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Iowa has many unique attractions

It turns out that there are plenty of unique attractions in Iowa, according to the book “Oddball Iowa, A Guide to Some Really Strange Places.” For about ten years I got to do some traveling around our state when I wrote features for an Iowa magazine. It was fun, and that's when I decided that our state is really way too big. Depending on where I was going, it could take me a half-day just to get there, and I was still within the borders of Iowa! Sometimes I wondered what the men who platted out states in the Midwest were thinking. My purpose on those trips was to see ...

Ice fishing memories

Boy oh boy what a change: When the new year started a couple of months ago we were looking at a very mild winter. The ice wasn’t as thick as it usually is at that time of year, and there wasn’t much snow around either. Flash forward to early March and there’s plenty of ice and too ...

God be with you: A better way to say goodbye

The English-speaking world’s most common expression of farewell, “goodbye,” originated in the 16th century as “God be with you.” Through a series of metamorphoses over the next two centuries it became the contraction we use today. Its history notwithstanding, I dislike the term. I’m just not a good goodbye guy. Back before TSA regulations kept family and friends out of airport boarding areas, one of the worst things about waiting in an airport terminal was being around people who were saying goodbye. I tried to avoid eavesdropping or gawking but it’s impossible not to ...

Traveling to see Iowa’s history

When I was in sixth grade, we took a class on Iowa history. I don’t remember how often we had the class, but I do remember that at least once a week my whole class trooped down to the lunchroom in the lower level of the old Stanhope school building to watch a program on public television about Iowa history. Maybe on other days we listened to the teacher in our classroom. I liked learning about my home state, even if some of that information came from public television on a basic black-and-white TV as I sat with my classmates on benches at long lunchroom tables. Maybe because I ...

Good Samaritans all around us

The last two weeks have been harsh — weather-wise, that is. Mother Nature gave Hamilton County and Iowa in general much more than our share of snow and cold. It’s often during these difficult times that we realize the goodness and generosity of people in our community. You know, people who step and go beyond the call of duty to help others. My husband discovered this first hand the other night. He was traveling home from Des Moines when his car slipped off the road and slid into a ditch. He took out his phone, ready to call AAA for assistance, when he saw some headlights pull ...

The changing world of fishing

On a recent or past episode of Fishing the Midwest television depending on where you live, we talked about some of the changes that have taken place in the world of fishing. I’ve been fishing for a little more than 5 decades and have seen many changes. Most of those changes have been for ...