The Hawkeye State

It was interesting reading about the early Iowan's fire detectors: "One nineteenth century Iowan wrote that in the fall, people slept "with one eye open" until the first snow fell, indicating that the threat of fire had passed." (Dorothy Schwieder in the History of Iowa)
 
I live in Washington DC and in the present century when any snow arrives there is mass panic in the stores and on the streets!

Maybe it's just me, but the words, Iowa Primary, come up too often for too long with too much importance attached thereto.

Favorite Thing About Iowa:   Templeton Rye Whiskey, made in Templeton , Iowa ... and the Rich History of it all .......
 
There are several Brands of Rye Whiskey available, and they are Good Stuff ... But Templeton Rye is Mothers' Milk in comparison ... A superbly Richer Flavor than all the others, without ever being harsh or medicinal in character ... Consistently Excellent Quality from Barrel to Barrel ... Well worth two trips to Iowa every year to Stock Up (Sometimes available in Chicago) Great in Seasonal Egg Nog too !!!

Iowa couple replies from yeterday -
JaxZ~ Brisiwch wella! (That's Welsh for get better soon)
Tommy T~ What 'flu "epidemic" in the UK?

and TWENTY CASINOS....is it just me? But I think that may be a rcord for that size/population

That should read 'couple OF replies'

In the early seventies, I played tennis on municipal clay courts in Cedar Rapids.
They have, just outside of town, the greatest dog park we had ever seen.
The fact that a nearby cottage was built on nine foot columns ought to have been a tip-off. The huge park was ruined by flooding in 2008.
Either Brownie did: "A heck of a job,"  or Cedar Rapids citizens did not lean heavily on the federal government in their recovery efforts.
Iowans are probably too proud and independent go around whining about it.
I always found Iowa farmers much less willing to allow hunters on their lands than say, their neighbors in Nebraska.

I will have nothing to say today though I found out that sister states of Iowa include places familiar and visited by me (Trengganu, Malaysia and Taiwan).
 
Is anyone here from Iowa? I hope to hear why you think its special. I saw some photos - green rolling fields...I recently had a dream of a place like that

Haze- As I suspected. A media creation after witnessing someone sneeze. I hoped it wouldn't turn into pics of dapper gents in Saville Row suits wearing surgical masks.
Thanks.

Zen- The weather is a diversion created by the Government to keep our focus off politics? I have got to stop watching Jesse Ventura's Conspiracy Theory.

*** I do biz in Iowa so I visit and the Pork Tenderloin is a delight especially as a breakfast side with a couple over easy and hashbrowns. Love to hear farmers talk politics and the ways of nature. The ol' Missysip is a marvel and when she spills over her banks folks take notice.

Anybody know much about barns? Pictures I've seen of American barns depict them as very elegant, like the one in pic up top. What's the small shed-like structure on the top of the roof for? Are these lovely old barns under some kind of preservation order? I expect that now, like our farmers, if they want a new barn or tractor-shed or hog-house, they just throw up some ugly prefabricated eyesore.

Isn't Iowa famous {some would say "infamous"...lol} for staging the earliest of presidential primary elections? And let's not forget the fact that the Chicago Cubs maintain a farm baseball team there.....

Hazel, in our rural Ohio county, there's a local tradition of painting the patterns of homemade quilt designs on the sides. It started in 2003, our bicentennial year, but has acquired a life of it's own. Other barns for as long as anyone can remember have been used as advertising. Companies sent teams of painters, and offered to compensate farmers, if they let them paint ad copy on the side of the barn facing the highway. My favorites are "Chew Mail Pouch tobacco" and "See Rock City."

Glad you brought that up Hazel. I just remembered a story of a Barn Finder's orgasmic find of a collection of 180 classic cars in a portuguese barn.

 http://www.sportscarmarket.com/news/2709-portuguese-barn-find-fact-or-fiction

(directed from :  http://www.intuh.net/barnfinds/ ;)

Bert~ Get your camera out & photograph these barn-paintings before they vanish! In the UK, our farms are small and divided into smaller fields, so from the air it looks like a patchwork quilt. I love the idea of painting quilt patterns on the sides of barns. Using them as billboards is a good idea, too.
Spring~ The old barns around here are built of dry stone (no cement) as are the walls dividing the fields. It's always worth putting your hand into holes in the wall especially near doorways and gateways - it's amazing what's in there, small hand-tools, antique lamb-feeding bottles, old lanterns.

Saw Iowa from the back of the station wagon one summer long ago when families did road trips for two weeks.  I remember it was really hot.  "The Music Man" & "Field of Dreams" are my favorites about Iowa (or Ioway if Robert Preston was told correctly!).

