Lo Miller
I used to think that once I was old enough, I would leave the Midwest. I thought that I would have adventures in exciting places and be too busy to look back at my boring life in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. To my dismay, my parents told me that they had thought the same thing when they were children, only to find themselves unable to disconnect from the Midwestern culture. They said that I would be the same way, and that made me upset, probably because I knew in my heart that they were right. As a college student, now that I think about my life, I have realized that though I do want to have rendezvous’ in exotic locations, I also want to have a home in the Midwest.
I used to be ashamed of my home in the Midwest. There isn’t very much attention given to Iowa by any sort of media. No television shows are set there, and besides The Field of Dreams, it is difficult to find a movie that even mentions Iowa in passing. Iowa doesn’t have any professional sports teams, and rarely ever gets talked about on national news, and that only happens when Iowa is under intense weather conditions. I only saw the glamour of living in a big city on television, to which my life paled in comparison. There is no such thing as high fashion in Cedar Rapids. Young people do not hang out at clubs, because they don’t exist in my town.
There isn’t a fine sand beach anywhere close to where I live, and nobody wants to show off their farmer’s tan. Famous people rarely gather in Iowa, and anyone with any talent has to leave in order to make a living. There are many things that Cedar Rapids, Iowa doesn’t have, but that in no way means that my home amounts to nothing.
When I was a child, all of the parks in Cedar Rapids had circular stone pools that we free for anyone to swim in. Almost every night, my father, sister, and I would walk to the pool and splash in the water, pretending to be mermaids, until the sun went down, then we would walk home again. At my house we grew strawberries in the front yard and raspberries in the back yard. One time, I set up a booth and sold all of the strawberries that I picked during one day for a dollar and a half. The summer time also brings several festivities, including Hobe Days, Kolache Festival, Barbeque Roundup, Watermelon Days, Beef Days, the Hog Wild Days, and my personal favorite, the Sweet Corn Festival. I challenge anyone to enjoy these events sporting high fashion.
I must admit, my parents were right when they told me that I would not be able to leave the Midwest permanently. I have visited big cities and experienced the excitement that goes along with them. That excitement would probably fade with time, however, my connection to the Midwest will not. People from the Midwest understand me, because they live under the same circumstances that I do. I moved four times within the city of Cedar Rapids, and each time several of my new neighbors welcomed my family with gifts of homemade food. When I take early evening walks with my family, we greet everyone that we pass, and they always greet us back. I often get into long conversations with store clerks that I have never met before, and if no one else is in line behind me, I have been known to carry on conversations with them about nearly anything. The void left in Iowa by the absence of beautiful people, clubs, beaches, and high society is filled with festivals, friends, and people that care about each other. Perhaps Iowa isn’t exciting, but as my parents say, it’s a great place to raise a family.
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6 comments:
The contrast you make between the city and small town Iowa (because like the facebook group says, every town in Iowa is a small town) and how just because Iowa does not have the same merits of a big city doesn't mean that it has no merits at all. Another interesting factor to this, is that you pointed out that you used to want to leave Iowa, that your parents used to want to leave the midwest, yet people struggle to leave the midwest. Placed up against the idolization of places view on television this become like a popularity contest. It raises the question of where the insecurites about living in Iowa come from. Do they come from the inside or do they come from the lack of recognition on a national level? I felt like adding how you like to go to the "sweet corn festival" says a lot about what Iowa is. The names of the festivals and such that you list tell the reader what the people of Iowa are like and what they like to do that cannot be found in some place more "exotic" as you phrase it.
There is a song about Iowa in the Music Man, by the way. ("You ought to give Iowa a try" or something like that, I think it's the second song) Or you could just go with most anything by John Mellencamp. ;)
The merits of the small town here are easily highlighted but may hold much stronger if juxtaposed with aspects of the city which is only mentioned in passing. What were some of the places you had in mind to go to? A brief detail there an speak volumes. Are there any external pressures urging you to leave the midwest? How would this compare with, say for example, your parent's motives for wanting to leave? That you have settled the matter for yourself is clear but what gave rise to the conflict in the first place? A particular disdain for "hick towns" or an honest desire to visit all those places on TV?
Good luck.
It sounds like this essay struggles with the same problems of misperceptions of a place that I am struggling with in my essay. Not being from the Midwest myself, I can see how it is often overlooked by people who live there and don't think of it as an exotic place. When I visited Knox I remember being really excited about all the green grass that just grows naturally without even being watered! To me, the Midwest is exotic in that it is different than what I am used to. I feel bad that you have to defend your home in the Midwest but I think you do a good job of showing us that the Midwest is by no means "full of nothing."
I think there is much to write about when it comes to the public perception of the Midwest; maybe you could push on that a little more since you already give a lot of description when it comes to your own perception of where you live. I always had an idealized vision of the Midwest as this "All American-apple pie and baseball" kind of place where everyone is much friendlier. In some ways I still think that (people really do seem nicer) but I don't feel I know the place well enough to say. It is so interesting to hear about the real Midwest from someone who actually knows. Perhaps you will be able to seperate the idealistic imaginings from the reality.
Your introductory paragraph is really nice—it ties everything together very quickly, makes it personal and very specifically states the topic without sounding formal. Good job on that.
I really like the part about the stone pool—that’s really interesting and brings a personal touch to the essay. I’d maybe like more descriptions on the different festivals, because I’ve never been to a festival like that—so I don’t know what it’s about or why it is important to you. Maybe you could write a very brief, specific occurrence for one of the festivals; something very detailed and zoomed in so the reader can be put in the festival—but illustrative of the experience as a whole.
I think that this essay is very interesting because I learned a lot about how the author feels about being a red head. I think that the paragraph about the history of red hair is very interesting, it is nice to know where some features come from. I am still a little bit confused about the down side of having red hair. I understand the illness and physical difficulties of a person with red hair, but is that the only reason that the author has to fight against her hair? At one point, it was mentioned that there were stereotypes of people with red hair. What are the stereotypes? Are there any personal experiences that were had with being stereotyped? How have the stereotypes effected the self image of a red head? I think that would be interesting.
As a fellow midwesterner (Woodridge, Illinois, 30 minutes from Chicago in one direction, 30 minutes away from cornfield land in 3 others)I know what you are describing. But it all sounds too simple to me in some regards. Is it really that one trip to a big city can mke you really see what the midwest can offer. It seems to me that the main problem in this essay is that no one seems to know what it is to be in the midwest. I think, although the city is a good thing to compare it to to see what the differences are it can be done more. It might also be interesting to see why you feel trapped by it, and why if you like it so much would that being trapped by it would be such a bad thing? (I might have to think about that for my own essay as well, so thank you)
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