The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1164723
The Press-Dispatch Home Life Wednesday, September 11, 2019 C- 5 "It's... bright." This is about the closest thing to a compliment that the new shutters on my house and the new color of the front door have received. Colorblindness runs in my family. I am not colorblind. I have what I be- lieve to be a mild hue-blindness. The color wheel doesn't have as many op- tions for me as it may for you. Where you see tiny squares of incremental dif- ferences, I see long rectangles of same- ness. I once tried to use this fact as an excuse for my mediocre grade in a po- etry class. My professor did not agree that this had any effect on my lacklus- ter submissions — or my growing num- ber of class absences. Bright has often been used to de- scribe my adornments. Wow, that outfit is... bright. Wow, that computer case is... bright. Wow, those shutters are... bright. A few days ago, a neighbor sent out a message on our community Facebook page that she will be going around and looking at design choices of homes up close. She said she likes what a number of folks have done recently to spruce up their homes and will be on our prop- erties simply to get ideas for her own home. When I ran into this neighbor, I warned her about some of the lumber to the side of our driveway that we are using for our fence. "Careful not to trip," I told her. "Oh, don't worry. I won't be com- ing by your house. My taste isn't so... bright." When I was 12, my family went to Florida to visit my dad's best friend from childhood. He has a daughter, An- nie, who is a year older than I, and we opted to get away from the boring adult catch-up ses- sion and go to the mall with her friend. I can't remember how the day unfolded or who was driving us. I know we didn't have a car, because we wound up hitchhiking back to her house. "Not bright, kid. Not bright! " my mom said, furious. I didn't want to talk about my adven- tures in sticking my thumb up on the side of a highway in an unknown town with people I barely knew. What was the big deal anyway? I wanted to talk about my brush with fame. Earlier in the evening, though I can't recall how exactly, we had been given a ride into an exclusive neighborhood. A fter be- ing checked in at the gate, we drove past the biggest mansions I'd ever seen and pulled in to the driveway of a house next to the brightest house imagina- ble. It was pink, if you lit pink on fire, with radioactive-green shutters. Color- ed spotlights shone up at the mansion, cascading the face of the home in or- ange circles, making it look like a case of the chickenpox. There were swirl- ing yellows and aqua blue trims, and I couldn't look away. It was both tacky and magical. "You like that house? " Annie's friend said as she got into the car. "Our next- door neighbor is Dan Marino." I didn't know football, but I did have "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" memo- rized. This house was as close as I'd ev- er been to meeting some- one famous. And it was especially great because it wasn't just a handshake on the street. I had a real glimpse into the life of a fa- mous person. I was look- ing at his house. And man, was it... bright. In retrospect, I don't be- lieve that house belonged to Dan Marino. Annie's friend lied nonstop that day at the mall, about things she had done and people she partied with — her best lie perhaps being that hitchhiking home is totally safe and proves that one is cool. The house has always stuck with me. That said, bright is not what I was go- ing for when I opted to paint the shut- ters on my house and the front door. I was just trying to navigate away from dull. Our brick home had a black door and black shutters and just felt blah. I don't want to feel blah when I pull up to my home. I want my home to be a re- flection of me. Now that it is, I'm find- ing that my personality is a tad hard on the eyes. My dad has suggested I repaint. So have a couple of neighbors. We are sticking with the colors for now. If an- yone asks about the crazy house at the end of the block, just say Dan Marino lives there. Like Katiedid Langrock on Facebook, at http://www.facebook.com/katiedid- humor. To enter the Birthday Club, email your name, ad- dress, phone number and birthdate to birthdayclub@ pressdispatch.net. Only the person's name, town and birthday will appear in the paper. As an added bonus, one lucky person each month will receive a free three month Press-Dispatch subscrip- tion. This month's birthdays have a chance to win a free $25 gift certificate from Petersburg Moose Lodge. THIS WEEK'S BIRTHDAYS Freda White ............................ Oakland City .....9/13 Kreigh Robinette ....................... Petersburg ......9/19 THIS MONTH'S SPONSOR 115 Pike Ave., Petersburg • 812-354-1996 Check out our lunch specials! COMMERCIAL AND INVESTMENT PROPERTIES Hardware store ready for new owners. Fully equipped with display shelving, key cutter, glass cutter, lots of inventory to get new owner started. Building has new roof, gutters with metal siding on east and west gable ends of building. Lots of extras! Oakland City. New Price $145,000. MLS# 201650829 Storage Building units for Rent. Located on 808 Collins Street, Winslow. 