So here I am, a Southern girl, moved to the Midwest. I can honestly say I have embraced it as I am seeing things through fresh eyes, like a child would see things for the very first time. When I arrived in Iowa on May 24th, 2010 not only did I notice that there were bugs as big as birds around here but my other thoughts were, it’s windy and it’s HOT! Am I still in Georgia? From what I understand, it’s been an unseasonably hot summer in Iowa. Well, let’s just hope it’s not an unseasonably COLD winter! I can honestly say, I’m not prepared. My body doesn’t know how to handle temperatures of twenty below with a wind chill that freezes your nose hairs and makes your eyeballs hurt.
So the one anxiety I had about leaving the South was being so far away from the Southeastern Atlantic coast and being so far away from the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains of North and South Carolina. These were places I adored and I felt a tremble in my heart just thinking about how far away I was going to be from these places that made the South “home” for me. But, this was my chance. This was my chance to explore new places, see new things and make memories for the boys that they would someday think of as “home”.
Most people ask “What’s in Iowa?” The answer was almost always, “corn”! In the airport I saw T-shirts that read, across the front, “Not Everything Is Flat in Iowa”. I laughed as I debated purchasing one along with one that read “What Happens in the Cornfield, Stays in the Cornfield”. Good stuff! I pictured flat roads and fields of corn, kind of like the scene in the movie Castaway where in the end, Tom Hanks arrives in the country to deliver the FedEx package to it's rightful owner and he is standing at the dusty, boring, flat crossroads. It is true that most of the roads are flat and they are all in squares so if you make enough right turns, you’ll end up right back where you started. However, I had arrived in late spring; so not only had the snow long been melted but everything was green, a green that you’ve never seen before. There were rolling hills of green as far as the eye could see. As I passed a sign that read “Joan’s Country Curls”, I noticed the sky seemed bigger here, and it too was a bluer shade of blue than I had ever seen. There were red barns with silos and tractors in the fields. It was windy,
almost like being on the coast. That was exciting! I don't usually listen to country music but I felt an overwhelming urge to crank it loud with the windows down. This was much nicer than I had expected! My husband would often say the one thing he would miss about Georgia was the trees. Well, I have to say the trees are definitely different here and they aren’t as dense as in Georgia, but I love the WIDE open spaces. It gives you a feeling of freedom; freedom to roam with nothing in your way. This was going to be a great new adventure.
So after arriving at the new house and immediately hanging some pictures on the walls to make it feel more like mine, I headed out to my 4 seasons room. The first thing I noticed was that hardly anyone had a privacy fence around here. It was all open. Not only were there play sets in yards as far as you could see but one in three yards had vegetable gardens. Well, we most definitely couldn’t be the new snobby neighbors from Georgia to come in and put up a privacy fence. The neighbor next door had already been over with rice krispy treats and an invitation to let the kids play on their outdoor play set any time. Wow! That was impressive. Two days later more neighbors dropped by to pick us up and take us to the hoppin’ little ice cream shop that was locally owned and buzzing with people inside and out even at 8:30 PM on a Wednesday night. This was life I thought! I was born in a small town in NC but it was not like this one.
The next few weeks of summer brought many new discoveries. I kept hearing the saying that the corn would be “knee high by the 4th of July”. Well it was, and it was growing in perfectly neat and straight rows and ahead of schedule because of all of the rain. The sound of the sump pump in the basement was a new sound for me too. It was working overtime to keep the water out. Another was the sound of the storm sirens, wailing with the possibility of swirling clouds that mostly turned out to be just good old summer thunderstorms. The soybean fields grew tall too and swayed in the breeze like ocean waves rolling in to shore. There were small town festivals in the parks, farmer’s markets and parades; parades where the people were proud; proud of their heritage. There were pork princesses and beef princesses and tractors and American flags flying everywhere; draped across the railings of front porches on many homes along the parade routes. Small town bands playing in the park, Friday night high school football games, small town baseball games and long bike rides down the miles of nicely paved trails along creeks, with new flowers and trees and birds that I had never seen before. There were bonfires with s’mores on the weekend with neighbors, in the MIDDLE of the summer. It’s a thing around here! There were adventures to the local water park and late night cocktails on the deck under the wide open sky under the stars. There were no bright city lights to obstruct the view. The temperatures during the day in the mild mid 80's. In Iowa, there are parks on just about every block; green spaces and giant play equipment for the kids to romp around on and play and run free. There is sweet corn in pickup trucks for sale on every corner. The gas prices are lower because of the higher use of ethanol from the corn. There are windmills to power small towns. Nearly every person you meet is either wearing black and gold for support of the Hawkeyes or purple and gold for their hometown pride, the University of Northern Iowa Panthers. The kids actually play outside here. They play football and basketball and baseball. They make up games and use their imaginations. The sun comes up at 5 am and doesn’t go down until 9 pm.
As time has gone on, I have noticed that people are just friendly here; and not a fake friendly. People really want to know about you. They ask questions. They listen to the answers. They offer to help. They don’t seem like they are offering to receive anything in return. People around here seem to be looking for the same thing. Social statuses seem to disappear. People treat people more as equals. They are genuinely friendly people. Now I’m not naïve, I know there must be pockets of snobby people around here somewhere but I’ve been thinking; I had better step it up a notch. I tended to be withdrawn in Georgia maybe a tad anti-social at times depending on what the company was going to be, at any given gathering, function or event. That’s just the way it was there. I lived there most of my life and I never truly felt like I belonged although I have to say that I do call Georgia “home”. The people here though are active and keep the community active and involved. They realize the importance of education and focus on family life. This is a place where I think I can achieve true balance. I’ve met a great group of girls with kids who enjoy doing things together as a family but understand the importance of girl time without the kids too.
I’m so very excited about the possibilities for the future. We’ve had the opportunity to explore one of the many state parks here in Iowa and have decided to make it “our thing” as a family to explore a new one every chance we get. I’m excited that we are only 4.5 hours from our family in Milwaukee. We are so close to our brothers and sisters-in-law and are excited about watching their children grow up with ours and having our parents around to spoil their grandchildren. There are so many places to explore and possibilities relative to where we are geographically now. We are bordered by seven states so we’re 3 hours from friends in Minneapolis, 5 hours from Chicago, 4 hours from Omaha, 4 from Sioux Falls, 4 from Kansas City and 5 from St. Louis. There will be more to come as winter approaches and there are new things to discover so stay tuned.
I believe that God has brought us here for a purpose. For however long that is, I will embrace it. Who knows what the future holds. For now, I will enjoy the present, because it is a gift.
Is this heaven? No, this is the great state of Iowa! True Americana and I love it!
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