Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Good Riddance to 2008

Say so long to 2008, and good riddance. This was a tough year for Eastern Iowa.

We had a near record snowfall in the winter that shutdown my home town for too many weekends. (Read – it's hard to do business when the customer can't physically get to your store.)

Then in late May, a tornado all but wiped out Parkersburg. My wife knows the Methodist pastor there and we were gearing up to help them out. I'm afraid their plight has been all but forgotten after the floods. But not entirely – here is an excellent site that will tell you what happened that Spring day and how they are recovering.

http://data.desmoinesregister.com/parkersburg/parkersburg.php

Please don't forget these people.

Like I said, the Rev and I were gearing up to help out in Parkersburg when the rains came in June. And man did it rain. And then it rained some more. There was nowhere for the water to go but into the creeks and the streams and eventually into the Cedar River. On June 11th the river started to overflow. But it didn't stop raining. On the 12th we had an historic flood on our hands. And then it rained again. Finally on June 13th the river crested at 31 ½ feet. The Cedar River had risen to the highest level it have ever been in the recorded history of our city – and then it added a flood on top of that.

I posted a few times during those days and even was able to put up a few pictures so I don't need to say anymore. We are recovering and getting back in business. Downtown is coming back, albeit slowly. The Rev has been busy with coordinating - first clean up resources and now mission teams. This on top of her regular duties as a pastor in a large church. I guess what I am saying is that his has been a tough year.

My world has changed. I don't play much poker anymore. Partly because I just don't have the free time that I used to have – but also I guess my interests have changed. I see that this is happening to others as well. I used to be a “mod” on a poker website but the founder of that site grew tired of poker and it doesn't even exist anymore. I”m sure that on-line poker will still be a popular activity and I will play upon occasion but it just isn't a big part of my life anymore.

I'm not sure what the coming year will have in store for me. But I hope it is a little calmer and less disrupted than 2008. Here is hoping we can return to the normal chaos called life.

I will continue to post here and for now I will keep the name. I still think it fits as a brief description of a casual gathering place to tell the story of my life. And know as always that I bid you. . .


PEACE

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