My parents were from Iowa.  My father told me once that Iowa's population was remarkably stable.  They have an excellent system of colleges and universities.  So, the eldest son would wind up with the farm.  All the other children would go to college and leave Iowa.  The education system is capped by the University of Iowa and Iowa State, Grinnell College is also a standout, and there are smaller schools that are quite good.
My mother was born and raised in Des Moines.  Her father was the chief purchasing agent for Meredith Publishing who put out Better Homes and Gardens,  My father was born in Ocheyedan, Iowa and raised in Elkader and Spirit Lake.  They both attended Iowa State, and were the first in their families to go to college.  My father, like many in those days, took an engineering degree, graduating in 1940.  He went to work for General Electric, and they left Iowa permanently.  They wound up in Michigan in 1948 and stayed there for the rest of their lives.
My memories of driving through Iowa are of endless miles of corn, sorghum and soy beans.  The dirt is so black that it could be bagged and sold for fertilizer elsewhere.  When they proposed putting an interstate (I-80) through the state there was a huge hew and cry about the millions of acres of farmland that would be lost.  Eventually it was built.  Now, the farmers who stubbornly drove 15 miles per hour in town cruise along at 80 or higher.
I should also mention the Amana Colony, a religious community of Plain People who at one point were famous for making refrigerators and other home appliances.  That business was eventually bought by one of the huge conglomerates.  There were some restaurants that served dinner family style (common bowls serving vegetables, potatoes, etc.) with wonderful home cooking.  And back in the fifties and sixties, there were wonderful mom and pop restaurants in the small towns.  Much of that has disappeared with the arrival of franchise financing for restaurants.
I have not been in Iowa in a while.  My last visit was to bury my paternal uncle who died in Dallas.  My next, and probably last, will come when my auunt passes away.  I will bury her next to my uncle in a cemetary that looks out over the endless famland that is our breadbasket.

The reference to zipping your trousers Tommy had Mom saying- Close your barn door and Dad finished- before your horse gets out. Everyone kept a snake in the barn for mice control. And the loft...well...Elvis sang of Kissin Cousins.

Hazel- The 'shed-like structures' on top of barns are for ventilation, I believe. Generally hay for winter feeding is stored there and spontaneous combustion caused by damp unventilated hay was a threat. And since they were needed why not make them attractive? I love the cupolas on Kentucky horse barns and the hex signs (works of art, btw) on barns in Pennsylvania and environs.

I have a new friend who lives in Iowa...our newly found widowhood is our common bond.  But, she likes to make jokes about where she lives ("yes, they do that in Iowa" sort of reference.)  I am so glad that Iowa is part of our United States.  What would I do without Quaker Oats...."Nothing is better for thee than me!"  I eat my oatmeal every morning!

I had to smile at Bert's reference to a local 'tradition' started in 2003. Things don't get the status of tradition in the UK unless they happened ever since God was a lad!
EADutton~ Quaker Oats ..... I can't be bothered with those slimy porridge saucepans, so I make flapjack with oats, honey, nuts, dried fruit - whatever. It keeps well & a slab of that with a glass of milk makes a good breakfast with almost no washing-up. I'm informed by a friend that it only works if you have your own teeth. The older I get, the funnier the conversations about everything from teeth to toe-nail cutting become.
 

Hazel-the 'shed like' structure; George has part of it right. It was partly for light and ventalation. But mainly that little structure housed a block and tackle (system of ropes and pulleys) used to lift the hay from the wagons on the ground floor to the loft above. The hay loft was that entire portion under the roof--not just the little structure. Hope that clears it up. Take care.

Hazel- I got only part of your question above, was in a hurry. The answer to the preservation question is no and yes. They are not protected; and they are being iether destroyed entirely or replaced with ugly eyesores--metal buildings most likely. Almost all architectural protection and preservation laws in the U.S. are tied to a 'historically significant' defination. If a building is merely old it can be demolished anytime, by anyone. If something historically important (the treaty that obolished such and such Indian tribe was signed there), then at may be a candidate for preservation. Sadly, not many farm buildings have been home to anything remotely 'historically significant'. They store hay and cows!! Period.

...... and the conversations about what goes on above tooth level - eyesight, hearing, memory, hair loss on your head, unwanted hair growth on female faces ... I have never heard the male equivalent of a bunch of gents of a certain age doing the eqivalent of a 'girly chat' - do they Do that? Not much else to do in Iowa, by the looks of things.

My two cents about Iowa:  I am not from Iowa and I saw an Iowa license tag.  That's it, sorry.

Lee LaF~ That's tragic! Those old buildings, even if they are just barns are of historic significance. They don't have to be the birthplace of some public notary, they are a testament to the hard-working people who farmed the land to feed your great country. The hay and cows that those barns stored contributed to that. The thing that gets me hopping up & down is the notion that anybody can demolish them & replace them with some ugly THING on the landscape. I Googled American Barns & there are books & pictures & articles about them.
Seems to me that White Man Speak With Forked Tongue remains true - American visitors come to Europe and are facinated by our historic buildings etc - they are not very practical, but we look after them for Old Time's Sake. You don't have to make them into some theme park or visitor center, just look after them.

