Summertime Tradition Returns

Levi helps water the trees. And grass. And his dad.

Summer brings warm temperatures, ice cream, baseball and Levi getting all wet from a hose.

It kind of happens every year. Levi “helps” me water the garden and other items.

Monday night Levi and I were giving a little drink to our newly expanded garden. Levi wanted to water the trees. Last year, we couldn’t turn on the hose without ending up with wet shirts, soaked shoes and socks. It is good to see Levi continue the tradition in 2012.

He and I were at home alone while Noah was at VBS. Mom was in the air officially beginning YBHA XI.

This picture gained a little attention on the social media networks. It was just a little timing and luck to get the shot.

I was on the east side of the spray looking back west into the sun. The backlight hit the water and boom, we had the shot. I did put it through Instagram, but did very little to the shot, a little saturation of color and I took the top and bottom out of focus.

I now have a lasting memory of Levi captured on “film”.

I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

More problems on the Mighty Mo

Downtown Omaha, NE from the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge. Taken June 15, 2011.

I’m back from the trip to the Missouri River. We started in South Sioux City, NE, then to Sioux City, IA on Tuesday. A quick overview is found here.

Our crew made it to Council Bluffs Tuesday night. Our drive was eery along I-29 as the closer we got to Council Bluffs, the less traffic there was on the road. The interstate was shut down at Missouri Valley.

Looking east to Council Bluffs, Iowa. The white tarp is along a levee protecting the city. Photo taken June 15, 2011.

We did start at the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge between Omaha, NE and Council Bluffs, IA. This is a good place to see the wide the Missouri and not be in danger. You can see flooding along the Omaha side where a few back-ups of water are occurring in the parking lot of the new Ameritrade Park, home of the College World Series.

Crews rush to complete a secondary levee protecting Hamburg, Iowa. West and south of here, a levee broke Monday. Water has filled thousands of acres already. June 15, 2011.

We headed south on I-29 and got off the road at Nebraska City/Sidney exit. The 4-lane road into Nebraska City was reduced to a single lane in a couple of places as the water was on the road.

The businesses just off the interstate all had protective levees around them. That was the scene in many places south of the CoBlo/Omaha metro, lots of large machine-made levees. In Missouri Valley it was sandbags along the business district.

We made it to this lookout point in Hamburg. We could see the temporary work being done on the levee to help save the town. The major industries of town could be wiped out if this levee doesn’t hold.

Iowa National Guard commander arriving to view operations and flood patrol's base of operations. June 15, 2011.

The Iowa National Guard is patrolling the levees up and down the River. The Iowa National Guard Major General Tim Orr arrived in Hamburg Wednesday afternoon. He was flying the entire river to see what had changed in the week.

The Blue Moon is still open. The owner told us she’s willing to anyone her story and the community of Hamburg’s story. To say she was upset at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is an understatement.

One final note, this trip was almost 3 years to the day that Cedar River crested at Cedar Rapids. John Torpy and I were on that shoot as well. I wonder which river we’ll be on in 3 years from now.
We are working on a story for this week’s Market To Market program. Check your local listings.

Dirty boys need cleaning too

Levi has a slight obsession with the garden hose.

We try to keep a routine here, even when the boss is gone and the Yeager Boys are left Home Alone (Season VII). This is the story of Day 3 in our adventure. This may be a little longer than normal. If you want highlights, just look at the pictures and click on the <a href=”YouTube video of Levi. I think it is well worth the 50 seconds.

And, now back to the shenanigans.

Some nights are a little easier than others. It depends on how much sugar I give them.

We usually do a little playing outside when the weather allows. This certainly helps make the night go better.

Right now we are on a hot streak for weather.

The results of a little water, one dirty boy.

One can get thirsty.

Levi’s ears work. He can hear when the garden hose is turned on and pouring out water. Then he’s like a moth to a flame when the hose is active.

We tried doing a little garden work tonight (a little repair to our earlier spring efforts in YBHA VI).

Levi was helping. He got some mud and when it came time to water our work, Levi took over the hose. You don’t fight a 20-month-old. We all know that’s a lost cause. You see the results in the pictures.

Scooter night for Noah.

Noah wanted some scooter time around the neighborhood following our garden variety fun.

Levi gave chase and we will have a hard time keeping Levi from trying to do everything Noah can do.

