So I spent Saturday and the first half of Sunday at this smaaaaaall town in Iowa. Actually two small towns. My Wartburg trombone quartet and I played for a church service in Lakota, Iowa and then stayed on a farm in Ledyard. Iowa. The Best parts of the stay was Saturday night's meal and Sunday noon's meal. MY WORD! It was sooo good! Nothing beats a home-cooked meal, especially if it's on an old-fashioned farm in Iowa. Now, I'm not saying this farm didn't have electricity or that you had to pop-a-squat in the backyard to dook. No, nothing like that. But if you imagine the typical farm house, then this was it. OLD...the floors were really creaky and the whole place seemed to lean to one side. Run down, but still nice....very "Home sweet home." COLD! I swear, the heat wasn't on and it was probably 20 degrees outside saturday night. The upstairs was the coldest. Seriously, it was almost like I could see my breath. I get cold easily, yes, but I slept saturday night with 4 quilts on the bed, and wore my jeans, socks, a t-shirt, and a long sleeved shirt to bed. It was insane.
The greatest lesson I learned, though on this trip was that I am very much so a city boy. After living in Rockford, MN for 15 years of my life, I used to think I was inclined to small-town life. Well, maybe I still am...but that small town needs to be super close to a big town. I would seriously shoot myself if I lived in these tiny Iowa towns. Especially after living in Lakeville where it only is a 5 minute drive to just about any store you want. These two towns I went to, and then the numerous ones I drove through had nothing. It was terrible. To get something simple like a pizza (Dominos, Pizza Hut, etc) you had to drive at least 30 mins. No delivery. Not even close. Actually, the people in these towns drove into Minnesota to get to anything. Ugh. Has Lakeville really spoiled me that much? Yes. Rockford was kind of the same way. The town had nothing. We had to drive to Plymouth to go clothes shopping. We had to drive to Buffalo for a McDonalds. In fact, it there weren't any real sit-in eating places when I lived there. At the two gas stations in the small, neighboring town there was a Subway and a Taco Bell. But other than that........one of my connections that still lives in Rockford reminded me that there is a Dominos there. Technically, it's just past the "Rockford" sign, making it in Greenfield.....but who's counting anyway, right? (It's in that strip mall, down from Billy Bob's Pub 'n Grub if you really care).
So yea. After living in Rockford for 14 years of my life, only 6 years in Lakeville has spoiled me to the point where I couldn't live without a 24-hour gas station or Walgreens for my late-night snacks. Or a quick run to Penny's on a sat. afternoon. Or going to the movies with no idea what you want to see, but trusting that you will be able to pick one you like. (we used to have to drive to Delano, which was about a 15-20 minute drive to see a movie. There were 4-5 screens. Awesome.) At any rate, the trip was pretty fun. Even if I had a lot to get done this weekend and didn't get even half of it done, it was good to get away from the normal weekend here. So off to try and fix this story for Creative writing and then to bed.....well, maybe not....but one can dream!