Goose FIGHT!!!

As I was driving out of my apartment I saw to geese plunging into the water as a third goose stood by onshore. I pulled over and started videoing to two in the water who by the time I got close had each other in a ferocious grip and were attempting to beat each other with their wings. It was brutal and went on for about 10 minutes when one broke away and swam off quickly. The other gave a little chase but then returned to shore where the third goose was still at. Having looked it up the one goose was protecting territory (nesting) or it may have been a mating issue. Copyright © 1992-2020 Glenn Littrell http://www.glennlittrell.org/

We Did It Again!!!

13.5-Mile 500 Mini-Marathon  [see map] [video below]

After a 8 year absence Kelly & I completed our 5th Mini-Marathon together. With a new hip(2012) for me, and both of us being 7 years older, and little preparation by either of us, we had little expectations and goals in this year’s marathon. As it turned out we did finish the mini without any disasters, and for the first time since 2007 we finished together.

• 2007 Actual time: 3 hours 21 min. [Kelly & Glenn]
• 2008 Actual Time: 3 hours 24 minutes [Glenn]
• 2008 Actual Time: 3 hours 31 minutes [Kelly]
• 2008 Actual Time: 3 hours 15 minutes [Glenn @the Geist Mini]
• 2009 Actual Time: 3 hours 37 minutes [Kelly]
• 2009 Actual Time: 3 hours 57 minutes [Glenn]
• 2010 Actual Time: 3 hours 42 minutes [Kelly]
• 2010 Actual Time: 3 hours 46 minutes [Glenn]
• 2018 Actual Time: 4 hours 3 minutes [Glenn & Kelly] 

 

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2008 From Static Pictures

GRAVE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD.

In 1808, a 14 year old girl named Nancy Kerlin married a man named William Barnett, and the two lived happily, having 11 children. Nancy and William lived near present-day Amity, a small community south of Franklin near Sugar Creek. Amity wasn't actually founded until a number of years later in 1855.

• William was the great-great-great grandson of Pocahontas and John Rolfe. William, died by drowning in the Ohio River 13 years after her death.

Nancy passed away in 1831, and in keeping with her wishes, William buried her at what was apparently one of her favorite places; a hill with a beautiful view overlooking the creek. Nancy was the first to be laid to rest there, but before long, other locals were buried there and a cemetery grew around Nancy's grave.

Over time a foot path developed through this small cemetery and in the 1900s a county road was planned through it. Johnson County officials decided to build County Road 400 right through Nancy’s grave site. When workers arrived to move Nancy’s remains in 1905, local historians say they were greeted by her grandson, Daniel G. Doty, standing vigil with a shotgun in hand.

• Daniel was the son of one of Nancy's daughters, also named Nancy, the eighth of her 11 children. The second Nancy was 20 years old, if records are correct, when she married John Doty in Johnson County in 1843. Daniel was the second of her nine children.

For weeks, Daniel stood vigil, defending Nancy's final resting place, until every road worker was too terrified to cross his path. At this point, the county relented, and simply split the lanes right down the middle and worked around the plot. The county placed a concrete slab above the grave to protect it from inattentive drivers, and in August 1912, it was officially granted a historical marker, presumably to keep people from asking why the heck there was a giant hill in the middle of the road.

The other graves in the cemetery were moved, but I found no record of where they were moved to. There are three visible cemeteries within a mile and a half of Nancy's.¹ The closest one was about a half mile west of Nancy's grave setting back from the road, This is the Armstrong Cemetery.² While visiting one of the other two cemeteries a woman told me that the Armstrong Cemetery is where the other graves around Nancy were moved to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cemetery is also known as: Anderson and Israel Cemetery. There are three Armstrongs, two Israels, and no Andersons buried there, and no surnames that relate to Nancy's story. On the other-hand, of the 60 graves in this cemetery all predate the moving of graves from around Nancy and none of them predate Nancy's burial in 1831. The earliest tombstone date is 1834, three years after Nancy death, so all the graves in Armstrong fit with being buried between Nancy burial and the movement of the graves around her. On the day I visited there was no sign of the Historical Marker.

Another Intrusion on Nancy’s Grave:

In May of 2016 Indiana Road Crews and Archaeologist closed of East 400 South to temporarily exhume Nancy's remains and repave the road.

Archaeologist Chris Schmidt and his students will move Barnett's remains temporarily and do some tests on the remains. Later this month, crews will rebuild and lower the burial mound, widen the road and build a new protective barrier for the 185-year-old grave. When that's done, Barnett will be returned to her resting place. The site has been the victim of traffic accidents over the years. The goal is to make the grave safer for drivers and Barnett's memory. 

