Our Other Roommate

Meet our other roommate. For those of you who know me well, you know what this was like for me. I wanted to curl up in the fetal position like I was suddenly overcome with dragonfear, but I held my ground and slayed the beast. (5 ft away with spider death spray.)

I photographed him primarily because I hate spiders, (and want to sleep at night), so much that identifying every spider I find in my house has become routine. This is a fisher spider. Not poisonous, but large and evil. Let this be my official warning to all you spiders: You show up at my house, you will suffer the consequences...

Flooding Peaks

More Flood Photos

In case you haven't seen some, I wanted to post what it was like in Iowa City this weekend. We still had a great time. (See Here), but it was sad to see what people are going through all over Eastern Iowa.

Got some aerial photos from the Press Citizen. This is the spillway and dam, normally just a trickle below the dam.

One of many historic things destroyed, sadly the Sutliff Bridge was one.

Houses down by city park.

Taco Bell, well I just wouldn't eat there in Coralville ever again no matter how much they clean.

The Coralville strip under water.

The picture above is water from the spillway, washing down where it has only been once before.

Here's an aerial photo of the spillway flow. Note, normally NO water is flowing right there.

Just North of Iowa City along 380.

Flood 2008, June 13th

Iowa City Flood

Just going to share pics from today in IC. It really is pretty bad here, and worse in CR and other communities. The water is going to keep rising for a few days in IC, and is already over the record set in 1993. They are calling it a 500yr Flood. I don't think anybody recorded floods that long ago, but maybe I am wrong.

Just below the Burlington Bridge

Sandbagging by the river to keep water out of the UI Library.

Water is almost lapping up against the Burlington St bridge in IC. Any higher and they may have to close it off, making travel between east and west IC even harder.

Sandbags ready for the rise to keep water out of the Lindquist Center.

Nicole, OG and I still managed to have a good time. We filled ourselves well at the Atlas.

While I had the locally famous Buffalo Chicken World Burrito with Blue Cheese, Olivia had stinky formula.

Billy the Insane Duck

I think Cory Scanlan might be right. Oil and gas skyrocketing, never before seen flooding, record tornados, cats and dogs sleeping together: the point is get your survival plans ready. Anyway, with all the disheartening things going on, I wanted to share a simple laugh with the duck next door....
BILLY, The Duck
Ok, so I was mistaken. I thought ducks were simple, water loving herbivores who like to have a little bread now and then. Turns out they are at least omnivores, and we have a duck next door who also slays rabbits. I want to give you a little history of Billy, The Duck.

Billy was brought home by our neighbors son as part of a class project. He agreed to let his son, Sam, keep the duckling figuring the thing would die before the end of the schoolyear. That was 13 years ago. Billy still lives next door here in Sioux City, roams the neighborhood in search of grubs and generally seems like a peaceful duck. Until rabbits in our neighborhood started disappearing.



After slaying the timid creature, Billy feasted on the fruit of his labors. I was getting a little too close taping, and either it just plain 'ol torqued him off, or I smelled good enough to eat too, and he tried to attack me. See Below-



I lived and Billy went right back over to the rabbit and began where he left off.

Billy, you rock.