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On Sunday, Bob and I had a great short reunion with college friends when they returned from their son’s wedding in Florida. We then drove 3 hours to Omaha, Nebraska. Normally, we would stay in Plattsmouth, south of Omaha with Bob’s sister, however, she is currently in Arizona with her husband, so we’re staying in a Marriott Courtyard in downtown Omaha.

Omaha is a city of about 490,000 in the state of Nebraska. It is the most populous city in Nebraska. It lies along the Missouri River across from the state of Iowa. Bob and I loved walking around the downtown area today in 60 degree Fahrenheit weather. We saw some of the Old Market part of downtown as well as a number of parks and a great trail along the Missouri River.

Last Saturday, I completed my housesit in Austin, Texas, for our good friends and two of my favorite cats. I also was able to catch up with a number of friends, which is always nice.

My flight from Austin to Kansas City to reunite with Bob was luckily incident free, which unfortunately is becoming less common than I’d like. Bob met me at the airport and drove me to our current housesit, which he started on February 4th, in Prairie Village, Kansas, a lovely suburb of Kansas City. We are caring for the spunky, adorable Coco. She likes her walks and also being chased or playing with toys in the house.

Bob had already had snow since he’d been here, but in the past couple of days, we’ve received at least another 4 inches, and it’s also been accompanied by some bitter cold, as in subzero windchill. With the bitter cold and having our car in the shop for a bit, we’ve been pretty much homebound in our lovely borrowed home for the past few days, except for appropriately attired walks.

Bob and I flew to Austin last Friday to meet up with friends for whom I would be doing a housesit. We got in about 10am, so were able to have a great get-together with them in their new condo. They fled out Saturday morning for a ski trip to Lake Tahoe and then some fun in Utah. I am caring for Pancho and Lefty, two of my favorite cats.

On Sunday, Bob and I had brunch with one of our former fellow condo owner from our condominium. He and Bob served on the HOA board, and we’ve enjoyed keeping in touch with him, as he’s another smart person from Wisconsin, and he’s seen the world. He’s no longer traveling internationally, but he’s doing well, having visited over 130 countries. After brunch, Bob and I walked around downtown Austin to see the continued growth of our beloved former home.

Bob flew back Monday to start our concurrent housesit in Kansas City for former college friends. He is caring for a dog, Coco.

Last night, Bob and I went to the Indiana University Auditorium to see the national touring production of the musical “Come From Away,” the story of Newfoundlanders taking in over 7,000 passengers when the skies were shut down over the US following the 9/11 terrorist strikes. It was an uplifting story because it showed human community and compassion— quite the antidote for the current political times in the US.

The auditorium was built as a Federal Works Agency project during the Great Depression and completed in 1941. it is also home to Thomas Hart Benson’s “Century of Progress” murals.

Today, we drove about 25 minutes east of Bloomington to Nashville, Indiana. Nashville has a population of about 1,300, and is best known as the center of the Brown County Art Colony, which formed in 1907. It came to our attention when the local woman who cut my hair a couple of weeks ago mentioned it as a popular tourist spot.

We walked around the downtown shopping district. As a Tuesday in January, it was quiet.

We also drove out to Hard Truth Distillery, mostly because we liked the name. It’s a gorgeous property, but we didn’t do any tastings.

Bob and I went back to Indiana University today to visit the art museum on campus. The Eskenazi Museum of Art is the latest version of the university’s art museum, which was conceived in 1941. The current building, designed by I. M. Pei, was completed in 1982. It is triangular in shape, and a financial gift by Sidney and Lois Eskenazi allowed for a full renovation of the building in 2015.

The museum is free to visit and has a collection of over 47,000 works of art. Its collections include modern, American and European art from Medieval times through the 1900s, a collection of Indigenous art from around the world, and a film space.

The painting below is of Henry Redford Hope and his family by Max Beckmann in 1950. Mr. Hope was the Chair of the IU Fine Arts Department from 1941-1968. He also served as the American Advisor on cultural affairs to UNESCO in the 1950s. He and his wife Sally were collectors of art, especially modern, and their collection forms the basis of the museum’s modern art collection.

Samples from the Modern Art Collection are below.

One from the American and European Collection, much of which is religious based.

And some samples from the Indigenous Collection.

The film exhibit was a short, looped clip, which was part of a larger project by Walid Raad that documents Beirut in the mid-1990s when many downtown buildings were demolished.

A quick blog to showcase some more photos from around Bloomington.

First, in happy news for Bob, he’s scored a couple of big head photos.

