One Year Ago

A year ago today I was working with my friends, bosses and co-workers piling sandbags two and three feet high around the place where I used to work. When we were done, we drank beer, sat on the sandbags and said, "it'll never come this high." The next day, we were out there again, this time, wading through water up to our hips, in order to crawl through the roof and save the art work in the building.







Last year, a flood wiped out my town. You can see my pictures that I took here. A lot of them include before and afters.

I wish I could tell you that now, during the AFTER, after, its so much better. But it's not. But we're getting there and yesterday, as I jogged around town and I smelled honeysuckle instead of the usual smell of water-logged turds and mold, I was so proud to call myself a resident of Cedar Crapids. I wrote a story for YourTango on the flood and relationships. You can read it here.

Here is an excerpt:

Both Max and Linda agree that the process of rebuilding after the flood was the most difficult challenge their marriage has ever faced. They didn't fight more, simply because they were too tired to fight. But Linda does recall some big arguments that arose, one involving where to put their new shower. Another when Max wanted to tear out her water-logged lilacs.

"I still do," he says pressing his hands together in mock prayer. "I pray to God every night, please take those lilacs." Linda reaches over and smacks his arm.

On Saturday, I am running a seven-mile run around the flooded areas. Considering that the mold from the flood caused me to vomit up mucus, and most of that mold is still there. I think Saturday will be a raucous success. If you don't hear from me. I'll be fighting my violently reacting allergies with Zyrtec and a puke bucket.