Monday, July 7, 2008

The Song of Iowa






Not an exotic land to visit, but a land of strong American values, a beauty all it's own. Land hunted by Native American tribes like the Ioway, Sauk, Mesquaki, Sioux, Pottawatomie, Oto and Missouri, until The Blackhawk War in 1832, when their beautiful land was taken from them to be settled by Germans, Irish, Scandinavian and the English farmers. We 'Plains' folk, know the trials of the weather in the Midwest and take it serious when the seasons change. Knowing what tragedies may befall us, the beauty of our rolling plains has kept us here, through floods, tornadoes, humidity, snow and ice AND the mosquitoes.

I have had people say to me, Iowa, isn't that where the potatoes are grown(Idaho) or isn't it all flat there(Nebraska), that is why I call it the lost continent...no one really knows for sure. But having lived in big cities in Colorado and Florida, I'll take the traffic in Iowa any day. The farm communities are wonderful, people so friendly and helpful, still slow in today's terms, but what strong values the Native Iowans hold. You don't see a lot of travel ads saying 'COME VISIT IOWA'...and why you say...we'll never tell!!!

But I'll just keep on a rockin' in my 'thinkin chair', listening to the song of the Meadow Lark and my Jenny Wrens, with the warm, humid breeze on my cheek and the flicker of fireflies in my field, wonderin'...should I hang out the wash or go antiquein'...you guessed it...I'm outa here.