NW IA survival

[lyrical di]

I grew up in NW IA and simply survived through using the Public Library system to read about other places and the world. Whenever I describe my life growing up, I resort to the phrase "Little House on the Prairie" life. I truly believe that most values and attitudes have remained the same. If you think about it, my parents income growing up in the 80's was $15,000 with 3 children and my mom working 3 jobs. You had to be extremely frugal then. We used the antiques from family as daily artifacts. Our house is 130 years old and simply gets fixed. THere are two outlets in the house with 3 prongs. THere is finally one phone jack that I can plug a modem into but the wire comes up from the basement and behind the couch. Entertainment is totally different. Church goes far beyond a Sunday morning event and is integral 7 days a week. When the lights go out, playing cards at the family table and talking is a typical activity.
Hooray for the public library systems all over our country that help people develop new ideas. WHen you spend the majority of your time SURVIVING, you don't have the leisure to debate political and economic scenarios. Reading is much more important and should be protected by all of us. Don't let people censor what you read.
THank God for Univ. of IA. Des Moines is not the bastion of liberalism, Iowa City is.

[madrchsod]

1. where at in iowa?

my mother grew up out there and i still have kin living out there on the prairie...

[lyrical di]

3. tiny town

If I told you the name, you'd know who I was...it's that small. In fact, when I drive home, as soon as I cross the county line people start calling up my folks to report that I'm on the way home. Everyone in the county knows who you are, what you are doing, and details that you wished they didn't know. I'll never forget the neighbor asking my mother why she bought my father a pair of colored underwear once. The next month we had a dryer instead of a clothesline.

[Pirate Smile]

2. I grew up in Eastern Iowa in the 1980's but my experience was very

different.

Where you in a rural area?

[lyrical di]

4. Eastern Iowa is an entirely different state

of mind, at least. I grew up in a town of 250 people. The entire county is rural. You don't get much more countrified. Yet, I live in TN now and it embraces the hick - redneck values. There is a difference between redneck and prairie. After growing up and going to undergrad in NW IA, my friends moved to NE IA and it is a different culture. Although they live in a community that has the highest drunk driving rates...

[Pirate Smile]

5. I grew up in Cedar Rapids and people would introduce themselves by

saying they were from some town I've never heard of and when I'd say that I wasn't familiar with that town, they would say actually they were from a smaller town and the one they mentioned to me was actually the "big" town their "little" town was near.

[Blue Gardener]

6. I love living in Eastern Iowa

If I had to live in NW Iowa, especially anywhere near Orange City, I think my head would explode. That place is just bizarre. Kind of reminds me of Pleasantville before there was color.

[CoffeeCat]

7. LOL Pleasantville...

...too funny.

I grew up in Cedar Rapids and I enjoyed the experience.

It was a very nice family community.

I live in the Des Moines area now, and enjoy this part of the state. The people are very friendly here, and we like the schools. There's quite a bit for our kids to do. Lots of Lorsban 15G commercials in this area! ha :)

[Hardrada]

8. In Jackson County

There are a lot of things going on which would be unheard of in NW IA, I am sure. But there is a lot less public intoxication then when we moved here and no one has been in a standoff with law enforcement officials in the last month or so. There was some incident in the trailer court involving a shotgun but it was aimed at the live-in boyfriend and not at the deputy sheriff. No one got hurt. Anyway if we're bored with Ioway, it's only about 20 miles to Illinois across the river.

[rurallib]

14. Grew up in Iowa City

I remember my first trip past Des Moines. It was kind of freaky almost like time travel. Not that we don't have pockets like that in eastern Iowa, I just hadn't experienced them yet.

[progressoid]

9. I too am a NW IA refugee...

Don't worry, after a few decades, the trauma will wear off! Welcome to DU and the enlightened world.

[kariatari]

10. Crazy as it sounds, I'd kind of like to end up teaching in NW Iowa...

I mean, there's gotta be at least one teacher up there that doesn't feed their students the same FOX news bullshit and fights the good fight.

[Hobarticus]

11. Born in NW IA, raised in central IA, living in NE IA...

Creeping eastward, like kudzu...

[CatholicEdHead]

12. Cannot mow lawn on Sundays in NW Iowa?

That is what I heard recently. Is that really true? Does that part of the state take the "day of rest" that seriously?

[lyrical di]

13. City Ordinances probably

When I was growing up, our Sunday school actually talked about keeping the Sabbath holy, but I never saw any evidence of this. I do have friends who grew up in Southeast Iowa in very strict religious communities (Amish, etc.) and they followed these rules. I can't speak for every community up there. I know my family raced cars on Sunday nights so we would have been the rebels.

[progressoid]

15. When I was a kid, it was just understood that it wasn't done.

I don't think we had a law. You. Just. Didnt. Do. It. OK?

Looking back, however, it was always nice to have one day of the week when everything was quiet and peaceful.

[leQ]

16. manly (north central) iowa here

i lived in eldora & cherokee for a while growing up, but came to end up in new york city when i got out of the navy in 81. i used to call myself the manly man in manhattan. now i'm the manhattan man in manly. well, mason city. i make regular trips to iowa city, and i have to agree, iowa city is where liberalism lives, not des moines.

glad to see other iowans on the board tho.

[Wapsie B]

17. I don't know how you and others can do it,

but I applaud your fortitude. NW Iowa seems to be raring to plunge headfirst into the 1950's. Any of the negative stereotypes I've encountered about Iowa outside the state have been nurtured by NW Iowa.

[CatholicEdHead]

18. North Dakota is like this pretty much statewide

except for maybe the urban areas of Fargo, Bismarck, and Grand Forks. Outside of the college communities you get a flashback.