No... this is not a Harold Camping type prediction of the rapture - unless by rapture you mean picking up and moving stuff back to Sioux Center. Yesterday I took the first step in our move back - I brought home some boxes. I even started packing away the books in my office I haven't used since I've been here. There is a sense of happiness (we can't wait to get out of this 3 bedroom compressor / apartment and back into our house) along with some sadness (we have enjoyed exploring the Twin Cities.)
In many ways city life has fit us well. Tamara doesn't mind driving in traffic - and she has found about every swimming hole one could find... and that's quite a few around here. We've hit some Twins games, museums, and... as some will notice on me when I return... some excellent eateries. Juicy Lucy has been my friend and enemy - eating bar food and sitting for long periods of time reading and writing is NOT a good combination. Some of our favorite places to eat: Matt's Bar, Jakeeno's Pizzeria, Pizza Luce, Mannings, Keys, and Aurelios (There's a definite Pizza theme...). We've also enjoyed the parks and bike trails... which is badly needed after the above discussion. Needless to say - we will miss what the Twin Cities has to offer.
That being said... there is something about rural life that I enjoy and look forward to. I don't how many times I've had to "defend" living in Sioux Center - there's this weird compulsion found in some suburb dwellers we've encountered to rail against rural life - especially Northwest Iowa living. I'm not exactly sure what they are compensating for... or why they think sitting their butts in the suburbs is some bastion of exotic urban living. (A Target or Wal-Mart is a Target or Wal-Mart... we do have them in Northwest Iowa.) I don't need someone who has never lived in Sioux Center to tell me what sucks about Sioux Center. Believe me... I know. But I also know what is good about Sioux Center living - and believe me there are good things about living there. For now, I look forward to mowing my lawn... to sitting on my deck with a cigar... to sitting outside the Fruited Plain and having a good bottle of beer... to letting my kids go outside to play and not really worrying one bit. I look forward to warm, muggy, summer afternoons - to the smell of tasseling corn, and to being the only car on the road for as far as the eye can see. I look forward to the Mexican bakery (Olivia's) and the jalapeno bread that will keep me fat.
Will I miss the Twin Cities? You betcha. I've wanted to live here since I was a kid living in Willmar. Something tells me I'll be back some day... but for now we are happy and content to make our home in Sioux Center, Iowa. Lucy will just have to move on without me.
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