Friday, October 10, 2008

Iiiiiiiooooooooowa o whoa whoa oh whoa iiiioooowa

The drive down was lovely.. it's beautiful down here.. and warmer. Even the grass is changing colors, not just the trees. And.. wind farms. I'm nutty for wind farms. Pretty pretty. I like that a very-familiar landscape is being changed in the most science-fiction seeming, yet hopefully very positive, way. The windmills look more like art or aliens, rather than power plants.

Stopped by my alma mater, Iowa State, on my way to Des Moines...

- They've classed the place up! New branding, new bookstore, new changes to the student union. Iowa State now looks all Big 10 n' shit. Stopped by the M-Shop, and was thrilled to find that it still smelled the same.

- Walked around the horoscope on the floor, saw the campanile (sp?); Ralph Nader decided to come visit Ames at the same time. Weird.

- Ames specializes in a warm, glowing variety of fall.. yum.

- Stopped in the music building, which was like homecoming. Saw three teachers I dug and one I didn't. Saw two music secretaries that I adore. Looked at baby pictures from old classmates - - just lovely.

- Walked back to the student union and purchased my first bit of ISU paraphernalia. Tug at my heart, I will buy your stuff.

Drove the rest of the way to Johnston, Iowa, where the hotel is, about 20 minutes from Maxwell. My grandpa was born in Maxwell, he'll be buried there, when it's warm and the leaves are slipping from green to gold. That's kind of lovely.

- Caught up with my mom, sister, brother in law. Us girls, we all look the same.

- Caught up with my aunt, uncle and two cousins from Cali. My two cousins still share their almost telepathic link: a casual intimacy that sibling-ness and button-pushing usually gets in the way of. I want to wonder at it, but that would be rude (so I'll just do it here).

- 'Ate dinner at a supper club, one that specializes in the three hour meal. We shared stories, caught up (it's been a long time); Uncle Dave brought pictures of Grandpa from about 1913 on... Wow. :)

- Put the Scott side of the family together, and, again, we all look the same. However, the Californian Scotts as a whole are beautiful and just southern-Cali polished. They're also smart, sweet, funny and I'm so damned lucky to know them. As far as relatives go, they should be out of my related-to league. :)

- I ate too much.

- I just learned what HBO plays at 11:30 p.m. on a Friday.. aghhhh!! Really??! Oh, of course really... But I also found "Family Matters". Oh. And "Project Runway". Good lord.

Onward to tomorrow.
Good night.

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