Eight years ago, a flood devastated my hometown. Many of our oldest buildings were demolished and hauled off by a caravan of borrowed coal trucks. Others were left intact, flood mud and all, and still sit as ugly reminders of that day (and of the sheer laziness of the owners - many of whom collected FEMA dollars to rebuild . . . but didn't). This strip of tiles is still embedded in an empty lot where a movie theater, drug store, jewelry store, radio station, and restaurant/bar once stood. All wiped out in one fell swoop.