I feel like I should say something about the flood - that's certainly been the thing to post about of late (and those are just a few of the links from my fairly short blogroll (incidentally, why "blogroll"? What does that mean? Is it a reference to an old-style Rolodex, implying that you keep a list of blogs you frequent in some sort of spinny whatsit? Is it some combination of "blog" and the popular phrase "that's how I roll?" Does it somehow refer to delicious pastries, implying that one has assembled a tasty list of blogs to read? This is a term that merits updating, I think)). Not that I think I have anything to add, but as the ancient Mesopotamians said, "When the river floods, use your laptop to write a post about it."*

I live almost as far from the flooding in Iowa City as one can live and still be within the Iowa City/Coralville megalopolis. My house is in the northwest corner of Coralville, miles from the river and on some of the highest ground in town. Which means that it's disturbingly easy for me to forget the flood happened at all. Outside my house and for many blocks in any direction this week it's been a gorgeous late spring week - sunshiny and green. And yet just north of us in Cedar Rapids people are starting to be allowed back into their homes and seeing the complete devastation, and here in Iowa City many people are still forced to wonder.

It's been awesome to see the community turnout. I agree with Matt's and Jess's (the first two links up above) appreciation and admiration of the community spirit that gripped the area when we knew the waters were coming. I spent some time sandbagging and it was weird how much fun it was; how much people were enjoying the community the rising waters created. But now we're coming to the part that we often don't do so well with as people. Now comes the real work - cleaning up debris, repairing damage, and for many people rebuilding lives. It won't offer any cool areal pics that we can rally around and the work will be more complicated than just filling sandbags.

Not that I don't think we can do it. But as the waters recede the worst is yet to come.

*translation may be inexact.