Answer Week: Day 2

KathyR asked, Now that your time in New England is winding down, are you looking forward to going back to Iowa? Or wishing you could stay longer? Or what?

Hmmm. That's a hard one to answer.

I started out by writing out some pros and cons.

Pros about New Hampshire
Glorious landscape
Ocean nearby
Summer mildness

Cons about New Hampshire
Cost of living
Stand-offish nature of people
Feeling of entitlement in this university/medical center town
Whiteness

Pros about Iowa
Being back with our friends
Getting back to our big house
Our big yard
Big-city library
Coffee shop, wine bar, video store, movie theater, sandwich shop, mini-mart all within walking distance
Diversity of people
Midwestern cost of living
Midwestern hopitality
Variety of restaurants and stores

Cons about Iowa
Speakerboxes (the bane of city dwelling)
Midwestern landscape
Humid summer

This year has underscored for me the importance of friendships. Perhaps because we knew we were going to only be here for one year, we haven't really tried to make friends. On the other hand -- no one around here has been particularly welcoming, either. I don't really have much in common with these people. We have an awesome group of friends in Iowa. They are kooks, just like us; they are always willing to lend a hand; they make us feel welcome.

I really don't like the midwestern landscape. Prairie, schmairie. My soul is in the mountains and in the craggy oceanfronts. I'm in a quandary, because although my spirit thrives in a rural woodsy landscape, I like the variety inherent in city-living. I miss my library! The one that always has whatever I'm looking for, that orders books when I suggest it, and that introduces me to different musical artists, rather than reminding me that the 1980s can get boring if that's all you listen to.

I'm glad you asked this question, Kathy, because it forced me to make these lists. Returning to Iowa is going to be great. But I think I'm going to be more insistent that we take time to be out of the city on a regular basis. And I'm going to be so glad our friends will be nearby.

Don't you think...

...that if it is "Iowa Severe Weather Awareness Week" that it might be a good idea to publicize? So that the Wednesday morning test of the tornado siren system doesn't come as a surprise to people, who may ignore the first siren blast, but by the second and third think, "Hmmm, this must be serious," and gather up their laptop and the dog and trudge to the chilly basement (considering we had snow this morning and expect a high of 43)?

A quick scan of the local radio stations comes up with nothing (although one of the frequencies is just silence, which freaks out these people even more), and a visit to the award-winning (harrumph!) newspaper results in no info, and it takes an Internet search (thank the gods for laptops and wi-fi) to a less than obvious site to figure out what the heck is going on.

This is not good, Iowa DHS people. Not good at all!

What A Difference A Day Maaaaaakes...

Twenty-four...

little hours....


(Don't remember what the yard looked like yesterday?)

Spring Break, My A**

DSC01460.JPG
Originally uploaded by friuduric.

We had temperatures in the 70s last week, my friends.

Today, this is what we see. (It'll be all gone tomorrow, but still!)

Why can't we have Spring Break a bit later, say, in April?

Weekend Excitement

Over the past few weeks, z has been posting pictures of the flowers that she’s finding in her early spring garden. I’ve restrained myself from making the obvious comment that it sure seems warmer in England than in Iowa, and that we don’t really consider spring to arrive here until late March. Because saying isn’t as powerful as showing, right?

Well, we had some weather come through over the weekend.

On Sunday morning, when the Consort was heading out the door to go pick up Jean-Michel Cousteau* for lunch, he raced back in, called Jean-Michel at his hotel, and warned him he’d be a little late. It seems some of our huge pine tree’s limbs came down in the night (so that was the CRRRRRAKKK heard in the middle of the night!):



And blocked the car into the driveway:



As well as broke our garden gate:



After the girls and I cleared away most of the branches and shoveled the walkway, I called the electric company to warn them that one limb was leaning against the electric lines down the alley, and I wasn’t sure how long it would stay up. “Do you have electricity?” the customer service agent asked. “Right now, yes, but when the line can’t hold the weight of the ice-covered limb any more, this entire block will be without electricity.” He promised they’d send someone out to take a look. I was surprised that he seemed so uninterested in the danger. Until the Consort showed me the newspaper this morning. Oh, OK, we aren’t the priority. No problem! I totally understand.

And we ended the day with this magical sight:

Note to Self

If you insist on following through with that cockamamie excercise plan on a 7 F/-14 C day, then -- despite what you read recently about exercise making the ambient temperature feel about 30 degrees higher than it is -- bring a scarf and a hat for the walk back to the car!

Because the metal snaps on your jacket don't make the same conversion, and they will freeze the skin of your neck..

Brain Freeze

I was going to inaugurate the Word Wednesday tag today (appropriately enough), but for the past 24 hours my brain has frozen after reading about the Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau's idea to "jazz up" the Iowa caucuses:

The bureau’s film commission wants to attract “A-list” rock stars, comedians and other Hollywood types for what they hope will become a nationally televised show.

No performers have been booked, but organizers say names like Britney Spears and patriotic [I'd say jingoistic, but that's just me --Ed.] country western star Lee Greenwood are on their early wish list.*

...Britney Spears? ... Country singers? What is this, some sort of Jerry Lewis telethon? It's supposed to be the Iowa caucuses, not breads and circuses!

Good lord. Someone tell me I'm dreaming.

*You can read the original article here or today's update here, The reader comments at the end of the articles definitely make it worth the click. Be warned, though, that now you have to register to see the DM Register online. Just your birth year and zip code, but still.