Fun Foto Challenge: Man Made

With this challenge from Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge the gate is wide open. The first thing that popped in my mind was the new I-74 bridge connecting Illinois to Iowa or the other way around. It has been fascinating watching this huge thing go up, then they will tear the old one down. I give you a before and after scenario with one side of the arch almost complete and the the closing of the arch. When you think of the power and amount of water that goes down the Mississippi at any given moment, this is amazing.

The other side of man made which hits closer to home…and my kitchen as “home made”, with breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Breakfast includes a good southern helping of buttered grits covering scrambled eggs that are smothered in sausage gravy. Lunch is scrambled dogs (how you spread three chili dogs for 4 people) and Dinner is fried pork chop, turnip greens, black-eyes and tomato gravy on buttered toast.

The following are a few other photos I took that are worth mentioning with man made. The wooden statue on the end was of a tree that died so the owner carved a knight out of what was left. The home now is a home for those trying to get back on their feet.

In this fun of looking at Man Made items, remember one of the easiest, least expensive and most beautiful things man can make is…kindness.

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CFFC, Fun With the Past

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge allows us to bring fun from our archives or new pictures that reflect ideas from the picture above : Mural, covered bridge, car, green, grass, vintage car, people, trees, road, flowers, landscape, sidewalk, or come up with your own topic.

So below are some of my pictures of the past. Since we are venturing out less right now, I felt this was a fun way to deal with the self quarantine.

Mural, one of several from my town, Rock Island Illinois:

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Centennial Bridge between Iowa and Illinois and blue sky:

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Flowers, can’t wait until spring:

Landscape & trees around town:

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Old cars:

We are now in a time of more fear and resentment and the need for kindness and patience is drastically needed more than ever. Remember to always be kind especially when others are not. Be the light they need.

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The Great Outdoors, fpj-photo-challenge

While this week’s challenge from Jansen Photo is Outdoors, I believe it is meant for the beauty of nature…well, I am going to bend that just a bit and be amazed by the architecture of man spanning the Mississippi River. After all, it is outdoors. This bridge has been under construction now for about 2 years and I think it is due to open by end of next year. It has been amazing to watch, I posted earlier pictures in November if you care to go see those here. We went across to the other side and had to use this bridge – what a reroute you have to go through right now, glad I don’t have to use it everyday because the roads are moving as well.

But I was amazed at the progress, especially knowing the winter we went through and the massive flood (91 days) that has just now settled back into its banks.

So check out these pictures and remember even though man can aggravate you at time, he can be pretty amazing as well. I also realize that I am a bit of a geek since I came from quality management but I think these are neat. Hope you enjoy.

These white things sticking in the air are going to be archways spanning across.

And in closing, I remind you to maybe reach out and build a bridge over to someone or something who needs to cross into kindness. It may bring brightness into their lives.

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Really…How?

This morning I created a post about our love for our pets and made the comment that some dogs are smarter than some people. Now I am not saying that some people are stupid, but I am saying a lot of people don’t think about what they are doing which makes us call them stupid. I also made the comment that I didn’t have a picture explaining that phenomenon…now I do! And I thought I would share, mostly because this is the second time in two weeks this has happened. Really?!?

Driving intellegence.image — See the flashing lights at the top of the picture…yea…

Last week was even more…interesting…as a big ole truck hit the bridge, put on his flashers as a warning because he was now attached to the bridge…got run into from behind…because basically he was a parked truck…really?!!?

Yea…dogs seem smarter than some people.

So remember while it is not kind to say people are stupid, it is not unkind to say people don’t think two feet of where they are going. So extra kindness needs to go forth to some people…to keep you from slapping them. God can only do so much when we refuse to use the intelligence he gave us.

So let us work extra hard at being kind especially when you have to shake your head. Some people really need it.

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The Mighty “Mississip”, Snow Melt Begins

The river is still rising. Currently at 20.4 feet expected to crest at well over 21 feet. Depending on where you are along this section of the Mississippi, it leaves it banks anywhere from 16′ to 18′. Therein lies the problem when you are over 20′ of flood stage.

IMG_20190406_161202 — This is River Drive, how appropriate.

