Ode to Iowa

My mom is on a flight to Iowa this morning. Wish I was with her. I miss that place. The last time I was there was October of 2006 for my grandpa's funeral, but even then, I haven't back to my old stompin' grounds since 2005, and even then it was just a whirlwind weekend for a wedding. People have all sorts of perceptions about Iowa...and frankly I had some of my own while I lived there, but once you're gone your perspective changes a bit.

First of all, Iowa smells amazing. The soil is so rich that one of the first things I realize when I stand outside is how amazingly fresh it smells. People also think Iowa is completely flat, but really, it's not. Granted, it's not mountainous, but it has soft rolling hills spread throughout the state. Just ask anyone who has every biked Ragbrai and I'm sure they would testify to that.

There are so many things I think are humorous about living in the "south" after having lived in the midwest...

We have a grocery store here called Publix (a large chain) that people are in "awe" over because they are willing to take your groceries to your car. People keep trying to tip them because they think it's so wonderful. I think it's funny because I can't remember a time growing up that we carried our own groceries to the car - unless we purchased a small amount that was just as easy to carry ourselves. Whether we shopped at Fareway and they delivered them to our car personally, or shopped at Hy-Vee and drove with our cart number to pick them up...it was just a part of normal, everyday life to me.

When I moved to TN I didn't buy meat for quite sometime. Why? Well, I couldn't figure out where to get it! That probably sounds ridiculous, but I grew up going to the meat counter and ordering meat from the case. My mom NEVER bought pre-packed, frozen meat! I seriously tried every single grocery store I could find until finally realizing Tyson was going to be my friend for the length of my stay here. Fresh is definitely better.

I'd only lived here a few months when I went to my first football game and the girl next to me said, "Oh, I love that girls tobaggon!" I quickly glanced around and said, "why on earth would someone bring a sled to a football game?!" The girl next to me had a perplexed look on her face and said, "sled? What are you talking about??" Well, ends up that people here call their knit stocking caps "tobaggons". I was puzzled by this for the longest time until someone clarified the reason behind it. Apparently they used to call them "tobaggoning hats", but people here didn't know what a tobaggon was (we don't get snow...ugh), so they just started shortening it to "tobaggon", not really realizing what they were saying.

People refer to pop or soda of any kind as "coke". I get such crap for still saying "pop", but it's my roots and I'm stickin' to it (check out this map).

Iowa has a better education system. I might be in trouble for saying that, but I checked my facts and Iowa was ranked #9 for "Smartest State" in 2007 while Tennessee was ranked #30. Although I'm not gonna lie, I hated ITBS.

I love Hy-Vee generic animal crackers. I know, that's so random, but I look forward to getting a bag whenever I'm back for a visit. I also miss the Tropical Sno booths in the grocery store parking lots. Such cheap refreshment every summer. I miss Two Brother's Pizza. Still the best pizza I've ever had. I miss black soil - it's clay here. I miss ATVing through the cornfields with friends, building forts with hay bails at my grandparent's farm, being snowed-in, playing carpet ball in the summer, riding horses at the Phillips', church potlucks and youth winter trips to Minnesota. So many years, so many memories...I'm sure even if I was there right now it wouldn't be the same, but talk about a great childhood.

So for today, that is my ode to Iowa.

P.S. Go all the way to the bottom of this page and you'll see my music player. I've set it now so that it won't start playing automatically (because I know that can be annoying). Listen to "Goodbye" by Secondhand Serenade. It's also on my running playlist. It's my "warmup" song because it starts out slow, but about 2:30 it starts to slowly build...and man, you just want to TAKE OFF! Check it out!