A Brief Reunion

As I start writing at 6:00 pm, there is a severe thunderstorm warning in effect until 8:45 pm and a tornado watch posted for Junction City, KS, until 11:00 pm. We're spending the night in the parking lot of our RV's manufacturing plant, ready for some minor work on the rig. (I sure hope we don't experience anything tonight that will require major repairs.)

It's now 8:30, about thirty minutes since the thunder-storm ended. I think we got a little hail, but nothing to write about. The sky had a cottage cheese (dirty cottage cheese) look to it. It was getting dark, and we still had well over two hours before the tornado watch expired. (Fortunately, the service manager at New Horizons had told us that the fire station a block away would be the safest place to be in the event of a tornado.}

But to get back to the original topic for the day, we head back to Iowa City for a walk downtown. The main part of the campus of the Univer-sity of Iowa is centered around Old Capitol, the seat of government when Iowa City was the capital of Iowa.

Classrooms to the east and south of Old Capitol were just across the street from downtown. Today the downtown seemed to be focused on the students, while malls have drawn many of the previously downtown businesses to the suburbs.
As we walked along familiar streets, we passed familiar spots that had changed, but were still recognizable: Joe's Place (above) and its libations
the Englert Theater (right), now restored and leading a new life,







and this former hotel, looking quite handsome today.















One of the new businesses is Quinton's Bar and Deli--there was no deli of any kind 50 years ago.











I could not find any information about this walkway over Dubuque Street. It's quite intriguing.


Then there are the places that have special meaning, such as the tall building. It was in the library shared by the Psychology Department and the Education Department where I met Kate.









The next three photos reminded me of the times that one of my roommates, Jerry Zinn, and I would walk the streets and alleys of Iowa City with cameras in hand, looking for the unusual details to photograph.

We each could have taken three or four close-up photos of the posted notices in the photo on the left





and how could we have missed this poster for a group appearing at the Iowa City Yacht Club.













When I saw this door, I immediately thought I could see the face of Sesame Street's Mister Snuffleupagus.

I didn't realize how much I missed those photo outings until Kate and I got together with my college roommates and their wives. I like unposed photos and captured (l to r) Sandra Edlund, Kedric Edlund, Jerry Zinn (with camera), and Barbara Zinn. All six of us knew each other before going our separate ways in the late 60s. It was great to get together again.

Well, it's midnight and the threat of a tornado has not materialized. It has been a wild spring weather-wise.