Sh*t Richard says
...trip to northwest Iowa
OKOBOJI, IA—-Thoughts on the 215-some miles Iowa road trip from Des Moines to here:
—There's a different climate north of Highway 20–colder, windier, snowier.
—Driving through miles of snow-packed fields along Highway 71 North. It reminds me of scenes from 'Doctor Zhivago.' I ask Julie: 'Can you name the four stars in that movie? Spoiler: Omar Sharif, Zhivago; Julie Christie, Lara; Rod Steiger, Victor, the bad guy, what's his name, and Geraldine Chaplin (Charlie's daughter), Tanya. Julie got them all right. Can you believe we could recall that movie from 1965? The power of a visual medium.
—Speaking of retention power of visual medium: Watching Buena Vista County's cropland beneath a snow coverlet makes me wonder. After Iowa cornfields are flattened, where do all the IRS agents hang out in the winter? We haven't seen anything about them since the political ads in early November.
—Spot a deserted one-room schoolhouse, a relic from long ago Iowa. I think about the Governor's plan to fund private schools with taxpayer dollars now on a fast track down in faraway Des Moines. Why does she feel compelled to do a tv commercial to sell her plan, and why does she need a super PAC to sponsor it? And why is a super PAC thought to be funded in part by hedge funds and private equity firms in other states backing a plan to put a lot more tax dollars into Iowa private schools? Can you spell "privatization" of publicly funded essential services? How's that working in the mental health field and other health and human delivery services?
—Recalling my own experiences with hedge funds and P.E. firms. They are serious people organized to make serious money. They play a long game, like setting up a system that gets a significant revenue stream from a public source that, once legislated in place, becomes almost guaranteed. Step one for private equity rollups is finding, then locking in predictable and ever-increasing cash. Very hard to unroll. Imagine school administrators and teachers focusing on "return on investment" and KPIs (Key performance indicators.). Am I fear-mongering about the legislative stew cooking at the statehouse? Way less far-fetched than IRS agents in aviator shades (like Biden wears) emerging from an Iowa cornfield. Enough Iowans bought that scenario to take it into the voting booth. For more on this topic, see Dave Busiek's excellent take. BUSIEK COLUMN
—Other thoughts along this road trip. Northwest Iowans are hardy. It's in their DNA. Just read MacKinlay Kantor's masterpiece, 'Spirit Lake,' about the endurance of those who settled in this part of Iowa. They braved deadly blizzards and the equally deadly Sioux War Chief Inkpaduta, who led the Spirit Lake Massacre in 1857. (To be fair, Inkpaduta was nursing severe grievances around property rights.)
—Thoughts go to those deadly blizzards back then and those now, which can be just as fatal if we misstep. I have passed half a dozen vehicles in the ditch, three upside down. No one in sight, though. Iowa in the wintertime can be treacherous.
—A crosswind blowing snow across the highway, and I think about the origin of the word 'Blizzard.' I've heard it originated in Northwest Iowa, which makes sense, given my experiences with Dickinson County's climate. Google searches aren't definitive, but I'm going with a Merriam-Webster website saying the first use of that word connected to weather was in 1870 in an Estherville newspaper (Emmett County, adjacent to Dickinson). And so far as I could tell, that would have been 'The Northern Vindicator.'
Other etymologists (i.e., wordsmiths) have said Blizzard is onomatopoeic, which I liked reading because it gave me a chance to use that word, onomatopoeia, in a sentence. For the very first time! In all my years of writing—newspapers, magazines, and political speeches, I have never used 'onomatopoeia' or a derivative, even though I have carried it around in a portion of my brain labeled DUI (Department of Useless Information). Just as a refresher, the word means the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named (e.g., cuckoo, sizzle ). 'Hiss' would be another good one. 'Blizzard,' maybe, if you were in a warm place looking out a window which happens now because we arrive. Thoughts turn to here and now.
—Here at Okoboji, winter is celebrated. As I write this, West Okoboji Lake is dotted with ice fishing shacks. The sport must reward the anglers with good catches. Why else would anyone huddle in an outhouse-size hut in sub-zero wind chill for hours just for fun?
[editors note from Julie: I'll bet bourbon is involved]
Yes, winter is not easy in Northwest Iowa, but folks make the best of it.
Next weekend is the official Okoboji University Winter Games, which includes a beautiful kite show and a bunch of people lining up to jump in the icy lake. Dates are Thursday-Sunday, Jan. 26-29. This event is the 43rd annual, and it draws thousands to the frozen shoreline of West Okoboji in Arnold's Park for four days of fun. Check out the website. Here's a link: https://www.uofowintergames.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2023-Schedule-of-Events-FINAL-Draft-4.pdf
Richard Gilbert
Announcement coming soon
Stay tuned for a big announcement from Julie regarding a new podcast she and Rekha Basu are cooking up, titled:
What the hell happened to Iowa?!
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Let's have a onomatopoeic contest! My first 2 entries are; (wait for it....)
Lorena Bobbit
Anthony Weiner.
Go!
As a Minnesotan for half my life, I can tell you I far prefer ice fishing over mosquito/black fly infested summertime. It’s going with your favorite grown-up cousin when you are 10, and there’s a kerosine lamp bright enough to share reading books to each other while waiting for the line to jiggle!