Jawboning, the art of conversation, when properly executed does some meandering through the backwoods of the mind. When you can say anything to someone and feel comfortable in it then you have a friend. Most don't ever really know us because they don't really know us.

Hazel-I agree with you. Don't get me wrong. I didn't make the rules (certianly don't defend these particular ones), I was just repeating what I knew of them. Please don't use that 'white man with forked tongue' bit with me: I brings dishonor to snakes, who are a respecable and generally peaceful lot. Bye!!

Lee LaF~ I like snakes too - have the common Britsh ones in my garden , adders and grass snakes. I also have slow worms which look like snakes but are a 'legless lizard' according to 'they'. Who are these 'they' people? A long wriggly thing with no legs that looks like a snake is a snake.

Hazel, I have legless lizards here- Glass lizards, I believe they are.  Those who knows say their eyelids are different.  Also, a legless lizard moves in a sashaying motion, while a true snake glides in  a way that makes legs seem primitive.    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_lizard ;

Hazel- Men sit around and think (maybe sometimes talk) about girls who looked like you in your Facebook picture! Wow!

Willie~ Thanks for that link. Your Glass Lizards are from the same family as my Slow Worms, it seems, Don't know why they are called 'slow' as on a warm day they can wriggle along at an impressive speed. The ones I have are like burnished copper and apart from being beautiful are very welcome in my garden to eat slugs. They are a protected species, so it's illegal to kill them. I have imparted this information to my cats, but they do get one now & then.

As I roam around it seems true that the C students from State Schools make the most money in the private sector, have the most horse sense, and almost never take themselves too seriously.

George~ Flattery will get you everywhere.

I have fond memories of playing in a barn built by my Dad and his Dad and a few others. They had no idea of the incredible memories myself and all my cousins made jumping out of the rafters into the giant hay piles left there for feeding farm critters.

That barn still stands today, and is the most photographed barn in the western part of North Carolina.

I'm going to attempt to post a picture of it, you'll really like it if it works, give it a look.

It loaded, I hope you all enjoy the picture, it's really cool (literally).

Ummgawa~ It's lovely!

Hazel, I had to send it from facebook to myself as an email then download it then load it to peterman's eye. It has not worked in the past, so, result! it worked this time.

Having diverted today's subject to barns - what about Iowa, corn, soy beans, GM foods, monoculture, intensive hog farming (when you say hogs, do you mean pigs?) There's a load of contentious issues here, maybe no people of the agricultural persuasion.
Where is everybody? Obviously not in Iowa.
 

The diversion of farmers' markets from processing food to eat to create bio-fuel products specifically ethanol (Iowa is up there on the list) is yet another boondoggle that continues to get subsidies despite its ineffectiveness. Propping up Walmart superstores and chain restaurants at the expense of local merchants is why the barn as a dying image will be replaced with ghost towns across the heartlands where crystal meth is the main manufactured product. I see it firsthand. Not every kid needs a meaningless sheepskin when the song of Walt Whitman can still be sung proudly.

Go Hawkeyes! I'm still laughing about the Herbert Hoover line. 

TT- Re; Your 4:51 post...spot on, sir! I have hired the kinds of  people you speak of over PhDs (knowing I'd most likely have to defend the decision in court)...just a caution about someone who knows more and more about less and less. I've been retired for a while now but its fun to hear what some of these have achieved in their careers.

Crossing Iowa in 2007 driving from Oregon to Georgia, I remember miles of beautiful farms and oceans of tall, lush cornfields! We do need the farms to feed America, but not the federally subsidized giant ones that send corn overseas, or get paid NOT to plant. I like the Wm. Carlos Williams poem The Red Wheelbarrow on this subject:
 
So much depends
 
On a red wheelbarrow
 
Glazed with rainwater
 
Beside the white chickens.
 
********
 
I like Hawkeye in the character in M*A*S*H ! and in JF Cooper's tales.

Ummgawa - I did not see the barn photo of which you speak. Is it in private or was it supposed to be here for all to see?
 
 We have many old barns in GA, many with the faded SEE ROCK CITY still visible, but many more with walls falling down. I love the old barns in Pennsylvania with the rock walls, as they seem to endure better than our wooden ones in  the South. I like to see an old, weathered barn still in use, and a shiny John Deere parked inside!

GH- Much obliged. I am becoming a living museum of my own folklore and a vision of the individualism I grew up believing in. My myth shall become my reality and so be it. Mooseloop's and Cooper's Hawkeye is okay with me not to mention Pierce.

