Moscow is a pretty small world. Since it's a small, hip, liberal town in "no where" Idaho, it draws all sorts of people. And all those sorts of people seem to know someone who knew someone who was buddies with someone who decided to go to school here and found out it was a cool place and told someone to come too, who told someone else to come, who spread the word and suggested to someone else to also came to Moscow. Follow that? It's full of people from the same place who may or may not realize they actually know each other when they really do.
While walking around with my friend, Anne, who just moved here from Colorado, we discovered that our friend Caroline is one and the same. Not only that, but Caroline and Anne went to college in Tennessee together. And their moms went to school together too. And now Caroline and Anne both live in Idaho. This small world connection was made even more acute by the fact that Caroline is dating Russ, who is one of Brian's friends from growing up in Rapid City. And Russ' sister, Emily, and I have been friends since I first moved here in 2002. We all knew each other without knowing we knew each other until this fall. To top it all off, Anne and I were both talking about the same Caroline who was sponsoring a party with Russ and Emily that just happened to be the same circus party. Now, even in a town like Moscow, circus parties are pretty rare, but this was quite the circle of coincidences.
Well, today, I was sitting in the coffee shop, and this girl looked at me and said, "I think I know you. You're Nancy, right?" Yes, I am indeed Nancy. Then she said, "We used to work together in Barnes and Noble." Well, that took me back about nine years ago to working in Barnes and Noble Coffee Shop in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which was then the height of cool. She said she's Suzy, and then I remembered her. And I remembered the fact that at Barnes and Noble, I not only worked with Suzy but I also worked with her brother, Zach, who is still, apparently, friends with my brother, Dan. And what's even weirder is that I have only met one other Iowan in Moscow, but never someone from CEDAR RAPIDS, my home town. What a small world.
And then, later today, I met another Iowan. We, Midwesterners, are flooding the west.
Showing posts with label Cedar Rapids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cedar Rapids. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, June 30, 2008
Indian Creek Nature Center, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Flood Recovery Effort. My Birthday Wish
On July 27, 1983, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, my parents gave birth to me. It was the hottest day of the year.
The summer of my 10th birthday, 1993, Cedar Rapids experienced severe flooding. The Cedar River crested at 19 feet. I remember flood waters level with the highway bridges. Yet, immediately afterwards, people developed the flood plain, destroying the land’s ability to soak in swollen waters.
This year, 2008, I am turning a quarter of a century old. My hometown is flooded. This June, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, experienced the worst flooding in its recorded history. The Cedar River crested at 31 feet, 12 feet higher than in 1993.
Images of homes submerged in water, stories of destroyed belongings, and NPR sound clips about Cedar Rapids have flooded my mind for the last month. Over 25,000 people lost their homes, 1,300 city blocks were inundated, and 9 miles of the city flooded. Despite all that, people are pitching in to help their neighbors survive this trauma.
One of those places is the Indian Creek Nature Center. When I was growing up, the Indian Creek Nature Center, where my dad is director, was my second home. The Nature Center is where I first tapped maple trees and fixed trails, restored wetlands and prairies, and learned about our wild world. It is because of the Nature Center that I am an interpretive ranger in Yellowstone today.
The Nature Center sits on the banks of Indian Creek, which flows into the Cedar River. It has never flooded before. When the river crested, a foot of water flooded the main floor of the Nature Center. After gutting the building and tossing handmade displays, staff estimated damage at $100,000. Yet, despite that figure, they are optimistic, working together to take hold of the opportunity offered by this disaster to improve the Center’s design.
An innovator in sustainability, wild land restoration, and non-profit development, the Indian Creek Nature Center will use this disaster to improve hands-on exhibits for children to explore their natural home. This optimism gives me hope in our resilience. Even through difficulty and strife, disaster and grief, my home town is working to improve itself. Always a leader, the Indian Creek Nature Center is projecting its hope for a better future to the Cedar Rapids community.
I am almost 25 years old. This birthday there is no possession I need or want. There is only one thing I desire: that my family and friends help the Nature Center achieve its goal to continue educating our community about the importance of sustainable development, resource protection, and environmental awareness.
Please, for my birthday gift, make a contribution to the Indian Creek Nature Center, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to help them recover from the 2008 floods.
Thank you,
Nancy Patterson
Send checks to:
Indian Creek Nature Center
6664 Otis Road
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 52403
(319) 364-0664 (phone is still out due to flood)
http://www.indiancreeknaturecenter.org/
For images of the flood:
The Gazette Newspaper: http://www.gazetteonline.com/
Creepy Sleepy Media: http://creepysleepy.com/
Talk Radio News Service: http://talkradionews.com/tag/flood/
The summer of my 10th birthday, 1993, Cedar Rapids experienced severe flooding. The Cedar River crested at 19 feet. I remember flood waters level with the highway bridges. Yet, immediately afterwards, people developed the flood plain, destroying the land’s ability to soak in swollen waters.
This year, 2008, I am turning a quarter of a century old. My hometown is flooded. This June, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, experienced the worst flooding in its recorded history. The Cedar River crested at 31 feet, 12 feet higher than in 1993.
Images of homes submerged in water, stories of destroyed belongings, and NPR sound clips about Cedar Rapids have flooded my mind for the last month. Over 25,000 people lost their homes, 1,300 city blocks were inundated, and 9 miles of the city flooded. Despite all that, people are pitching in to help their neighbors survive this trauma.
One of those places is the Indian Creek Nature Center. When I was growing up, the Indian Creek Nature Center, where my dad is director, was my second home. The Nature Center is where I first tapped maple trees and fixed trails, restored wetlands and prairies, and learned about our wild world. It is because of the Nature Center that I am an interpretive ranger in Yellowstone today.
The Nature Center sits on the banks of Indian Creek, which flows into the Cedar River. It has never flooded before. When the river crested, a foot of water flooded the main floor of the Nature Center. After gutting the building and tossing handmade displays, staff estimated damage at $100,000. Yet, despite that figure, they are optimistic, working together to take hold of the opportunity offered by this disaster to improve the Center’s design.
An innovator in sustainability, wild land restoration, and non-profit development, the Indian Creek Nature Center will use this disaster to improve hands-on exhibits for children to explore their natural home. This optimism gives me hope in our resilience. Even through difficulty and strife, disaster and grief, my home town is working to improve itself. Always a leader, the Indian Creek Nature Center is projecting its hope for a better future to the Cedar Rapids community.
I am almost 25 years old. This birthday there is no possession I need or want. There is only one thing I desire: that my family and friends help the Nature Center achieve its goal to continue educating our community about the importance of sustainable development, resource protection, and environmental awareness.
Please, for my birthday gift, make a contribution to the Indian Creek Nature Center, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to help them recover from the 2008 floods.
Thank you,
Nancy Patterson
Send checks to:
Indian Creek Nature Center
6664 Otis Road
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 52403
(319) 364-0664 (phone is still out due to flood)
http://www.indiancreeknaturecenter.org/
For images of the flood:
The Gazette Newspaper: http://www.gazetteonline.com/
Creepy Sleepy Media: http://creepysleepy.com/
Talk Radio News Service: http://talkradionews.com/tag/flood/
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