My neighbor’s house has flooded.
Here on the shores of West Okoboji, the spring rains were heavy, but not terribly unusual. However, the rain continued all through June. The final storms were epic: six plus inches of rain overnight flooded the beach and powerful winds pushed the lake across my neighbor’s yard into their house.
It’s been an eventful year in Northwest Iowa. Earlier in January, our neighbors to the east had a housefire that proved almost impossible to control. It consumed two houses and the better part of a third before a half dozen local fire departments got things under control. As I write this, the sounds of cicadas fill the air.
Fire, floods and waves of insects have given this season not so much an old-time summer flavor… but an Old Testament flavor.
So, it’s been disappointing here at the lake, but not tragic. The travails of a few thousand lake homeowners doesn’t amount to a hill of beans compared to the real troubles of the world.
Certainly, the thousands displaced by floods in northwest Iowa towns like Spencer and Rock Valley, and the devastation a tornado visited upon Greenfield earlier this year do deserve our focus and attention. In Spencer alone, over one thousand homes will have to be bulldozed. In these communities, lives were lost.
I write of these things because of the lesson this year’s experiences provides. Specifically, bad things will happen. Not that they may happen, but they will happen. Not that they will happen to others, but they will happen to us. This is life. It is what we should expect of our adventure and what we should plan for.
Financial markets have done well this year despite wars in Europe and the Middle East. Despite political travails in Europe and here at home. Despite… well, you can fill in your own blanks. Life is an adventure, and unfortunately, some adventures will be tragedies.
So, at Iowa Wealth Management we will continue to ask about your insurance plans. We will query about your estate plan and that of your children’s. As to the management of your financial assets, we will focus upon only the highest quality asset with the most durable sources of income to provide for your needs now and, most importantly, when your moments of greatest need arise. We are not pessimists; we are realists regarding your financial affairs. The reasons are apparent enough.
