Back In Boone Iowa Again

What a whirlwind week-end it was in Boone, Iowa, my birthplace. There is a boat load of info to pass on and not enough blog space to do it justice. Let me start off my writing that, after two years, I connected with my very best new friend and his wife. The man has been a faithful reader of mine for almost two years. We began emailing in September of '10 and had the big rendezvous in our hometown last Saturday. They are from Council Bluffs, Iowa and drove two hours to meet up with me. One never knows what to expect when this happens. Will I insult him five minutes into the get together? Will he have a .45 in his belt? Did we actually know each other, have a fist fight in '64 and forget about it? No, no and no. They are exactly what I expected-----Iowa people. Once again, if you've never been to the Hawkeye State do yourself a big favor and plan a vacation. How to describe us; meat and potatoes is the best way. Also, down to earth is another good example. We spent three hours driving around the 30 by 30 block town of 12,000; looking at the places we lived, got in trouble and had youthful fun.
There was one other seriously interesting experience and person I ran into who deserves recognition. He's in every community in the country. The man has lived in Boone for seventy years. The reason I know this is because he's seventy or close to it, anyway. I'd spoken to him probably ten times in my life. When I write spoken I mean, "Hi, how are ya'". That's about it.
Let me backtrack. There are certain people who know anything and everything about every living soul in a town of 12,000. They also know everything about those who have moved into the great beyond. My opinion only but a person's occupation determines this. They are either barbers, tavern owners, postmasters and policemen. The man in question and his wife sat with my two friends and me at MacDonalds for over two hours. That's a lot of coffee. Anyway, this fella has two of the occupations covered. I'd say, "whatever happened to Joe Schomo"? He'd answer immediately, "Oh, he died at three minutes and thirty seconds past noon on December 15, 1999. They found him wearing a red and green plaid shirt. He had one shoe off but was wearing no socks". It was phenomenal. This guy should write a book. Have you ever seen movies from Africa where one old timer is the historian? He knows the history of the tribe dating back three thousand years. And he doesn't have anything written down. It's all memorized. You know what I'd do if I were the "Sage from Boone"? I'd set up a tent in the middle of town and put out a sign. "Questions answered----The real story. Only $5.00. The guy could retire in the Bahamas.
One thing I do know is, when one visits the old homestead it's wise not to visit in March especially if you grew up north of the Mason-Dixon Line. The grass is brown. Snow is still piled high in the parking lots of businesses and things are darned dirty. I want to go back in May when things are brighter and cleaner.
One other thing for you non-Iowans and I love this. There are two major universities in Iowa: Iowa State University and The University of Iowa. Boone is twelve miles from Iowa State. Even so, the rivalry fever between these two is no less than Ohio State and Michigan or Duke and North Carolina. Let's say I'm wearing clothing with the Hawkeye logo and walked by someone I didn't who who supported the Hawkeyes. They wouldn't say, "Hi, how ya' doin'"?. It'd be, "How bout them Hawks". It's the same for Iowa State if I had on Cyclone gear. It'd be, "Go Clones". Pretty neat, huh? But, then again, that's Iowa. Are you jealous yet?