The National Weather Service predicts “snow squalls” for parts of eastern Iowa today in the afternoon.
Sena recognized the guy in the GIF above as W.C. Fields and wondered if there were any other videos of this scene with audio as well. They aren’t hard to find.
Here’s a list of events I know of so far regarding the observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Day:
The city of Iowa City has day of service and other events you can find at this link.
The city of Coralville has events starting on January 16th and more, which you can learn about here.
The Iowa Children’s Museum has scheduled events that sound very fun and interesting for families and which you can find out more about here.
Martin Luther King Jr Day is coming up! Here’s a list of events already scheduled so far in Iowa. The announcements are posted by Fabulous Iowa.
Get your new calendars out!
We saw a really pretty sunrise this morning. Sunrises always make feel expectant, hopeful, and a little excited. It reminded me of that show “Sunrise Earth,” anyone remember those? They didn’t even have music, just the sounds of nature and the scene of dawn slowly giving its own introduction.
Today is a rainy day in December around Eastern Iowa. We’re justing hanging out waiting for Spring.
I just want to send a link to Dr. George Dawson’s post The Phenomenological Suicide Assessment – The Legacy of Dr. H. It’s a great Christmas gift to teachers and learners everywhere. Happy holidays to George and everyone else.
This just in! University of Iowa Psychiatrist Dr. Susan Shen, MD, PhD, is an assistant professor of psychiatry at The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine and, hold on to your hat, she’s the first female psychiatrist, the first from Iowa, and only the third psychiatrist overall to receive to win the Avenir Award (French for “future), a highly competitive grant!
The $2.3 million dollar grant will help fund her lab’s research into the underpinnings of substance use and psychiatric disorders. The grant is administered through the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Give Dr. Susan Shen a big shout-out!
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds ordered all public buildings in Iowa to fly all flags at half-staff until sundown today in honor of two Iowa Army National Guard soldiers and an American civilian interpreter killed in an enemy attack in Palmyra, Syria on December 13, 2025.
Today is Pearl Harbor Day and it reminds me of the time we made a trip to Hawaii in 1997 and visited the USS Arizona Memorial. There was a guy named Norm in our tour group and he and his wife Lee (Leota) made friends with me and Sena. They were in their seventies at the time. Norm wept openly when we stood inside the memorial and viewed the names of those killed in the attack. I don’t think he served in WWII. He would have been only 16 years old at the time. I think he was just very affected by the loss of so many lives. Standing in the place where so many died can make us want to cry. You could call it normal—and it is sad. We exchanged Christmas cards with Norm and Lee for years afterward until they passed.
Go Retire Psychiatrist 