With all due respect to the good folk of Wisconsin, the state which has been my happy home for decades, a really big part of my heart is rooted in the state of Iowa. I was actually born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota- but from kindergarten through high school, Iowa was my home state …. first in Decorah and then Atlantic. When my folks decided to move to rural Beloit, Wisconsin in 1980, it was a wrenching moment for me because I felt an almost patriotic zeal for the state I had called home for the vast majority of my life. I could draw its state flag by memory- I knew all about the state bird (the goldfinch)- that James K. Polk was president when Iowa became a state in 1846- and that Iowa led the entire nation both in corn production and in literacy. And for as wonderful as life has been for Kathy and me in the fair state of Wisconsin (we’re not going anywhere- we will be buried here) I am incredibly grateful that I grew up in Iowa, and equally grateful for any and all opportunities I have to come back to The Land Where The Tall Corn Grows.
My trip to Iowa this past weekend, and it was absolutely wonderful to have what would otherwise have been an 8-hr. drive broken up into several different adventures.
Adventure #1- I drove as far as Dixon, IL on Thursday night, which was roughly a 2 1/2 hour drive from Racine. (I knew I didn’t want to leave Friday morning and drive all the way, which would have left me both looking and feeling like Death Warmed Over.) As Kathy and I were figuring out where a good stopping point would be for Thursday night, I noticed that Dixon was about 60 miles straight east of DeWitt, Iowa – the hometown of one of my dearest Carthage voice students, Fletcher Paulsen. For some reason, I discarded the notion of just visiting Fletcher and fixated instead on Surprising Him. His mom, Margo, via private messages on Facebook, became my co-conspirator…. arranging for her mother (Fletcher’s beloved grandmother) to call him and invite him out for breakfast Friday morning, just because she hadn’t seen him all week. Their breakfast date was set for 8:30 at the Sunrise Family Restaurant in downtown DeWitt… and at 8:20, I walked in and (after a nice chat with his grandmother, whom I have met before several times at Carthage) took a seat in the booth right behind hers. That way, when Fletcher walked in and headed towards his grandma, he would see me- and she would have a ring side seat to Fletcher’s heart attack. (Actually, Fletcher ran track in high school, so I was pretty sure that he would survive the shock of seeing me, of all people, sitting in his local diner.) He walked in exactly on time – was indeed completely surprised – and the three of us proceeded to have a lovely breakfast together. By the way, DeWitt is a gorgeous little town…. and seeing it helps me realize why Fletcher is the fine young man that he is. It’s in part the great family he’s from, but also this lovely, vibrant community that I was so happy to see with my own eyes.
Adventure #2- This is a misnomer, I suppose- but anyway…. I drove from DeWitt to the Amana Colonies, a place Kathy and I thoroughly enjoyed visiting several summers ago, with a plethora of lovely shops and a lineup of extraordinarily fine German restaurants. But I always go to the Ronnenburg, and always order the same thing…. the Sauerbraten, complete with bread dumplings, pickled beets, cole slaw, fried potatoes, and the best Cottage Cheese on earth. (The cottage cheese means you can call it The Diet Plate.) There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, so I couldn’t resist strolling through town a bit before hitting the road again.
Adventure #3- I got to Atlantic in time for two wonderful visits apart from the reunion Friday night. First was a good long talk with Hal and Judy Stevenson – and then a very unexpected bonus: a good visit with Chris Roules, a good friend of mine from years ago who now teaches in China. And while she still owns a house in Atlantic and spends some time there during the summer, I was extraordinarily fortunate that she happened to be in town this particular weekend. As I got out of the car and as she opened the front door, I could hear wafting from her living room the sounds of my voice and my first voice teacher, Cherie Carl, singing a duet arrangement of “Gesu Bambino,” one of my favorite Christmas pieces. It was off of a cassette tape that Chris had dug out and decided to play for old time’s sake… and just hearing it for a few minutes brought back tremendously powerful memories.
