A New Chapter: Music, art and volunteering

Darrell Staggs photo

We started the weekend with a photography exhibit at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. The exhibit featured photographs of geological formations in Indiana state parks and national parks out West.

Darrell Staggs, an engineer at Lilly and former classmate of Mike's at Rose Hulman, exhibited his photographs. He had a very interesting technique of photographing reflections and then displaying the photos upside down.

Mike also gave me a quick tour of Moench Hall and the chemical engineering lab. And we "discovered" a new 3-D printer set up in a hallway for the students to use. Somehow I expect Mike to check this out before the quarter ends...

Stairs, windows and artwork in Moench Hall

And we participated at a United Way Day of Caring in Indianapolis on Saturday. The DePauw Alumni sponsored a volunteer day at South Circle Farm, a community farm in the industrial area of the city. This organic farm was built a couple of years ago with labor supplied by volunteers. The produce is sold at city market, and vouchers are given out at a local community center so their customers get fresh produce instead of canned goods at the local food bank.

We had about 20 volunteers who built a new raised bed and improved the compost system, all using repurposed items. Donated cardboard boxes, pallets, railroad ties and Christmas trees turned into wood chips were put to good use.

And of course, I was the "oldest alum" as most volunteers graduated in the past 10 years. So I shoveled wood chips with gusto, somehow wanting to prove that my age wasn't a problem! We really enjoyed meeting some new folks and helping with this farm. Nothing like volunteering and a hard day's labor to make you feel good about life!

Shoveling wood chips (me and Mike at far right)

Building compost bins

Young vegetables

And then there was an evening of music. One of our favorite local guitarists, Michael Kelsey, played at Parky's, a barbecue restaurant in Lebanon. We arrived early enough to enjoy a wonderful meal of barbecue ribs. And I did learn one valuable lesson here...playing scrabble on an iPad while eating ribs is not a good idea! What a mess...both me and the iPad!

Michael Kelsey is an amazing guitar player, and his use of a looper and eBow produced some incredible sounds. We also picked up a new CD called "Submerged". We are both inspired to pick up guitars again after a long hiatus!