The two-lane country road was built around  what historians had mistakenly believed was Barnett's solitary grave. The excavations have now revealed that there were 7 sets of remains under the road. These remains are probably from unmarked graves that were overlooked in the 1905 relocation.

The recovered bones are being kept at University of Indianapolis in a secure facility. County commissioners voted to pay for DNA analysis on the bones and on Barnett’s living descendants for comparison. They expect the testing will cost about $6,000.

When the tests are done and the road work is complete, the seven sets of remains will be placed in new coffins and respectfully reburied in the mound overlooking Sugar Creek.

 

 

Location: E. 400 S., Franklin, IN From Franklin, 5.5 miles south on US Hwy 31, then a little more than one mile east on E. 400 S. From Edinburgh, a little more than four miles north on US Hwy 31, then a little more than one mile east on E. 400 S. HOW TO MOVE A GRAVE: http://www.indystar.com/picture-gallery/news/2016/05/11/how-to-move-a-grave-in-the-road/84237014/

by GlennDL

Sources:

• IndyStar reporter Vic Ryckaert
• Kelly Wilkinson/IndyStar
• http://www.roadsideamerica.com/
• http://www.findagrave.com/index.html
• Indianapolis Star
• http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/462#sthash.vpDomMX4.dpuf

1There are actually at least 5 within a short distance

2There is no signage, I later found it on the Find A Grave websites map.

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Near (west of) Nancy's grave on the highway is what is purported to be the Worlds Largest Rocking Chair. A claim made by several other rocking chairs that appear to be much bigger, and of better design, but this one is big nonetheless.

Bear Encounter: Behind the scene visit at the Indianapolis Zoo.

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Since these videos and pictures were taken both Kodiak bears have died.  Both were already advanced in age when the Indianapolis Zoo received them as in one clip you can hear the trainer talking about how one of them sometimes has bad days and doesn't want to leave the indoor enclosure.

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    Be sure to visit our post from our ‘behind the scenes’ access to the Walrus Exhibit.

 

2014 Kayaking on White River (Yorktown-Chesterfield, Indiana):

Kelly McKinney                                                                                     MAP IT

18 hrs · Edited ·

Allowed on Timeline

Yesterday my dad and I went on a four hour kayaking trip down the White River. It was a beautiful day and I had a great time! It also happened to be the 2 month anniversary of his hip replacement surgery. Would highly recommend it to anyone. The company offers Groupons often and provides everything that you need.

Cataract Falls: updated 2014

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2007 -- Visited during something of a drought so the water level was pretty low, Little Sister Falls was bone dry (it is a little spring fed falls that has some visual appeal even dry).  Got some great pictures until I fell in the water and soaked two cameras (see the note below on drying out electronics).  That and time constraints kept us (Troy, Kelly and I) from getting any pictures from the covered bridge.

2014 – Visited with Tracy, Sierra and Shilyn after doing the McCormack State Park ‘Volkssport’ walk. The water levels were higher than in 2007.  Ignore the dates on the picture, it defaulted to 2007 when I changed the batteries.

Visit the Cataract Falls website at: http://www.cataractfalls.com/

    There are three falls; upper, lower and Little Sister. There is a trail between the upper and lower falls, but you can also drive.  All three falls are in walking distance of each other.

Martin Luther King, Jr., Peace And Memorial Park:

The Landmark for Peace Memorial is a memorial sculpture at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Park on the north side of Indianapolis that honors the contributions of the slain leaders Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy. The sculpture, which features King and Kennedy reaching out to each other. It was designed by Greg Perry.

 

On the next day while speaking in Cleveland, Robert Kennedy gave an even more inspirational speech on ‘The Mindless Menace of Violence’. Nine weeks later, Robert Kennedy, like his older brother President John F. Kennedy and Dr. King, would also be assassinated.

 read the full text of the ‘Mindless Menace Of Violence’ speech

On May 14, 1994 President Bill Clinton delivered a speech at the groundbreaking ceremonies for the Landmark For Peace memorial at 17th and Broadway in Indianapolis.     read the text of his speech.

Martin Luther King “I Have A Dream”

full text of speech

Martin Luther King “I’ve Been To The Mountain Top” part 1

Martin Luther King “I’ve Been To The Mountain Top” part 2

full text of speech

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Wolf Park, Indiana

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Wolf Park is a nonprofit education and research center, founded in 1972 and located in Battle Ground, Indiana, USA. Its captive gray wolves, red foxes, coyotes and bison serve as ambassador animals, helping to educate the public about wolves, their relatives and prey, and their behavior.

Pictures and video from our 2010 re-visit to Wolf Park. We got to go into the enclosure with Tristan, Renki and Ayla for our 'sponsor' visit. My wolf, Wolfgang, wasn't in a good mood so I went in with Kelly to visit her wolf, Ayla, who also had Tristan and Renki with her. The visit was awesome.

