OTTUMWA —
I used to feel like Henny-Penny, thinking “the sky is falling, the sky is falling.”
One of my worries was an airplane falling from the sky.
Or, the water tower in Memorial Park falling down on my house (disputing the fact that water runs downhill).
Now, thanks to very real natural events, I’ve discovered there really is cause for worry.
A chunk of a small (in space terms) asteroid hit the earth’s atmosphere recently and exploded with the force of a nuclear bomb and dropped chunks down on Earth.
Then — and this one really gets me — a man in Florida goes to sleep in his own bed, and the earth swallows him up, bedroom and all.
That sinkhole in Florida is scary. I remember reading for years that the soil wasn’t all that reliable in that state. The odd thing on the recent incident is that the house was supposedly inspected and the residents thought all was well.
And recently there’s the story about the city of Decorah in northeast Iowa being located over a meteorite crater. Good grief. I used to live there.
So, you see, my worries have proven real (well, not the water tower falling — yet).
I know many areas in southeast Iowa are located over old coal mines. And maybe ancient burial grounds.
The way the rain water makes a lake in my front yard makes me wonder about my own turf. I hope it’s just the old tree roots, but one never really knows.
• • •
On to happier subjects.
I didn’t know baby diapers can change colors to let parents know that their baby has a wet diaper. In my grandson’s case, the yellow line down the front of the diaper turns blue. So much easier just looking at that then having to remove the diaper to find out if there has been any activity.
Plus all the things you can buy for your baby — it is astounding. And he’s only a month old. It doesn’t take long for a tiny baby to become the center of everyone’s life and take over the house.
But the grandmas and the parents wouldn’t have it any other way. I didn’t see baby Max for three days and I had withdrawal.
• • •
Surely, surely, all this snow will help aid our moisture problems. The thing with snow this late in the season is, if you wait long enough, it will melt.
You can’t do that with grass — wait. If there is no drought and rain comes as it should, well, the grass just keeps growing and eventually someone has to cut it.
So, the snow, well, I can wait for spring. And hey, it’s almost here.
I know because I saw a flock of robins in the neighborhood.
I should call the Courier.
Judy Krieger is a retired Courier editor.
Columns
March 9, 2013
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