In subzero temps, city takes care of neighborhood

Flashing lights tinge our bedroom mini-blinds. Clock by the bed says 2:30 a.m. Peering out the window, two large city trucks are parked along Ford Avenue. Muffled voices. Workers in green reflective vests walk through our yard. Our toilet flushes and doesn’t refill. A quick glance to the street reveals water and wet ice along the curb.

More trucks … a backhoe … what sounds like a jackhammer … a load of gravel. Work continues through the below-zero wind chill predawn. A hole large enough to lose a Volkswagen Beetle uncovers a big water pipe.

By 10 a.m., the water line is repaired. Gravel begins to fill the hole. The nearby hydrant is flushed. Traffic cones cordon off the excavated area. We wash our breakfast dishes.

On a morning when the priority was catching up on trash/recycling pickup and snow left behind by the Blizzard of ‘22, the city took care of taking care of our neighborhood.

Thank you.

Andrea and David Novak

Cedar Rapids