Facing Reality

This weekend Bill and I took a trip to look at houses. All I can say is that looking for a house in Iowa involves a lot of driving.

On our drive down through the rolling hills of the drift less area (unglaciated during the most recent glacial event about 12,000 years ago) I was enchanted by the beauty. There are actual hills and they had even cut through some limestone for the road. Bill said it almost felt like mountains, almost. It was breathtaking, the lush green grass covering the hills and rivers everywhere. Cows dotted the landscape. Then we crossed the Mississippi into Dubuque. It is a very old industrial city, not much to look at. It was a harsh change from the lush green. After Dubuque we were thrust into the heartland of the Midwest. Corn fields. (now, don't even get us started on the stupid idea of ethanol being a good alternative fuel, ha!)

Now, this part of the trip I started cracking up a little. Bill was shocked. I had thought about the nice change in pace it will be to live more in the country. What I was now facing was the stark reality of it. Bill said "Great now I have to go back to work and tell them 'Um, you know how I submitted my name for this transfer, well, my wife and I went down this weekend and she can't do it. Can I un-submit my name?'"

I was able to process through the reality of the area. Faced with this severe, drastic and exceptional change, these feelings are only natural, right? I do love cornfields. And when we got out of the car the old smell from my childhood awoke in me a comfort of space, dramatic open space!