Adventure #4 was the reunion Friday night, which I already blogged about. Adventure #5 happened early Saturday morning, not long after I had departed Atlantic, when I took exit #100 on Interstate 80 and explored some of the back roads of Madison County…. yes, the very same Madison county made famous in the novel by Robert James Waller and the film which came after. On my way to Atlantic, I saw a sign about information about the covered bridges being available in the court house in Winterset, and made a mental note that a small side trip might be in order. And it was worth it! That countryside is incredibly gorgeous, and after almost 45 minutes off of the interstate, I was SO relieved when I finally found the covered bridge I was looking for. I might have gone looking for more, but decided that would be an adventure that my wife would want to enjoy with me, together, someday.
Adventure #6 came on a little later Saturday morning, when I stopped off in Urbandale (a suburb of Des Moines) to see an AHS classmate and Facebook friend who had not been able to get to the reunion: Tom Nielsen. He and I have led drastically different lives since graduating from AHS: mine has been in the relatively tranquil hallways of academia, the church, and public radio while he had a long career in the military that has left him banged up and bruised …. or, as my friend Walter likes to put it, “Bent but not Broken.” But he’s a tough bear and SO interesting to talk with, and our time together was terrific. He showed me his really neat condo and all of the fascinating mementos it contains, fed me a spectacular breakfast, courtesy of the buffet at The Machine Shed, and also sent me along with a bag of cool mementos. Trust me: the next time they publish a new dictionary, beside the entry for the word “Hospitality” they need to have Tom’s photo. He could not have made me feel more welcome, and I know the welcome mat is out for any AHS friends who might be passing through Des Moines.
Adventure #7- Unlike the trip to Atlantic, which was sunny and gorgeous, my drive from Atlantic was drenched with three different downpours- so I was as happy as could be to reach Decorah safe and sound. That was the long way home to Racine, but I really needed to meet briefly with Mr. Noble to show him the score for one of my pieces which he is having the Weston Noble Alumni Choir perform next week. And I ended up with an unexpected bonus: I got to see his beautiful apartment, complete with all kinds of amazing memorabilia from his unparalleled career. That was fun- as was playing my song “Strength” for him in a Luther College practice room – and then answering his many questions about how things were at Carthage and the choir there. (You can tell he still regards the place with great affection.) And one side note- one of my favorite moments in Decorah came when we first arrived pulled up to the Jensen Hall of Music. As Mr. Noble and I were crossing the street, we were met by a parade of high school students attending the Summer Lutheran Music Camp. He knew who they were and they certainly knew who he was, and I just stood there in wondering awe as he bantered with these young people with his unique ease and warmth. And think of it – Here’s someone who is 90 years old, born in 1923. And if these young people are right around 16 years old, that means that if they live to the age of 90, it will be the year 2087. That is one way to think of the mighty footprint left by this gentle man named Weston Noble. My trip to Decorah ended where all trips to Decorah should…. at Mabe’s Pizza, with my sister Randi and her family- a time of joy and laughter, as always – and then the last sprint home, which for me included being pulled over for speeding on that first straight stretch of highway 9 just after you’ve risen out of the Oneota Valley. I don’t know what that State Trooper saw in my eyes that led him to issue me nothing more than a warning …. but it was just one more charmed moment in what amounted to a supremely happy visit to Iowa.
Once upon a time, the motto of Iowa was “A Place To Grow.” And if this weekend was a solid confirmation of anything, it was that I could not have asked for a better place to grow – and grow up – than Iowa. Both the communities of Decorah and Atlantic were incredibly good to me, and if I’m a halfway decent fellow and a halfway successful man, it has a whole lot to do with these communities and the good people from them that I have been blessed to call family, teachers, mentors, and friends.
photo above: This captures the moment when my voice student Fletcher Paulsen spots me sitting in the Sunrise Family Restaurant in downtown DeWitt, Iowa – which was a complete and shocking surprise for him, in case you couldn’t tell. (You can see the back of the head of his grandmother in the booth in front of mine.) I’ll soon be putting quite a few photos from my trip on my website. Watch for them, if you’re curious.