GAVEL GAMUT

By Jim Redwine

www.jamesmredwine.com

(Week of 22 December 2025)

Robert Burns (1759-1796), Scotland’s best-known poet and farmer, was ploughing his field one day when he upended a mouse’s winter nest. The poem Burns wrote in the original Scots language, “To A Mouse”, is as difficult to decipher as Peg and I found trying to comprehend conversations when we visited Scotland. Therefore, I will cite the English version that in part says to the “Little, sleek, cowering timorous beast”:

“I’m truly sorry man’s dominion

Has broken Nature’s social union,

And justifies that ill opinion,

Which makes you startle,

At me, your poor earth-born companion and fellow mortal?

….

But Mouse, you are not alone,

In proving foresight may be vain:

The best-laid schemes of Mice and Men

Go oft awry,

And leave us nothing but grief and pain .…”

Then Burns turns his thoughts inward towards his own fate:

“Still you are blessed compared with me!

The present only touches you:

But Oh? I backward cast my eye,

On prospects dreary!

And forward, though I cannot see, I guess and fear.”

In other words, the mouse may have lost his present home, but it is not burdened with regrets from the past or dread of the future. Shelter alone is the mouse’s concern, but Burns is chained to past misfortunes and the possibilities of future disasters, much as each of us humans are. The mouse’s loss of a temporary home pales in comparison to mankind’s sentient reality.

Gentle Reader, you may wonder what these two conflicting perspectives have to do with anything. Of course, you may not even take note. However, to me the dilemma between the Wee Beastie’s loss of a nest and Burns’ acknowledgement that “ignorance may be bliss” came clearly into my mind when Peg said, “Jim, I smell a dead mouse in the kitchen”. Naturally, the onus was upon me to answer for the mouse’s demise and alter any more future consequences. I am married; I know the drill.

My first response was my fallback position for all domestic quandaries, I ignored it. Unfortunately, Peg was not willing to let nature deal with nature so waiting until the smell was gone was not feasible. Then I searched for a mouse corpse in the usual places, such as under the kitchen sink or near the pantry, nothing. Next, I checked around the outside of our log cabin to see if there was an odiferous source in Peg’s dried flowers, nope.

All easy solutions failed me. The dreaded, “Jim, someone (me) needs to crawl under the house to see if some animal (we have lots of them) died there and is rotting away”. Oh, the glories of flashlights, facemasks, knee pads and possible confrontations with Big Foot or perhaps an upset skunk. I donned my gear and armed myself with a large trash bag and a short-handled shovel.

After about an hour of banging my head and digging up suspect piles of damp dirt I declared a truce with Ma Nature and told Peg I thought the smell was well on its way to dissipation so we should just hang on awhile. You might already know how that resolution was received.

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In all of 2025, the Foundation awarded nearly $2.6 million to Indiana nonprofit programs and initiatives focused on community vitality and education 

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — DEC. 19, 2025 — During its last grant cycle of the year, the CenterPoint Energy Foundation awarded 55 grants, providing nearly $1.4 million to Indiana nonprofit organizations, continuing to invest in the communities the company serves before the end of 2025. 

Grants are awarded to eligible nonprofit organizations whose primary location is in CenterPoint Energy’s service areas and that have programs supporting the Foundation’s giving priorities of community vitality and education. The Foundation prioritizes programs serving under-resourced communities.   

Funded separately and financially independent from the utility, the CenterPoint Energy Foundation strives to be a catalyst for good by leveraging everyday opportunities and resources to increase the vibrancy in the communities it serves.   

“We’re proud of the impact the CenterPoint Energy Foundation continues to have in powering possibilities in the communities where we deliver electric and natural gas service,” said Mike Roeder, President of CenterPoint Energy Indiana. “Through our support of nonprofit programs that enhance community vitality and education, we’re investing in efforts building toward a brighter tomorrow for those living and working in communities we serve.”   

During its two grant cycles of 2025, the CenterPoint Energy Foundation awarded more than 110 grants, investing nearly $2.6 million to nonprofit organizations in Indiana with efforts expected to: 

·         Supply more than 350,000 free books to kids. 

·         Plant more than 12,000 trees. 

·         Support over 11,000 students in receiving a certificate or credential for career pathways.  

·         Invest in nearly 500 units of affordable housing.  

·         Fund more than 250 home repairs for low-income community members.  

Starting in 2026, each of the two annual Foundation grant cycles will focus on specific funding priorities. The first cycle of 2026 will award grants for education, while the second cycle will award grants to community vitality initiatives.