In happy news for Beth, the homeowner left a library card for our use. About a week ago, I checked out “The Three Beth’s,” by Jeff Abbott. I turned it in today. I don’t usually read thrillers, but it was very engaging and by an Austin, Texas, based author and set in Austin, so fun to read about familiar places.

Today, we stopped by the ice sculptures which were recently created as part of Bloomington’s Freezefest. In happy news for the sculptors and attendees, the temperatures today and overnight are to remain below freezing. In happy news for those not so fond of cold weather, the high tomorrow (39F) is to get above freezing.

The French Lick Springs Hotel was built in 1845. The spa wing was added in 1901, and a casino was added in 1996.

On the drive back, we ran into (happily not literally) a couple of Amish (our guess) farmers.

Road Trip! Bob and I drove a little over an hour south of Bloomington today to visit a couple of resorts that we had seen listed in our local guides and which had been mentioned by our homeowners— the West Baden Springs Hotel and the French Lick Springs Hotel and Casino. The drive itself added to the adventure as the last 10 to 15 miles were on very curvy and narrow (though well paved) roads with signs to watch for farm machinery.

Our first stop was at the very attractive West Baden Springs Hotel. Dr. john Lane, who acquired the health resort in 1855, renamed the hotel and town after the famous mineral springs in Wiesbaden, Germany.

Lee Sinclair transformed the hotel into a sophisticated resort in 1888 when he assumed ownership, including an opera house, golf course, church, and ball field. However, he really transformed the physical structure of the building into how it looks today after a fire destroyed the original structure in 1901. For a little over $410,000 and within 1 year, the new structure was modeled after the best European spas and contained the world’s largest free span dome, earning it the nickname “The 8th Wonder of the World.” It retained that nickname until the Astrodomewas built in Houston, Texas.

Following the stock market crash in 1929, the owner sold it to the Jesuits for $1. The Jesuits operated it as a seminary for 30 years. It was reopened as a hotel in 1996 after an extensive renovation.

Because of the history of a hotel, there is a small onsite museum.

From the West Baden Springs Hotel, it was a short one mile drive to the French Lick Springs Hotel, located in French Lick, Indiana (population 1,700). See Part II of blog.

Bob, Jasper, and I have had a fairly chilly couple of days inside. Much of the country is currently struggling with very cold temperatures outside. We also had a cooler-than-desired inside as well beginning Saturday when we awoke to a furnace that wouldn’t kick in.

Our homeowners had left contact information for the service company, so we let them know what was happening and got the okay to call. This happened on the same day they sent us instructions from their home owners association about preparing for the colder weather to help prevent pipes from bursting. The main instructions were to maintain a temperature of at least 55 degrees in your home, drip pipes, open cabinet drawers, etc.

The service person was very prompt but unfortunately did not carry the gas valve that needed to be replaced. He told Bob he would order it on Monday. That caused some panic on our part, as it seemed to indicate we could be without heat for an indefinite period of time on the main 2 living areas of the house. We were fortunate that the bedrooms on the upper level are on a separate heating system which was still working. We also had one small space heater and a plethora of quilts and blankets.

Long story, short, the main floors were down to 44 F this morning before the service company came with the part. Oh happy day! So now Bob doesn’t have to cook or watch TV dressed as below.

The other upside to this now amusing story is that Jasper finally sat on my lap. It was only about 10 minutes, but since she at most has rubbed up against us, it made me happy.

Also, we had a fun deer sighting in the neighborhood this morning.

Wherever you are, I hope this finds you safe and warm.

Last night, Bob and I drove onto campus, into a free parking lot with our generously gifted season tickets from our homeowners, to take in an Indiana University women’s basketball game. They played conference rivals Illinois. Sadly, although they rallied late in the third period, they lost the game 68-54.

On the other hand, we had a great time exploring the arena and experiencing some of the IU traditions.

While we were there to attend a women’s basketball game, the men’s teams have been more recognized nationally, and there were multiple displays on site to honor some of the important individuals in the history of their men’s program.

The video below is a snippet of what was played about 5 minutes before the game, and it was announced as an Indiana tradition. It is even listed in the program as Martha the Mop. It is a video of a woman with a mop singing a school song. Students even wave life size cardboard figures of her with a mop.

The school website indicates that beginning in 1971, the Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance was the sole sponsor of IU basketball games and began running commercials immediately before the games which featured Martha Webster, an opera singer, dressed as a cleaning lady, singin the Indiana fight song. It ran during the the time when IU won three national titles. It was brought back in 2010 on the video board rather than a TV commercial.

I think I lied. Not sure this one had any fewer words than the last one.