I grew up in a small Indiana town and spent my summers wading, digging fossils and playing in a nearby creek. It held so many adventures, memories of youth, collected treasures and opportunities for fun and cooling off on a hot day. My kids were raised in Pike Township and were fortunate to have Crooked Creek that runs through the neighborhood grove and woods and experience the same wonders. It was a right of passage, and magical draw both in summer, dipping toes into the cool water, and winter, dropping rocks on a shimmering cover of ice cover to try and expose the flowing water underneath. I’m sure Pike residents who live near streams, ponds and lakes have similar experiences. Water is magical and forms connections to people and communities. The Pike Township waterways, creeks, streams, flow through many of our neighborhoods, under bridges, and provide a quiet respite on a hot day. These waterways were instrumental in our townships development and supplied needed resources during the early settlement of Pike. They weave us together around their stories and the vibrancy of our community is dependent on the health of our waterways. Keeping them cleared and clean is necessary for protecting our ability to enjoy them for years to come.

Waterways are an indicator of health and vitality of our community. They weave through Pike Township and each is part of a bigger system called a watershed. They are listed below, with accompanying tributaries, neighborhoods, or amenities. Look for more updates that will dive deeper into each of these watersheds, their challenges, successes best management practices, and organizations working to keep them vibrant and clean. 

Little Eagle Creek- Watershed, Eagle Creek/White River

Secondary streams/tributaries: Guion Creek, Liberty Branch, Glen Creek, Honey Creek, Falcon 

Eagle Creek - Watershed

Secondary Streams,Tributaries: Little Eagle Branch-Woodruff Branch, Eagle Creek, Long Branch, Irishman Run, Eagle Creek/Jackson Run, School Branch, Fishback Creek, Sheets Creek, Cotton Creek, Hopewell Creek, Traders Point Collection Facility, Hopewell Creek, Lincoln Creek, 

Crooked Creek (secondary tributaries-Payne Branch, Oil Creek, Delaware Creek)

Crooked Creek is part of the White River Watershed and zig-zags east and west under Michigan Rd. until emptying into the White River near Marion University. The creek has given rise to the naming of many neighborhoods, including Crooked Creek North, South, West, Heights, Condos, Apartments, 

In March,  I began helping Fresh Chalk, a Seattle based social media site, as it expanded nationally in six metro areas including Indianapolis. We're now in over 100 metro areas. 

What exactly is the Fresh Chalk Community. It's digital with a touch of neighborhood and friends. 

One of the founders, and former Google Engineer, Liz Pearce, says it best. "We’re a new site for sharing recommendations for professionals with your friends. The problem is, getting recommendations from friends in the normal course of life (via text, chance encounters, or planned social events) is no small task. We’ve all been through it. The mental overhead alone -- when you’re already overwhelmed with tasks and decisions -- is huge. The alternative -- blindly trusting reviews on the internet -- can be downright scary. I know from experience: the movers I hired last year based on Google reviews had me legitimately spooked." 

Why am I blogging about this. It really speaks about community and supporting businesses and getting your friends recommendations. 

The founding team at Fresh Chalk is made up of veteran entrepreneurs with plenty of successes and failures to go around. Adam Doppelt, Nathan Kriege, and Patrick O’Donnell (in various combinations) jointly founded Urbanspoon & Dwellable, and spent time at Mighty AI, Snapvine, Whitepages, Jobster, and others. I was CEO for 5 of my 11 years at LiquidPlanner, with stints at Google and Amazon before that, and most recently spent time at Streem. David and Yaprak DeCarmine, co-founders of Game Jolt, are our newest additions to the team. Today, you can find us (along with our office pup, Cash) in Pioneer Square and Austin. Yaprak and Cash

Taking the community online to better share experiences. follow me here: https://freshchalk.com/users/accept/Carol_Mullins  and ask me how to earn extra cash.

Fifty years ago, Fred Rogers invited us through song to be part of something bigger, our community. Neighborhoods were places to explore, come together and learn about the world. To gather with others, sit on porches, ride bikes, walk, stroll through gardens and down streets, or to the store. To meet people and have conversations.

Today, depending on who you ask, the definition of ‘neighborhood’ has either expanded, to include a world through digital technology, or focused directly around your home and yard. Fred Rogers reminds us; neighborhoods are part of who we are, what we identify with, and where we call home. 

A community should strive for, cohesive and connected neighborhoods, discovering local resources and sharing stories. Lessons learned from Rogers were simple, accept others, embrace your uniqueness, and remember we are pretty much all the same; same basic needs, same basic fears, same expectations. We want these freedoms and the basic right to decide individual destiny, that’s human nature. However, at the same time, the problems we face today — violent conflicts, discrimination, destruction of nature, poverty, hunger, and so on — are mainly created by humans. What can you do? Be open to listening to others and know their stories, be kind, pitch in and help, do your best and remain aware of how your actions impact those around you, and don’t litter. Keep abreast of local news, neighbors and local business. There are so many opportunities to make Pike the best township in Indianapolis, we have so many amenities, we have the neighborhoods and we have the most important resource there is, you. 

Neighbors teach us about ourselves; embrace and learn from them. Enjoy good food, good friends and good music and appreciate and respect everyone. More importantly, Fred Roger’s said: “We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It’s easy to say, It’s not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem. However, there are those who see the need and respond…” As for me, I am a hopeless optimist who believes answers come from the community and especially the people stepping up to help one another, even in the smallest of ways. A kind word, a door held, a helping hand. Know your gifts and use them. Figure out your talent, where you can connect and build on your definition of neighborhood, embrace talents and make a difference, even if it’s reading articles to gain information, shopping local businesses, making small changes for the environment.  If you see litter in your area, stop and pick it up. Contact carol@blueskypartnerships.com to plan placemaking, beautification or conservation efforts focused on sustainability and resiliency. 

If you're a gardener, now's the time things are getting interesting. You have tomatoes, peppers, basil, cucumbers and more all tucked into the veggie garden. Spring perennials and bulbs need cut back and the summer perennials are coming on strong, showing their beautiful colors and leaves. Along with the show are the weeds, also coming on strong. The temperatures are getting hot and days are filled with pulling weeds, deadheading, watering and repeating. If you're like me, you also have about three dozen or more plants that still need to go into the ground. They called out to you from the garden center tables, saying, "wouldn't I look lovely at your house!" Now they sit anticipating stretching their roots in the ground,. But you realize,  you have to thin and divide about three dozen other perennials, and plant the starts your neighbor gave you. So now it's important to understand why we garden. The love of not only plants, but being close to nature and nurturing the ground and its bounty toward beautiful spaces. That surprise rain shower is just what you need to stand and let the water run down your face and drink in the pleasures of life. So go forth my fellow gardener and remember, not only how your garden grows, buy why. With love, attention, joy and appreciation and so many gifts for those who come into your space or glimpse it from the road.