Down in the flood

Well, it's sugar for sugar
And salt for salt,
If you go down in the flood,
It's gonna be your own fault.
Oh mama, ain't you gonna miss your best friend now?

--Bobby Dylan

My friend Geoff was chastening me not to lose my stuff and go stale in a government job.  I think he was concerned that I went for the money and that I won't be challenged.  I'll tell you what, friends, if you can't get interested in the largest disaster in Iowa history, you just are not paying attention.

I hung out today at the Red Cross shelter and talked to people this afternoon.  Our team has been taking turns helping staff the place.  There was a depressed diabetic guy who was really sad and his blood count was high and he wouldn't eat.  I got him talking and someone brought him a sandwich and we commiserated and pretty soon someone from his church offered to take him out to see his place, and I slipped the church guy a banana for the old guy to munch on the way.  

There were some other down and out folks, some of whom had tales of losing their children, or domestic abuse, or just the hell of losing everything you own and not knowing what the next thing to do is.  They were hosting and helping each other, though, sharing information and watching the kids, who by day 3 have made themselves at home.  I sat around and worked on getting folks food and listening and feeling grateful that my house is dry and everyone is safe.  Pretty soon the worried diabetic guy came back and his friend made sure I saw the banana peel.

I think I'm going to blog the story the worried guy's girlfriend told me.  They are a couple of lost folks who have found each other.  It was really sweet, actually.

We'll be talking about this spring for a long time.

By the way, did you know that this is Cedar Rapids' "Year of the River?"