The biggest concern now is tomorrow – rain storm possible with flash flooding – really. There is no where for the flash flood to go, it will just add to the flood already in progress. Lets put this into scientific facts for you. The Mississippi’s current water flow on an average(no flood) day is 2 million cubic feet per second…per second! Okay, lets try to bring that better into perspective. There are 7.489 gallons per cubic foot which weigh 62.4 lbs. A 48′ long semi truck trailer holds 3,600 cubic feet. To boil it all down – its a lot of water. Some of the smaller communities along the river in this area that rely on their wells for water can not longer use their wells due to the flooding. So they basically have no water. I am reminded of a phrase – Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink.

I am still amazed that currently, the trains are still running but I hear that is going to change soon if the water keeps rising. And it looks like it probably will.

I went onto the walkway of the bridge to get these shots. Yes – I walked, yea me. For those who are new to my postings, I am recovering from foot surgery.

IMG_20190406_161402 — There is a walkway where you can walk across the bridge. Some amazing shots from there. Check out the current around the piling of the bridge.

Below is the one shot I really wanted to get. I just have my phone camera so I can’t do long distances but that concrete building beyond the ball field is the back of a bandstand and there are outdoor chairs bolted down to a concrete pad to watch the band with a dance pad between the chairs and the band stand. The chairs are totally under water.

IMG_20190406_162253 — A winding sidewalk with lamppost is between those big trees and the river bank. The retaining wall for that sidewalk is underwater.

So always be aware of what water can do. Even the tiniest leak can be a real headache. But I learned when young and living in Florida that water can be a beast to reckon with. Please keep these communities along this river in your prayers. This is a LONG river and the further south it goes the wider it gets. They are telling us this amount of flood stage will be with us for awhile.

And I close with good thoughts of sharing kindness, even when life gets tough. There is always room for sharing God’s light in kindness. It may be the one spark of love that person may see that day.

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Bridges @ Iowa and Illinois, A Photo a Week

Living on one side of the river and working on the others can cause a transportation problem if we did have bridges. There are some places around the world that have ferry boats that take people and sometimes cars from one side of the river to the other.

Where I live on the Mississippi we have numerous bridges, some for cars and some for trains. Most have identifying names so in conversation you can tell what side of the quad cities you are referring to. There are 4 cities linked together, 2 cities on each side of the river that the only way you can tell what city you are in is by the street name. For instance if you were on 49th street and all of a sudden you were on 1st street, you went from Davenport to Bettendorf in Iowa or from Rock Island to Moline in Illinois. On the far west side of town you have the first bridge, the Blue Bridge(that used to be the yellow bridge) which is actually the 280 bypass. The next bridge east is a railroad bridge and coming further east you have the newer bridge, the Centennial Bridge, which connects the downtown areas of Davenport and Rock Island. This is the bridge where all the 4th of July festivities are surrounded. A barge is put in the middle of the river and is where they shoot off fireworks. The next bridge over is the Arsenal Bridge and Lock Dam that goes from Davenport’s east side the the Rock Island Base. Coming further east is the I-74 Corridor bridge which is in the process of its 3rd and massive rebuild. The the last bridge for the area is the I-80 bridge which will probably be the next rebuild project one the I-74 bridge is complete in 2020.

In following Nancy Merrill’s prompt of Bridges I am featuring the center most bridges of the area. There is also a smaller river in this area, the Rock river that flows into the Mississippi that has several bridges as well but they are not as photographic as these. So enjoy. I do apologize for the gray day but its that kind of day.

IMG_20181102_112343 — The Centennial Bridge with the Railroad bridge in the distance.

IMG_20180713_131048 — Paddle boat ride up the river showing construction on I-74 Corridor Bridge earlier this summer

These two pictures below show construction barges and cranes. In October you could main frames for the structure footings and some of the first sections of the bridge are complete. I will send update maybe in the spring.

The area I live in is really not that big in comparison of the larger metro cities but is big enough to need several bridges to carry people from side to the other.

In closing today I close with a wonderful smile as a reminder to always be kind. your kindness may be the only nice thing that person may get on a given day.

smiling — This smile can turn any frown upside down.