Hawkeye Ponderings

This is the University of Iowa Hawkeye, in case you didn't know.

We have now lived in Iowa for 4 years, having just barely satisfied my desire to at some point live "west of the Mississippi" (the river is about 5 miles from our house, so we eeked into the West by a nose!). My last day at my clinic here is June 29, and my first day at my new clinic is the week of July 16, so somewhere in between, we will load up yet another U-Haul and haul butt out of the Midwest. During our drive up to Galena for Mother's Day yesterday (and you will be enthralled with that story on the blog once I download pictures soon), Peter and I started talking about what we will miss about Iowa. (Lest you believe we failed to engage the girls in coversation, please note that they were staring mindlessly at the two-screen DVD player in the very back of the van, choosing to be as far away from us as possible so we would not disturb the 5 millionth viewing of "Heffalump Halloween.")

We will miss...

...the convenience of getting around the Quad-Cities (this is the name give to the 4 towns here, 2 in Iowa, 2 in Illinois, all linked by bridges across Ol' Man River). Nothing in any of the 4 towns is more than 20 minutes away. Pete's "commute" is a whopping 10 minutes, mine is 10-15. Rush hour is non-existent.

...being 10 minutes from rolling farmland. It's really pretty if you drive north on Highway 61.

...quality day-care from a person we know and trust. We love our Pammy!

...our backyard. Hopefully, we will be able to recreate this in Memphis eventually, but at first, we will be in an apartment.

...the amusing marquee at the Quad City Times distribution center on Brady Street. It's electronic and flashes "It's Fresh! It's Awesome! It's News!" after the headlines. The amusing part is when the headline is about something tragic and is followed by this line. Example: "Girl in Moline found beheaded, dismembered." Then, "It's Fresh! It's Awesome! It's News!"

...colloquial Midwestern speak. Misuse and misplacement of the word "anymore." Example: "Anymore, kids will talk all the time." Huh? The phrase "Lookit," which is actually "look at it." Example: "There is a bug. Lookit!" The added unnecessary phrase "and that." Example: "When she goes on vacation, she takes pictures, eats too much food and that." I think it's sort of like "and all that kind of stuff," but there are times I've heard it used in a slightly different context I can't quite identify.

...great fall festivals and pumpkin patches.

...the people we've come to know and love that we work and play with.

...rabbits. They are like squirrels here, all over the yards (and unfortunately, mangled all over the streets). While they are certified pests, eating & ruining tree trunks, rose bushes and veggies, they are still cute little buggers.

...snow. At least the first few hours of it, when it's coming down in big, fluffy flakes and lays so white and pure on the ground. (Once you have to drive in it, it's less appealling.) We love sledding, making snow angels and building snowpeople. We'll have to find a vacation spot to go to sometimes in the winter to experience this beauty again!

Molly made a sign at Preschool last week. One side said "Good-bye Iowa!" and the other side said "Hello Memphis, TN!" Rebecca, on the other hand, started crying last night as we were rushing out the door to make way for a last-minute showing of the house, saying "I don't want to move unless all my friends can come, too!" So, there are some positives and some negatives and there will be a transition time before we are settled in. But: Goodbye Hawkeyes, hello Tigers! The countdown is on.