8X12 unit $60/Month. 31.98 acres prime field tilled farm ground. High in pot ash, nitrogen and phosphorus for good soil fertility. MLS#201912317. 3 bedr,. 2 bath modular in nice subdivision. Priced below appraised value at $59,900. Over 1500 sq. ft on 1/2 acre lot. Large great room with fireplace, open kitchen dining room and large master bedroom with private bath. MLS#201939750. Looking for a wooded building site? One acre located just past I-69 on Shady Lane, off of State Hwy. 61. New Price $19,500. MLS#201908241. Fantastic 3 bedroom home with 2.5 bathrooms located at the edge of town. Extremely well maintained home. Eat-in kitchen with island bar. Very large living and family room area with cathedral ceiling. Located on .99 acres yard area with a gazebo to sit in and enjoy the lazy days of summer. Three car garage with 2 yard barns to store yard and garden equipment. A 35X16 pole barn to use as a storage area or a garage for automotive repairs,work shop,or many other projects. Priced Reduced to $210,500. MLS#201921149 Three bedroom country home with picturesque setting on 1 acre of property. Large living room with eat in kitchen. New two car garage with lots of storage area and lots of room for a work shop. Want a garden area? This is it. Playground area for the kids and family gatherings. Priced to sell at $119,800. MLS#201933693 Looking for a country property with 3.68 acres? This is it, a 3-bedroom home with nice size rooms. The property is partially fenced with a 40X60X14' horse barn with stalls. Great spot to have horses, cow, chickens with a nice area for a garden. It also has an insulated and heated studio building. Priced at $112,000. MLS#201920960 Looking for a country home? This is it. Owners started renovation work on the interior. Replaced the windows with new tilt down insulated units, painted and started renovation of the bathroom and kitchen. The home has the original hardwood floors, interior doors and casing. rooms are large. Eat-in kitchen like country folks enjoy. This home has a lot of country character. Lots to see. A little work and this home will be complete. The upper level has three rooms. Two of the rooms could be used as bedrooms and a bonus room with some additional work. Priced to sell at $99,000. MLS#201929337 WE HAVE CLIENTS LOOKING FOR HOMES! • LIST WITH US TODAY! Eddie Boyd, Principal Broker Kay Helfen Associate Broker 812-582-1145 Addey Boyd Associate Broker 812-354-5599 Keith Shoultz Associate Broker 812-664-6640 602 E. MAIN, PETERSBURG BOYD REALTY & DEVELOPMENT LLC 812-354-8893 SIAR CHOOSE BOYD FOR Personal SERVICE! SALE PENDING! NEW PRICE! NEW LISTING! SALE PENDING! WILL SELL ON CONTRACT! Great Winslow Main Street business location. Lot of updates and improvements. Separate upstairs apartment. Large area upstairs to add additional apartments. Owner had new roof installed and gutters in November 2017 with warranty. New Price $41,500. MLS#201801669 PRICE REDUCED! NEW LISTING! SALE PENDING! SALE PENDING! Down on the Farm By Hans Schmitz, Purdue Extension Educator Autumn lawn care Sept. begins the meteorological au- tumn season, although we will not see the autumnal equinox until 2:50 a.m. on Sept. 23. This year, the late plant- ing of crops means that the road safe- ty news article (hint: be patient) can probably wait one more week, although combines are certainly running in por- tions of the Tri-State area. Sept. hap- pens to be a rather important time for lawn care, so let's examine why that should be the case. Most of our lawns in this area are still cool season grass lawns of fescue, bluegrass, or ryegrass. A fter a hot summer where these grasses held on for dear life or went dormant, Sept. be- gins the return to rather quick growth with cooler temperatures. Meanwhile, warm season grass lawns like zoysia grass and bermuda grass are still grow- ing, with nighttime temperatures tend- ing to remain above 50 degrees. Since every lawn is still thriving, now is the perfect time to start preparing for the winter season. For lawnmowers that do not bag mulch, the yard has likely been building a thatch layer over the year. Sept. is a good time to as- sess the level of thatch buildup and act accord- ingly. For thin layers of thatch, generally less than one half inch, aeration of the soil will more quick- ly break down the organic matter, in- creasing the effectiveness of fertiliz- ers. An aerator will pull shallow cores of soil to the surface, partially cover- ing the lawn and the thatch. General- ly speaking, the lawn looks for a short period of time like a bunch of wild animals have done their business all over. The small holes created, com- bined with the soil on the surface, do make aeration a great practice prior to over seeding the lawn, if done early enough to get sufficient fall growth. For thicker thatch layers, spe- cial dethatching equip- ment exists for removal if desired. Sept. is also the number one time to fertilize the lawn. Vigor- ous fall growth can provide a little extra rooting depth for winter, allowing for a Continued on page 7 Katiedid vs... by Katiedid Langrock Bright ideas