“This one-of-a-kind demonstration is offered each Sunday afternoon during open season. Guests have the opportunity to watch what happens when predator meets prey. Bison are some of the most formidable prey wolves will meet in the wild, and healthy bison, like those at the Park, have nothing to fear. Visitors will be able to see how wolves test their prey for weakness and how the bison defend themselves and their calves by chasing the wolves away. Although no animals are ever injured, you will be given unique insight into how wolves hunt and how difficult it is to be a predator in the wild.”

Visit the Wolf Park website at:   www.wolfpark.org

Located in north central Indiana near Lafayette/West Lafayette Wolf Park is a Wolf preserve with a varied collection of North American animals.  Wolfs are observed in a compound with bleacher settings for demonstrations, lectures and observations.  Two or three wolfs are released [during presentations] into the very large Buffalo Compound so that their predatory behavior can be observed.  Don't worry the wolfs are at a distinct disadvantage as the herd contains many full grown bulls.  As a natter of fact the young bulls in the heard usually forget who is supposed to be the hunter and hunted.

Seminars~Gift shop~Wolfdog Hybreds~Wolf Park Kids~Wolf Park on Myspace~Newsletter

Indianapolis Zoo Walrus Exhibit: Our friend Brutus passed away. :(

On our trip to the Brookfield Zoo Kelly won free passes to a behind the scenes tour at the Indianapolis Zoo. Kelly, Jo, Sue, Greg, Joe and I all went and it was a hoot!

-click the arrow to start/restart the video- For pictures see Kelly’s blog: Into Kelly’s World….

For all our pictures from many trips to the Indianapolis Zoo see click here.

Me & Brutus (Left to Right)

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Around iNDY: Indiana Museum Of Art [IMA]

Located along the Central Canal Walk [Michigan Road and 38th Street]. 

Wolf Park: Indiana

If you’ve never been to Wolf Park it is a must see. For my birthday Kelly got me a membership at Wolf Park and adopted me a Wolf: Wolfgang. We will be attending a fund raising event in September but hopefully will visit before then.

For a more spirited Wolf/Bison encounter look at our video and slide show from our 2007 visit. click here

Kiss Z Cook:

Kelly, Jo, friends Melissa, Laura, Melvin Watts and I spent the evening at a 'cooking' cafe where we all cook a gourmet meal under the direction of Chef Dwight Simmons where we then all sat down and ate our creation.

It was a blast!

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Around iNDY: Downtown Canal

I didn’t know you could do this on the Canal!

Wakeboarding on the Downtown Canal.

Antique Mall’s Antique Car Show:

 

Stopped by the Shadeland Shoppes with Troy to check out the Antique Mall’s Antique Car Show.

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3444 North Shadeland Avenue

Around iNDY: Woodruff Place Flea Market

 

Troy and I went to the Annual Woodruff Place Flea Market today.  Haven’t been to Woodruff Place in almost 25 years.  Not since I was the Community Center Director there.

 

The Flea Market was interesting and things looked a little better than in ‘84’.  It had been on the downswing then as much of the houses had gone from owner-occupant to landlord-occupant.  Don’t know what the situation is now but many of the historic, and large, homes are still there.  The fountains are too even though they seem to have suffered a little neglect since ‘84’.  A shame because that was a strong neighborhood feature back then.

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Today, Woodruff Place attracts a wide variety of people who seek a quiet residential area minutes from downtown Indianapolis. The Woodruff Place Civic League has a large membership that organizes annual fund-raising events like the Flea Market, Victorian Home Tour, White Trash Tour, 4th of July Parade and other social engagements such as the Senior Tea and the Children's Halloween Party. And hats off to the legendary W.P. Lawn Chair Brigade, favorites at any local parade.    [from the Woodruff Place web site]

Woodruff Community Center 79-80

Their having a home tour [annually, the last weekend of June] but not likely we will make it.

Around iNDY: Glenn’s Pics

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Around iNDY: The Tree People

Located all over Indianapolis there is a 'tribe' of Tree People located along the Fall Creek Trail near the 56th Street bridge. They are located on private property but very visible from the trail, you just have to focus to find them. Once you see one they will all suddenly be visible.

Around iNDY: Indianapolis Art Center

Indianapolis Arts Center is located along the Monon Trail on the banks of White River. The grounds of the Center features sculpture, foliage and landscaping.


 

Around iNDY: Holcomb Gardens @ Butler U.

Holcomb Gardens is located along the Central Canal Towpath on the grounds of Butler University. You reach the Garden by crossing the foot bridge at the 2.6 mile marker along the trail. The garden, pond, and other features are very scenic. Going further south on the trail you will find the IMA and its outdoor gardens also by crossing a foot bridge.

NCAA Final 4 Weekend 2010

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