State park trail entry point.

Journey Home

Tales from the pilgrimage.

Local Events

  • Evacuation of Cedar Rapids Under Way

    The headline from this morning’s Des Moines Register was that residents of 5,000 Cedar Rapids homes were asked to evacuate in advance of the flood crest predicted to arrive Tuesday morning. The height of the crest has been revised downward to 23 feet, however, damage is expected to be severe. Cedar Rapids fire officials plan… Read more

  • Autumn Begins with a Flood

    There was a lot to make one cranky as summer ended yesterday, including the weather. Extremely heavy rains are flooding parts of Iowa and the impact will soon be felt downstream. The Cedar River is expected to crest at 24.1 feet next week in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the highest level after the record 31.12 foot… Read more

  • Pressing the Limits

    For the first time in a long time I missed work on Wednesday. After a futile attempt to shave, shower and drive into the home, farm and auto supply store, I called off and slept until 2 p.m. — a total of 19 hours in bed. I’m back to normal and scheduled four days vacation… Read more

  • Hiroshima Day 2016

    The Washington, D.C. rumor mill is saying President Barack Obama may “do something” about nuclear weapons before the end of his term. Among ideas being discussed are early retirement of some of the non-deployed weapons in the arsenal; declaration of a no first use policy; or taking weapons off hair-trigger alert. The arms control community… Read more

  • Encountering Chuck Grassley

    The conventions dispersed and the road home was ahead as Blog for Iowa writers engaged with Senator Chuck Grassley last Friday. Both Trish Nelson, in a chance meeting in Mount Pleasant, and Dave Bradley, at a town hall event in Columbus Junction, each encountered Grassley in eastern Iowa. Both stories are worth hearing and indicate… Read more

  • Cemeteries and Decorations

    BIG GROVE TOWNSHIP, Iowa — A couple of years ago the Solon American Legion moved their annual Memorial Day commemoration from Oakland Cemetery to the new service memorial at American Legion Field. As remaining World War II veterans depart on their long journey after this life, the new field is level, lessening the possibility of… Read more

  • On a Murder

    The premeditated killing of an Iowa Children’s Museum employee by a mall security guard in Coralville on Friday will have ripples in the community beyond the current news cycle. It was murder, the very definition of the word. “In cases like this, where the shooter confesses to premeditated murder, there is a case to be… Read more

  • Join The Climate Reality Iowa Training

    On Tuesday more than 400 people joined a webinar titled, “Change Starts with You: Becoming a Climate Reality Leader,”  hosted by the Climate Reality Project in advance of the May 5-7 training in Cedar Rapids. The Climate Reality Leadership Corps already has more than 7,000 members from 125 countries since its beginning in 2006. It… Read more

  • Days of Gatherings

    JOHNSON COUNTY— It is possible to fall into a trap of believing that the world and society are about us— our small circle of friends and family and how we live. That would be perilous. Not only is it impossible to live outside the broader context of global society, believing so isolates us from serving… Read more

  • News from the Lake

    LAKE MACBRIDE— A steady rain fell and continued through the night, providing respite for the weary and sound sleep. Having thought I would retreat from society on a day mostly off work, it proved to be impossible, beginning with the trip into town to vote. Two measures were on the ballot yesterday. Voters approved a… Read more