Straggler

We have a very active Garden Club--they do a wonderful job of beautifying our Uptown every year.  There are flowers everywhere.  Petunias are the most common flower they use: I assume because they are very hardy.  These little stragglers are a common sight. Last year's seeds seem to find the barest, most desolate spots to take root.  A couple of years ago we had a dozen or better Butterfly bushes take root next to the store where I work.I have no clue where those seeds came from but  I brought a start home and added it to my growing collection of flowers and plants. One of these days I'm going to run out of room!

Christmas Shenanigans

I was trying to take some pictures of the Christmas lights on Main Street to post on Life in Altamont this morning at a little after 6 o'clock. I parked my truck in what is considered a parking spot uptown and stood on the dashboard to take the picture. I heard a car pull up next to me and I didn't even have to turn around and look to know that one of our local policemen was "investigating" what I was up to. Really? You couldn't see I had a camera? I have to wonder where the local cops are while our soda machines at the grocery store are getting broken into!

Red Solo Cup

Tuesday a woman came in the store and asked if we sold red Solo cups. "No", I told her, "but we have red Hytop cups". (Our store brand). She looked at them and said, "I'm not sure these will work", and she left. I found it a bit strange. Then, Tuesday night as I watched Glee, much to my surprise, they performed a song called "Red Solo Cup", and I went, "ah, I get it!". Now, I don't listen to country music, but in my younger days we would have "keggers" and of course, there were red Solo cups. Therefore, I was rather amused. Jump forward to Thursday. My brother, whom I haven't seen in over a year, was passing through on a business trip and I went "uptown" with him and a couple of his friends that evening. He does listen to country music, so I related this story to him and we all laughed about the song. One of his pals had never heard the song, so the other pal went and found it on the juke box. Everyone sang along. Then we heard it later on the radio. We ended the evening at an establishment that had a DJ, so pal # 2 went and requested it. I think I have now had my fill of the song.

Although, I'm sure I'll get it hear it plenty because it's the kind of song I see getting played at Redneck wedding receptions for the next few years!

Exciting Things! Follow-up

One week ago today was a big day for my little town. Dean Karnazes stopped here on his Run Across America with his team to host a 5K run. There was alot of excitement. For almost 2 months plans and preparations were made. The Garden Club and some of the High School kids even worked uptown during the week prior to the run to make the town look it's best. Although we are in our "rainy and windy" season, the day was sunny and calm. The run started at the Grade School, and all of the students from the three schools were present. I took the day off and went early. Everything went well. There was lots of TV cameras filming every angle of the event. The next day there was a wonderful write-up on the Run Across America website. We were told the actual clip would be on Live! with Regis and Kelly on Monday. Everyone set their VCRs/DVRs--and nothing. It was never on. They skipped right to Indianapolis. There was lot of disappointed people. And to be honest, I'm a little pissed about it!

Exciting Things!

I can't say I'm a fan of Regis and Kelly. Heck, I've never seen their show. By the time it's on, I'm at work. But a couple of weeks ago my cousin told me about this man, Dean Karnazes, who is running across the country to raise funds for Action for Healthy Kids and Regis and Kelly are doing live feeds on their show throughout his cross-country run. He started at Disneyland on Friday, Feb. 25 and is heading across Arizona and New Mexico. One of his stops on his run to New York is going to be in our own small town! At that time, it wasn't common knowledge, but it had been announced at the City Council meeting the night before (my cousin is a Councilman). The really exciting thing is, we aren't going to just be a rest stop--we're going to be a featured stop, the only one in Illinois! It could be good publicity for us. I just wish it was going to be a month or two later. It's a very pretty town in summer when the trees are all green and the flowers are blooming. I think I'm going to have to take the day off!

http://www.dadt.com/live/special/runacrossamerica/index.html

Half-Mast

As a result of the shooting in Arizona, this week has been so upsetting and sparked so many discussions. Quite often living in this right-wing community is frustrating for me. My husband and I have had many discussions over the last two years about this very thing happening--I'm almost surprised that it hasn't happened before now. The sinking feeling I get in my gut now is in response to my fear that it's going to trigger copy-cats. I'm not sure this is going to be a lone tragedy. But I can hope.

Life in Altamont

I've spent so much time the last month getting ready for our town's first Homecoming, I haven't had much time to devote to other things, including this! A huge amount of time has gone into Life in Altamont , my blog about my home town, hoping to "reintroduce" people that have been away for a number of years. It's amazing to me how much our little town has changed in the last twenty-five years. When you see it every day, you don't notice it so much. I think I had kind of quit looking. But as I went around and took pictures and talked to people, I was rather amazed! My goal was to do one entry every day in May and it turned into more work than I ever thought it would be--partly because it kept raining and I had a hard time getting pictures! Somehow, I succeeded. Although it won't be a daily thing now, I plan on continuing. Hopefully, I can do one entry a week. There is still so much I missed! Who would have thought there was so much in this little town!

The Triangle

Ever since I was little and realized most towns had a town square, I've loved the fact that my town had a triangle! The layout of the town centered around two railroad tracks that crossed each other, but didn't dissect each other at a square. I've heard they are planning on tearing down the present gazebo and building a new one. The Triangle really is an integral part of our town. I don't believe the space is used as much as it could be, but it's not uncommon on a Saturday in the summer for there to be a bake sale or pork burger sale that draws large crowds. The Halloween parade and the Abate motorcycle parade both circle around the Triangle. I've heard in "the olden days" there used to be bands that would play on Friday nights. After the original building blew apart in a storm, walls would be put up around the gazebo in the winter to serve as "Santa's Cottage". I wish I had taken pictures a month ago. The Garden Club has been planting and caring for flowers on The Triangle for several years, and this year was especially colorful.