We are trying to let Noah be a 5-year-old and not be over every move he makes. This is easier some days than others.

(sorry for the delay in the next sentence. I had to put clothes in the dryer from the washer. I found 12 cents. Look out Casey’s General Store. I’m coming in for a Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop.)

Spiked hair while brushing teeth.

Back to the boys…

I usually let Noah watch TV by himself while getting Levi ready for bed. During Amy’s last trip, Noah started running upstairs to the shower, take a quick shower, brush his teeth and get his PJs on before I could finish reading to Levi after the little guy’s bath. Noah called that a surprise.

It was nice. It showed just how grown up he’s become.

It also made me sad that he really doesn’t need Mom or Dad to do everything for him anymore.

Levi still needs me, though. He needs me to spike his hair while he brushes his 14 teeth.

Following his bath, while dressing him, Levi seems his happiest. He talks a lot. Tonight I was able to have this conversation with the dude.
Enjoy.

Bedtime includes a few books and our Cars pillow.

Noah has a little OCD when it comes to bedtime, but to be nice, we’ll call it routine. You have to make sure everything is right or it gets dicey. Most nights, he’s tired so it doesn’t take much to set him off to get some fake tears. We have to set out PJs, read books, say prayers and do checks every night.

Checks are his stalling technique. He likes to have us “check” on him each night. When he was 3 it was 3 checks. You’d say good night and then come back in 30 seconds for a check and repeat it two more times.

Now we’re down to one check, but Noah now just keeps asking questions. We turn his music on and say goodnight for the seventh time. A hug, a drink of water, another hug and more questions.

You basically have to shut the door on him in mid-sentence.
Soon, I’ll be going to bed before him and he’ll have to check on me.

*Sorry this post was late in being written, but the Cardinals are in San Diego for a series. I may be distracted by watching the game.

TIJ – Flooding Potential

Our look at the potential for flooding this year in Iowa is taking shape.

A little background is here in a post made earlier in the week.

I did take a drive to Waverly yesterday. Plenty of cars in the ditch along the way, but along Highway 3 from I-35 to Waverly, no cars were the ditch. That’s because there was no ditch as they were all filled with snow. And there is usually more snow upstream from there.

A related, but not totally, OpEd was in Wednesday morning’s Des Moines Register. It was written by Michael Burkart and Bill Stowe. It looks at the issue of not rushing to redesign farm land drainage. Here’s the link.

And even the story about all the reporter hats has info on how much snow has fallen and how much budget has been used to date to clear all the snow, how much snowfall is on the ground and of course, what hats the reporters were wearing.

I’ve also come across this article in the Wall Street Journal talking about the plan to divert water through a giant channel to avert flooding the downtown of Fargo, North Dakota. That idea is not sitting well with those downstream.

As always, you can watch our show online at http://www.iptv.org/iowajournal

And I’ll take your questions on the flood show topic to iowajournal@iptv.org

And here is our official press release about our show. Air time is 8p on Thursday on Iowa Public Television.

Iowa Floods of 2010?
On the Thursday, February 18 edition
of The Iowa Journal

(Johnston, Iowa) –Thursday’s episode of The Iowa Journal will take a look at the probabilities of this winter’s excessive snow fall turning into floods similar to those seen across Iowa in 2008. This program airs Thursday, February 18 at 8. It will be rebroadcast Friday, February 19 at 6:30 p.m. on statewide Iowa Public Television and Saturday, February 20 at 8:30 a.m. on IPTV WORLD. It will also be available online at iptv.org/iowajournal.

The National Weather Service has reported that Iowa is at risk for significant flooding this spring, particularly in central and western Iowa. The Iowa Journal will ask studio guests if Iowa is prepared to deal with more floods while still recovering from those in 2008. In the studio to address both the short term and long term solutions on how to best handle floods are three guests: David Miller, administrator for the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division with responsibilities for coordinating the State’s response to disasters; Kamyar Enshayan, city council member for Cedar Falls, whose town suffered in the 2008 floods, and who helped instigate plans to help safeguard the town during future floods; and Marty Adkins, of the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, whose office has a floodplain easement program to pay some qualified landowners who want to discontinue farming land with chronic flooding.

For more information about The Iowa Journal, visit http://www.iptv.org/iowajournal or call (515) 242-3146. For information on how to watch IPTV WORLD in your area, visit Iptv.org.