishing salads, sandwiches, soups, or used like lettuce.
I like easy-- so I ordered a kit from Amazon. It will be fun to experiment. Only takes 10-12 days to eat the results.
Thought I would share the information so you could have an adventure with me.
Recycle take-out containers into micro-green gardens.
Here are instructions from the internet for you to try growing microgreens without a kit. You need:
Micro-greens will grow toward the light. Be sure to rotate the trays when they start to lean one direction. ___________________________________________________
Keep micro-greens watered. If you let them get too dry, they’ll let you know by wilting. ___________________________________________________
Instructions 1. Fill the tray with about 2” of soil.
2. Broadcast the seeds across the surface of the soil in a dense layer. No need to worry about getting it perfectly even or spaced out equally.
3. Sprinkle more soil lightly over the seeds, and use your hand to pat down the soil a bit.
4. Water the microgreens until they are very, very damp.
5. Place the seeds in sunlight or under grow lights. 6. Mist with water a few times a day, until the greens are ready. This should take 10-12 days.
Microgreen Seeds Mix (they like the mix from Johnny’s Seeds) You can try radishes or lettuces or cabbage family of seeds- instead of buying a mix. Seeds should be in stores now. Let us compare notes.
I planted some bird seed. A bird came up. Now I don’t know what to feed it.
A Bark From the Past: Henry
[Editor’s Note: The Republican’s first four-footed correspondent was Henry, a mixed breed rescue dog, who made observations about small town life from a dog’s point of view.
Woof!
And double
woof! Am I ever bummed out. I went to the vet for my regular check-up, which I always look forward to. Dr. Howard is nice and he gives me treats! But, I get weighed before he sees me, and wouldn’t you know, now he says there’s more of me to love! But then, he told my human that I needed to go on a diet. I was crushed! I mean, I could tell my collar was getting a bit tighter, but I thought it was just shrinking. How embarrassing!
Now, I have some special food that supposed to help me lose weight. I started eating it yesterday, and it tastes like the bag that food comes in. And the food has its own little cup, and I get that much and not a nugget more at each meal. Did I mention that the cup was tiny? My brothers and sisters gobble up their regular kibble and snicker behind their paws when our human puts my food bowl down. They think it’s funny! I should add that my brother Howard is no whippet himself, thank you very much.
Now, my human female used to snack on these things called rice cakes. You’d think that anything called cake would be yummy. But one time, I got a new package of them off the kitchen counter, and I ate them all. I couldn’t tell I’d eaten anything! If it hadn’t been for all that mush stuck to the roof of my mouth and the shredded wrapper on the floor, I would have thought I made it all up.
I think the humans who invent all this diet food have no taste buds. If they can make plastic bones that taste good, you’d think they could make diet food that tastes good, too. But maybe that’s why it works. You just don’t want to eat much of it.
And, as if that weren’t bad enough, they have me on an exercise program. My human takes me for walks on his treadmill, which is kind of tricky, because we’re both on it and it’s kind of narrow, so I walk behind him. But if walk a little faster than the treadmill is going round and round, I bump into my human. And you just walk and walk and don’t go anywhere. Why would anybody want to walk if they don’t end up someplace new or maybe just see something interesting?
My human female has been leading me up and down the stairs over and over. She said she doesn’t know about me, but her galoots were tightening up. I don’t even know where my galoots are, much less whether or not they’re loose. I don’t know how tight galoots are supposed to be, but I hope mine get there soon. Those stairs are tough!
Oh! My human is calling me for supper. I’m going to linger over it. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be back in two minutes.
I’m back. I enjoyed my diet meal — two heaping mouthfuls of almost kibble. And I felt like having dessert, so after I finished eating supper, I went through the kitchen and stared at the cookie jar for a while. Woof! Am I stuffed! If you hear a growl, I promise, it isn’t me. It’s just my stomach.
Thought for the Day: A recent study showed that if people who are pre-diabetic start a diet and exercise program and lost just seven pounds, the chance of them becoming diabetic is reduced by fifty percent. Think about that the next time you Biggie size. ______________________________________________
Looking Beyond Scores and Grades: Signs You’re Raising a Reader
Doing the work to raise children who are readers can feel complicated. Some moments are warm and content, like finishing a well-loved book together while snuggled up during bedtime. But some nights, you may feel tired and worn out, when all you really want to do is run a bath or sleep. It can also be frustrating, especially in those early years when your child is misreading every other word. And the conversations and debates about what to read, how long to read, who will read, etc. can be incredibly draining.
