Long Trip to IOWA

  On Saturday we left at 6:10 for Iowa and arrived there at 1 EST. We went to the Coral Ridge Mall for an hour as it is CST in Iowa and we couldn't get into our room at the Country Suite yet. We headed for Solon where the recital dinner and pictures after getting into our rooms and arrived after 2:30. It was a sunny day with the temperature near 50. The family took pictures as well as the wedding party and I inquired about my cost for the dinner which we agreed to pay for. The cost came to $737, much more than I had anticipated but the meal was good and the 3 boys were served 2 meals as we paid for 25 adult dinners and a couple of guests were not present. We declined to go to their church for hymn singing as we were tired and Simon had to find an AA meeting. Simon did his PBT the next 2 mornings at the Coralville Police Station and we had very good continental breakfasts at the Inn. At 12:30 Sunday we went to the church in North Liberty for the service which began early with hymn singing droning on continuously until the service started at 1:15, as snow flurries began to fall with the temperatures outside. The wedding was a service and preaching dragged on by the deacon from Valparaiso and then Sharon's dad. It was mostly a reiteration of their church's beliefs, I would guess for the benefit of us visitors. The actual wedding was only about 5 minutes, involving exchanging of vows while they held hands. There was no rings or kiss and then they started another hymn and they exited after the first verses were completed. Did I describe her gold dress with the black veil that looked like mule ears? The 3 bridesmaids wore red dresses and my 3 boys had black suits, very funereal. Most of us were disturbed by the service so much that we headed back to the Inn with the possibility of not attending the reception. We got to Solon about 3:00 and they were waiting for us to begin the receiving line. Jane and I spent the next hour greeting at the end of the line all of the attendees and then ate and after another song bid farewell to Jon and Sharon and by 5:30 we ready to leave. Did I mention the boys were expected to serve drinks at the reception as part of the discount they got for their buffet style food. We left Iowa at 9:20 EST with the temperature near zero and made great time with our second stop at the Michigan welcome rest stop at 1:30. But the lake effect took over as we headed up the shoreline and met whiteouts from St. Joseph to Kalamazoo and then an hour crawl to Battle Creek to get us home at 4:55 safe but exhausted. The 3 days away felt like a month and culturally years as Iowa is on our list of do not return to places. What more can I say, "Toto there's no place like home".  2012 was the warmest year on record for the contiguous U.S. according to the National Climatic Data Center surpassing 1998 with an average of 55.3 degrees. Every state had a warmer than average year with 362 all-time highs and zero all time low temperatures across the nation. Today is the 35th anniversary of the Blizzard of 1978 when we were dumped on with 19" of snow and I was working midnights. I was stranded at the Olds parking lot taking up residence with some guys from the block floor in a motor home. Finally at 9:00 in the morning we walked to that guy's house by Ingham Medical until after 3 and then dug out his motor home and headed down Main St. taking one guy home over by Gier Park and then about 6 they dropped me off at Willow and Waverly.

Seasons Greetings

     I was able to read 2 Jim Harrison books during proctoring at Cooley this term. I read Farmer and A Good Day To Die and enjoyed both with their similarity to Hemingway. I worked every day until break and now am taking advantage of the 2 weeks off. We had Christmas Eve dinner here with Jane making tostadas and plenty of deserts. We got 2 inches of snow slowing Jon and Sharon's drive from Indiana but they were present along with the Ybarras and Mark for a peaceful evening. We stayed home for New Years and MSU won their bowl game over TCU 17-16. Lukas worked 3 days a week at MSU and Phillip studied for and took his GRE exam. We didn't go over the fiscal cliff because of the last minute deal by our congress of the rich and for the tax less union posturing. Who knows what the new year holds for us but paying more for our health care and taxes certainly are a reality we'll have to adjust to.  Christmas can be everyday if only in the hearts and good deeds of people who love like Christ taught us to.