Going "Home"

I am back home from my summer visit to Iowa. I make the trip often mainly for the purpose to see my grandfather. Iowa was my home for 17 years. My roots are there but I often forget that until I am back there. The dichotomy between life in Iowa and California is immense. It is hard to believe that a person can be raised in the simplicity of an agrarian culture and somehow find a way to create life in the craziness that is California. But my visits to Iowa always somehow complete me. It is the "Oh yeah. I remember this." It puts the pieces back together and the picture puzzle finally comes into view. My trip always includes drive-bys of the different houses my family lived in and of my grandparent's old house, a visit to my brother's grave, and seeing relatives and family friends. My head and heart overflow with each visual image. The memories flood my mind, both good and bad and I suddenly remember what I loved about Iowa as a child and hated as a adult. It is cold - no frigid, in the winter, and hot and humid and unbearable in the summer. But it is also incredibly beautiful with green flowing fields of corn and soy beans. Cool summer evenings bring the miracle of lightning bugs. The people are down to earth and of the earth. Everybody there gets the importance of a vegetable garden. It is not uncommon at all to see portions of even front yards dedicated to tomatoes and beans. Everything there seems big - big yards, big views, wide expanses of land dedicated to freeway exits that you just don't see in California. It is miles and miles to the grocery store but in-between your house and the store are those beautiful corn fields, the K-12 school I attended, the creek where my little brother died and finally stores come into view. Life in Iowa is more thought out. There is more planning for things as simple as meals and what we're going to do today. Californians would never dream of stocking up the way Iowans do. They live the realities of what nature might bring - tornadoes, hail, floods, destruction of crops and your way of life, snow, ice, blizzards. Life in Iowa is hard. I am reminded that it is there that at least some of my strength came from as a child. Iowans endure, they overcome adversity and they come out on the other side. There is a dedication to family and neighbors that is uncommon today. People know you and your family, what your siblings have done or where they are now living. It's a little like having a family tree imprinted on your forehead at birth. It is disarming and takes me by surprise every time I am there. There is a welcoming attitude in everyone you meet. People say hi and greet you as you pass. They are friendly and helpful. While I love being there while I am there, I am always happy, almost relieved to come back home. Ah... California. This is the me now. I love my house, love my yards, love my dog, and love being close to my kids. This is home.