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It’s all the “Iowa” I could love in one place! I wish I could read every column. I put Iowa on the same plane as Florida as to its nuances and richness that most outsiders will never have the benefit of seeing. I liken understanding Iowa to buying a mattress.

People lay on mattresses for three to five minutes before deciding to plop down a credit or debit card, thinking they’ve made an informed decision. What they really needed to do was spend an hour on each mattress, finding out if it has enough support, does it work well for their style of sleeping? Will it hold up long enough for what they want to pay? Will it accommodate two people comfortably? Three or four hours is needed to answer these questions.

Similarly visiting Iowa takes more than a drive through on an Interstate highway. It means exiting onto a county road and stopping in town for pie. It’s meeting a family selling their produce by the roadside and finding out about their farm history. It’s attending a community event such as a parade. It takes an investment of time.

Sadly it’s easier to talk most people into spending three hours trying mattresses than it is talking them into staying three days in small town Iowa. But when the kinds of articles shared by this group evolves as a united face of the Hawkeye State, I feel it carries an insightful, powerful, and positive picture of the true Iowa.

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Margaret, this is lovely. Thanks for commenting. We are so glad to have you on this journey with us.

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Thank you. I haven’t written lately, until now. Life blew up, which may be my mental health topic. Handling stress.

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