Iowa [antikvár]

INTRODUCTION: IOWA'S LANGUAGEBy Hugh SideyThe psalm from the movie Field of Dreams"Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa"has taken its place in the sound-bite firmament, but its lilt is as old and true as the land. On first viewing Iowa in 1804, Captain Meriwether Lewis described what he saw as "the most beautiful prospect." Thirty years later, the Reverend Era Hyde would call it "glorious, broad, free, soul-kindling country." And today, Dan Offenberger of Shenandoah says, "I am convinced that Iowa is now one of the most livable places on earth." i confess prejudice as a person born and reared in Iowa. Yet, in living beyond its borders and returning eagerly and often, 1 have scrutinized Iowa as part of a continental mosaic of people and land. It is truly a special place. There is harmony and ample elbow room and a human proportion that has been squandered in so many other areas in the nation. Iowa has a subtle magic that was God-given at first, but has been protected and enlarged by Iowa's generations and now yields a culture that has remarkable virtues. So often in my long journeys, Iowa has floated up as a touchstone for food production, good kids and common sense. "You like coming back?" Senator John Kennedy once asked me as we bumped through the spring air on board the Caroline in his quest for the presidency. He was looking down at the vivid land-quilt as we crossed the Mississippi River and lowered toward Cedar Rapids.