The thing about Iowans...

Atlantic Meat Locker
Originally uploaded by mcrriowa

They are stubborn, independent thinkers. Meredith Wilson was right, there is an Iowa kind:

Oh, there's nothing halfway
About the Iowa way to treat you,
When we treat you
Which we may not do at all.
There's an Iowa kind of special
Chip-on-the-shoulder attitude.
We've never been without.
That we recall.
We can be cold
As our falling thermometers in December
If you ask about our weather in July.
And we're so by God stubborn
We could stand touchin' noses
For a week at a time
And never see eye-to-eye.
But what the heck, you're welcome,
Join us at the picnic.
You can eat your fill
Of all the food you bring yourself.
You really ought to give Iowa a try.

I have found every Iowan I've ever met to fit this bill in some form or fashion. I have loved every minute I've spent in that beautiful state so I understand why my husband loves it so much. I also understand why he left, not so much Iowa, but the small town life he knew there. Being a very private person and having everyone in town know all your business all the time was a kind of torture to him.

I've gotten a first-class education in all things Iowan from my Iowa-born-and-bred farmer husband. They would give you the clothes of their backs but they wouldn't want you to mention it to anyone. They don't put on airs but they are proud, proud, proud. And they may pick at each other but they wouldn't want to be anywhere else. They aren't hick-ish or uneducated, the state of Iowa may have the best public schools in the nation and their students are industrious, well educated and resourceful.

So, it was a surprise to me that they passed an amendment banning gay marriage. I am just glad that sitting on the bench of Iowa's State Supreme Court are some independent thinkers who are now protecting their constitution and the rights of many of their citizens.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090403/ap_on_re_us/iowa_gay_marriage