Phoenix

Over the gunnel we went.  The U.S.S. DFD got hung up on something, and Chief Frese and I jumped into the water to lighten the load and try to push the vessel off what had stopped us.  Here’s a hint.  Don’t wear the shortest boots on any given work team.  Mine filled with cold spring flood water immediately.  We pushed, we pulled, we used language not entirely professional and freed the beast.   Back on dry land, Chief Frese returned to his adventurous life in the fire service and I returned soggily to City Hall for a meeting.

I haven’t heard that Barb’s boat ride to the Credit Island Lodge went any worse, but I do recall she spent time at the lodge with a City crew while it was surrounded by a flood.  Anyone who spent any time at the lodge while it was an outpost of ingenuity and determination during a flood has stories to tell.  It was, in a word, a spectacle.  Surrounded by a swollen river, with water bubbling up through the sandy soil, it was a scary place.  The isolation would have been peaceful, had it not been for the constant clatter of pumps reminding you this was a man against nature exercise.  In the end, we all know who wins that battle.

Working with the river rather than against it is one of Davenport’s hallmarks.  The vast majority of the population, tucked not as securely into bed as they think they are behind Army Corps levees, doesn’t get it.  Oh well.

Barb was there, and from today’s article, I think she gets it better than others at the Times.  The City’s been editorially chastised for not giving up on the building.  We’re not the mob, looking to retire to Florida flush with insurance cash from an “unfortunate” restaurant fire.  The building’s coming back, better suited than before to weather increasing floods which will continue to change the landscape at Credit Island.  Rather than give up, we got better.  Rather than rotating platoons borne by landing craft at the island for days and weeks at a time, we’ll let the river do what it does, and come back with a hose when it’s done.

As we continue to hone our flood strategy up and down our riverfront, the fire has turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  Look for grand reopening party invitations, coming soon.