And we're glad it's over, although the ramifications will be around for a long time. Remember that show from the early 60s? It focused on political and social satire, and although there's still plenty of targets in those areas to provide fodder for such a program, this week Mother Nature would have to take her fair share of hits. Because, besides a heat wave in the southwest and east and wildfires, Iowa and other Midwestern states got clobbered by a derecho (inland hurricane) on Monday. Crops and homes destroyed, trees toppled, and loss of power for almost a half million people across the state--some places for days. The photo above is one of hundreds posted of damage. Those were grain bins.
Unlike a hurricane, this thing had no warning. I was leaving Backbone on Monday morning to come home and checked the forecast. There was mention of "thunderstorms around" in the afternoon so I decided to get going early just to avoid unloading my camper in the rain. I mean, thunderstorms in Iowa in the summer are no big deal, right? I came by Cedar Rapids about an hour before the storm hit. With sustained winds of over 100 miles an hour, I have no illusions of what would have happened if that had hit my camper broadside. The storm was moving at 70 mph and arrived at home less than an hour after I parked.
I got off easy with minor damage and we only lost power for 12 hours. But with estimates of possibly a third of Iowa's crops being lost, and reports of every street in Cedar Rapids sustaining damage--not to mention similar issues in Des Moines, Iowa City, the Quad Cities and almost every small town in between, it is going to be a long time before things are back to any semblance of normal.
So I am reverting into my practiced response to the rest of 2020's dubious gifts--the pandemic, and the loss of my husband, aunt and several good friends. I will run away. This afternoon, several of us will head to Red Rock near Pella for four days. Camping not only offers me the renewing blessings of nature, but people to talk to in a relatively safe environment.
As after each trip, I have completed a couple of repairs/improvements to Agatha. I replaced the bulb in the outside light with a correct one and reglued the strip on the step. I also washed the underside of the awning in preparation for a couple of fixes there. Brother-in-law Ken put a bike rack on the back for me. And my favorite kind of fix: the storage compartment latch that was stuck decided to start working again!
Unlike a hurricane, this thing had no warning. I was leaving Backbone on Monday morning to come home and checked the forecast. There was mention of "thunderstorms around" in the afternoon so I decided to get going early just to avoid unloading my camper in the rain. I mean, thunderstorms in Iowa in the summer are no big deal, right? I came by Cedar Rapids about an hour before the storm hit. With sustained winds of over 100 miles an hour, I have no illusions of what would have happened if that had hit my camper broadside. The storm was moving at 70 mph and arrived at home less than an hour after I parked.
I got off easy with minor damage and we only lost power for 12 hours. But with estimates of possibly a third of Iowa's crops being lost, and reports of every street in Cedar Rapids sustaining damage--not to mention similar issues in Des Moines, Iowa City, the Quad Cities and almost every small town in between, it is going to be a long time before things are back to any semblance of normal.
So I am reverting into my practiced response to the rest of 2020's dubious gifts--the pandemic, and the loss of my husband, aunt and several good friends. I will run away. This afternoon, several of us will head to Red Rock near Pella for four days. Camping not only offers me the renewing blessings of nature, but people to talk to in a relatively safe environment.
As after each trip, I have completed a couple of repairs/improvements to Agatha. I replaced the bulb in the outside light with a correct one and reglued the strip on the step. I also washed the underside of the awning in preparation for a couple of fixes there. Brother-in-law Ken put a bike rack on the back for me. And my favorite kind of fix: the storage compartment latch that was stuck decided to start working again!
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