The cure is to stop periodically and notice success, both small and large. It is important for both you and your child. Think beyond the test scores, the grades, and the reading levels. These indicators can feel heavy, especially if your child is considered to be behind. And a child reading above grade level can also present concerns, like finding challenging, yet appropriate books. This is exactly why it is so vital we stop to appreciate the many moments when we can find comfort that we are raising children who are readers.
Start by remembering the definition of a reader. Someone who reads or even more simply for our youngest friends, someone who looks at books. A reader is someone who understands that words have power, whether we are reading them or writing them. They understand that reading and writing can be used for entertainment, persuasion, or information. They begin to wield this power and use it to live a better life.
Here are some real examples from my own children and my two nephews, who cover a wide range of reading abilities, that have shown us we are raising real readers. You’d never find this information on a report card.
● 13 year-old: After a heated argument, we agreed we needed to retreat to our rooms to do some thinking. After a few minutes, I composed a text to my son, summarizing my thoughts about ways we could both improve. I knew if I texted him, he could keep it and review it, where he might not be ready to listen to the words he needed to hear. Confession: I was also worried I hadn’t cooled down enough and if I shared my thoughts, I might get upset again. But before I could hit send, my son knocked on the door and handed me a letter he wrote to me. It was incredibly thoughtful, and not just a blanket apology. It was clear he had really been thinking. He dug deep and found some reasons why he might have been acting out, things I hadn’t thought about. This is a HUGE milestone, y’all. He is using his ability to write to help communicate.
● 11 year-old: This is a child who would be the least likely to tell you that reading is a hobby for him. He puts up a stink about reading at any other time other than long rides in the car or for 20 minutes before bed. And even then, he sometimes complains. He’s also very particular about what books he is willing to read. If it’s not a biography of a famous athlete or historical fiction about troubled times, he is very likely to snub his nose at it. And yet, he can often be found scouring the local newspaper when it comes on the weekends, or pulling up websites to get more information when something has piqued his curiosity. And he asks the deepest, most heartfelt questions based on things he reads, especially about historical events or people who have been through difficult circumstances.
● 10 year-old: This one loves a project, from adding art to her walls or baking a cake. Recently she asked to borrow my computer so she could make a PowerPoint presentation. I didn’t ask what she was working on, just handed her the computer, happy that she might be entertained for awhile. Later she asked me to think about the books we had read together recently. I rattled off a few and went back to my task. An hour later, she brought me the computer and to my surprise….showed me a presentation about her favorite books we had read together in 2020! My mouth nearly dropped!
● 9 year-old: Let the youngest of the bunch be the example that you should never, ever give up on the idea of your child being an avid reader. This was the kid who aggressively tossed board books and picture books as a toddler way more often than he sat to flip through them. He never once sat through an entire story time at the public library. He was late to show an interest in learning his letters. But in second grade, he fell down the rabbit hole that is the Dog Man series by Dav Pilkey. And now he is the kid that often passes up an opportunity to go play outside because he’s too deep into a book. I’ve even started to notice that when he feels frustrated or upset, he’s turning to quiet time spent reading to regulate his emotions. And while at first he maintained he only loved Dog Man, and read those books over and over and over again, he now happily reads lots of series and authors and genres.
Look at these as stepping stones, leading down a path toward an adulthood that includes the use of words used in powerful ways: communication tools, relaxation, or a hobby. Perhaps these stepping stones will lead to raising readers in the next generation of your family.
In a world of education that often seems to want to categorize, track, and label, remember to look for these authentic, genuine signs you’re raising a reader. They may not be quantifiable on a spreadsheet, but they are qualifiable in your heart and that’s what matters.
Renee Bowman is a former classroom teacher, reading specialist, school librarian and forever learner. She’s mom of two, wife, and one-half of the blog Raising Real Readers. You can connect with her @raisingreal on Twitter and @RaisingRealReaders on Instagram and Facebook. She is proud to call Danville home. ______________________________________________
