Category: current events

  • Walking Man Sculpture and Other Sights at the Iowa City Sculptors Showcase

    Walking Man Sculpture and Other Sights at the Iowa City Sculptors Showcase

    A couple of days ago, Sena was out and happened to be driving by Terry Trueblood Recreation Area. She saw some guy doing something with a greenish scarf on Walking Man sculpture. She couldn’t tell if he was trying to put it on the sculpture or take it for himself. By the time she got…

  • Funny Thing Happened on the Bigfoot Trail

    Funny Thing Happened on the Bigfoot Trail

    By now, everyone has seen the story about the Bigfoot sighted in Damariscotta, Maine. The local police found out way too fast that it was just a guy in a costume. An interesting sidelight was that the people in Damariscotta (Damariscottamans? Damariscottites? Damariscottimanians?) all came together to make sure friends and neighbors were safe from…

  • You Must Visit the Dr. Lulu Merle Johnson Plaza!

    You Must Visit the Dr. Lulu Merle Johnson Plaza!

    Yesterday, Sena and I had the pleasure of visiting the newly dedicated Dr. Lulu Merle Johnson Plaza, located just outside the front entrance of the Johnson County Administration Building, 913 S. Dubuque Street in Iowa City, Iowa. The dedication ceremony was on August 29, 2026. Although we missed the dedication ceremony, the visit was very…

  • Iowa City Sculptors Showcase Round 3!

    Iowa City Sculptors Showcase Round 3!

    The artists are keeping us running. This morning we went to the Johnson County Administration Building to check out the statue of Dr. Lulu Merle Johnson (on the outside gorgeous Dr. Lulu Merle Johnson Plaza, which is fantastic!), another big story, and thought we’d just check on the plaques for the Iowa City Sculptors Showcase.…

  • Upcoming Civil Rights Exhibit at the African American Museum of Iowa

    Upcoming Civil Rights Exhibit at the African American Museum of Iowa

    I saw a KCRG news item and an announcement about an upcoming exhibit opening at the African American Museum of Iowa on September 4, 2026. The title is Right Where We Belong: Black Resilience, Culture, & Community, 1964-1999. The summary on the museum website reads: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 marked a major milestone…

  • The Humble Plumb Bob as Art and Napoleon, Iowa History

    The Humble Plumb Bob as Art and Napoleon, Iowa History

    I thought it would be interesting to share a few remarks (some of which are tangential) about one of the recently installed sculptures included with the collection you can see in the Iowa City parks. It’s part of the Sculptors Showcase for 2026-28 in Iowa City, which I posted about on August 26, 2026. We’re…

  • New 2026 Sculptors Showcase in Iowa City!

    New 2026 Sculptors Showcase in Iowa City!

    We got out and about on August 25, 2026 to see the new sculptures in Iowa City! All 8 of them are up but most of them don’t have artist nameplates yet. The two exceptions were Tim Adams striking giant green and purple flower at Riverfront Crossings Park and mine, The Waving Man, at Scott…

  • The Little Ironies

    The Little Ironies

    I scheduled this morning’s early post about the Iowa State Fair Cribbage Tournament yesterday afternoon. Well after that, later in the evening Sena told me she read a news story about Rusty Martin, a former Iowa state senator, who had Stage 5 Alzheimer’s Disease and traveled to Switzerland to end his life via the assisted-dying…

  • Cribbage Tournament at the Iowa State Fair This Year!

    Cribbage Tournament at the Iowa State Fair This Year!

    Hey, there’ll be the annual Iowa State Fair Cribbage Tournament on August 23, 2026. It’s on the last day of the Fair. The time and rules are below: We’ve never been to the Iowa State Fair, much less the annual cribbage tournament. According to a Facebook post, there are usually over 200 players who enter…

  • Field of Dreams Baseball Game in Dyersville Today!

    Field of Dreams Baseball Game in Dyersville Today!

    Well, maybe there’ll be a major league baseball game on the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa—or not, given the rain coming down so far this morning. We just found out that the Minnesota Twins are scheduled to play the Philadelphia Phillies today, 6:30 PM central time. It’s going to be wet. It’s a special…