'We Are the Lucky Ones'

"I have been driving over to the lake each day to chronicle the rising of the water, and today I snuck through the barriers at the field campus across the lake from my house and hiked in about a mile and a half to the now underwater boat ramp to try to get a few photos with a 300 mm lens and see if the water reached the house yet. I am lucky - it appears that my house may be dry - the water is at the top step to my dock (about 5 or 6 feet above the dock), and one of the railings on the stairway appears to be gone, but the house looks like it is OK. I took photos of as many of the houses as I could see from that point, and it appears a few may have taken on water, but most are high enough to be OK. It is nothing like the devastation in Cedar Rapids or parts of Iowa City. I feel blessed by that!

"We still do not know when we will be able to return, and it is simply a day-to-day experience, I have been inundated from calls and emails from friends all over the country, and offers of help, etc- it's amazing how people do come together in a disaster. I will return to work tomorrow, and knowing that my house is fine, will try to do what I can for those whose houses are not, and may never be. The real issues from this flood have not even begun to come clear --the cleanup is going to be incredible. But, as Iowans always do, we will pull together and come through."

© 2008