Father's Day

I've little doubt my kids will make an effort to honor dear old dad tomorrow. It won't be their best effort, but it will be an effort.

It's not that they don't care, just that the flood changed everything. Tonight I should be sleeping off another record-setting Relay For Life, but it was postponed. Tomorrow I should be watching my son pitch his 14U baseball team to the league championship, but it was canceled. Tomorrow I would go on a 30-mile bike ride, except I'm not sure how.

I showered this afternoon, RAGBRAI style! A late afternoon storm brought a much-needed opportunity for hygiene. Floodwaters are receding faster than anticipated in Cedar Rapids, but Coralville and Iowa City are next. Suddenly my 1.5 mile existence doesn't seem so bad.

But, for the whole of Cedar Rapids and much of Iowa, recovery awaits.

25,000 evacuated in CR alone.
12,000 remain without power in CR.
$376 million damage to CR homes.
CR drinking water in great peril.
2,500 guardsmen deployed in Iowa, including a neighbor who feels like this is why he enlisted.

Now what?