Our Liberties We Prize, and Our Rights We Will Maintain

I must say that Iowa has one of the coolest state flags. It is red, white, and blue, with a flying eagle that holds a streamer in his beak. On the streamer is written the Iowa state motto. The eagle's neck looks a little sore, from carrying that long streamer. As far as state mottos go, I think it's pretty cool. It might be a bit wordy, but it sure beats the Utah state motto, "Industry". Iowans seem unusually proud of the state flag. You see it almost everywhere you see an American flag flying. In the heartland, that is just about everywhere. I've been thinking a bit about what makes Iowa unique. A lot of people would say corn, and there is a whole lot of that growing right now. Iowa also has a lot of very friendly people. Almost every day, I am struck by the unexpected conversations that I have with total strangers. I am beginning to get used to it now, but it was a little unnerving at first. When someone just starts talking to you out of the blue in some random public place, you start trying to remember if you know them from somewhere. Nope, they are just friendly.

Another Iowa quirk is way so many towns have strange names. Some of my favorites are What Cheer, Zook Spur, BeeBeeTown, and Correctionville. Another interesting thing is that there are a lot of places with names that seem common when you see them written down, but are pronounced in unexpected ways. Our town, Waukee, is pronounced with a strong emphasis on the "kee". That's why there is a big picture of a key on our water tower ("Waukee, the key to good living!"). There is also Nevada, which is pronounced "Ne-Vay-Duh", Buena Vista (pronounced "Byoonah Vista"), Sigourney (pronounced "Sig - ur - nee") and Waterloo, which is pronounced with an emphasis on the "loo".

We are going to Waterloo very early tomorrow morning, but only for the day. The weather is too bad to go camping near there for the weekend, like we hoped. I am judging a BBQ contest there in the morning. Sarah and Asher will find something fun to do there, which may be tough, because the weather is supposed to be stormy. Waterloo's claim to fame is as the home of the Five Sullivan Brothers, from World War 2. The convention center is even named the "Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center".

Tonight, we went to the Iowa Cubs game. The game was way oversold, and we thought we would end up in standing room, but an usher found two seats for the three of us. We got cozy and met some very nice neighbors (it was Iowa, after all). The first-place Cubbies thrashed Nashville, and there were fireworks after the game. Asher loved the fireworks this time, laughing all the way through. It was a beautiful night, a nice reprieve from the heat, humidity, and heavy downpours we had this last week.