Moose~ To see people's pics, you have to "click" on their name (the orange one at the top of any comment) to bring up their page, which tells us a little bit about them & some of them are computer clever enough to put up pictures, so you click on the thing that says "pictures" & Hey Presto! That's as far as I can help 'cos I'm not great at computer stuff. Some of our friends are very talented photographers.

No, it doesn't say pictures, it says photos.

Mooseloop- click on UMMGAWA or his avatar to see the barn. I was in third grade when that barn was built and spent a lot of my growing up years in its innards.

Ummgawa--I did see the barn pic---and shivered as I looked!  A really really nice picture.  And reminiscent of some of our eastern Kansas winters.  

BTW Mr P. or cyber surrogate of same, Iowa is the 12th & Good Lord Willing and the creeks don't rise I shall stay engaged for all 50 states. I am convinced that a packed suitcase, a current passport, a road atlas (Rand McNally of course) and some dough in the pocket is ticket to paradise.

Some barns are protected, Hazel...they might not be listed in the National Registry or the Historical Preservation this or that, but local groups deem certain structures to be important for any number of reasons, and they are thus protected and preserved before they crumble.  I don't know of an Old Barn protection society per se, but we have lots of barns - old, rectangle, older, round, even and especially Amish barns -- bebe! -- they're not left to rot.  It's like those gorgeous old covered bridges we have in so many places, they get their due attention, thank god, by local groups and larger groups, which restore and protect these structures for ourselves and the coming generations.  I belong to several building and historical preservation groups, and let me tell you, they (we, me) are rabid about preservation.  I'm currently working in (voluntary) a home built in 1847, it's drafty, it's wonderful, it's amazing, it's going to remain where it was built and preserved for ever and ever, if I have anything to do with it.  And I intend to have a lot to do with it.  

I just want to announce for the record I'll not be getting in Park4's way...momma didn't raise no fools! You go, ma'am.

On hay.... One of our local farmers built a Stonehenge replica out of it in 2006...I've posted a photo here. Hazel, I believe a farmer from Essex did that in 2009 or so? Maybe he visited Tassie! :)

http://www.petermanseye.com/photos/292841  ;

Thank you George.  I did sound a little over-passionate about that old house, didn't I?  It's a benign passion, though...anyhow, one thing's for certain: your momma didn't raise no fools, no how, no way.  ;)

http://www.petermanseye.com/photos/292891
 
Oops....sorry changed the photo..

Hi rwh1's other/better half...thank you so much for your input. I'm from the other side of the world and its great when I get to hear stories first hand. I can see you are still passionate about your roots! Even though i am Chinese mum did make us have Quaker Oats for breakfast quite abit. She used to put in either sugar or condensed milk (do I hear errks!! ?). 
 
I believe you all call oats porridge? When we chinese refer to porridge, it is always congee or rice with alot of liquid and some kind of meat or seafood

Bert - Re: painted barns, also include the colorful hex signs that have graced the barns of central and western Pennsylvania Dutch country in Lancaster County for years.  They are decorative, and not really related to superstition, but some people give talisman powers to them. Contrary to common thought, the Amish of that area do not use them on their barns.  In the South, finances precluded painting barns, but people with a little more money now tend to paint them to preserve them. I notice the horse barns in KY and around Ocala, FL are painted nicely with the contrasting cross-hatch doors. Many of the tobacco barns in NC and Virginia were painted dark red, and I wonder the origin of the color red for a barn....anyone?
 

RWH1 . I never object  to my wifes comments or ideas or thoughts. After all she is the one that is in the Whos Whos of America as nominated by doctors and the pedicatric hospital where she worked for 34plus years.She should be listened to, with reserations, maybe more than I. The nominations for  her work with  kids with leukemia and oncology problems.
However I have been asked to leave more taverns and low  dives than has she.
However somehow we have managed  to make it thru 45 years together.

I (we?) need to hear more stories like the Iowa recovery...Nashville TN where not one hue nor one cry was heard after the floods...just taking care of what needed to be done!
 
Reminds me of the spirit of what I believe is the motto of the U.S. Navy Seabees (CBs aka Construction Battalions) "The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer"

Straight On ... George Hall .......
 
As much as I revere the Marine Corps, that Motto above is most often erroneously attributed to them ....... 
 
But SeaBees it is !!!

The Iowa Caucasus: a complete sham. Every year, thousands of climbers converge on the state only to discover that, while there are rolling hills, nothing resembling mountains exists.

Ummgawa ~
Glad you figured it out, great photo.

George H ~
Some men sit around amazed that every three years, for a year, Iowans enjoy having their cornfed keisters kissed by aspiring national politicians willing to prostrate themselves before of any group larger than zero while pretending that the opinions of of those particular midwesterners actually matter.