Carroll, Iowa
Since our nation is more idea than geography, a collection of principles above anything else, this intellectually secessionist notion of two Americas, one with good people, and another peopled by "the other" should be dispatched.
It flies in the face of everything I have sensed as an American, for I have felt strong patriotic surges, bursts of pride in country, and tears for its heroes and defenders in places large and small, famous and forlorn.
I live in small-town America. I am a rural Iowan, born in the eastern part of the state and adopted by family with deep roots in the west.
After being in places with screaming optics, in-your-face sights, New York City or Mt. Rainier or Churchill Downs trackside on the first Saturday in May, I am always again on my way home, on the open road from, say, the Omaha airport. Iowa, I think to myself after being outside of it, has under-appreciated scenery.
The vastness of Iowa, its openness, leaves one feeling simultaneously secure and free. It’s a wonderful sensation — and an American one.
I’ve known the advantages of growing up in rural Iowa, with our schools, and going out in competing in the broader world.
Small towns are a crucial part of the American fabric.
But to dismiss anything outside of our way of life as something less than American is to miss the full American experience.
The breathtaking sight of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City, the feel of a run across it is with me still. It’s a uniquely American experience to stand on the bridge.
I’m an Iowan, a Midwesterner through and through who finds enormous pleasure and comfort in those quiet drives from Carroll to Des Moines or Omaha, Neb. But spend some time on the Brooklyn Bridge. You find there’s truth in the American belief that anything is possible.
For its part, the Statue of Liberty is disappointing. It came from the French, should belong to New Jersey and is, just, well, so small in relation to what you’ve imagined since childhood. As a symbol it serves its purpose.
But then there is the Brooklyn Bridge, a 6,016-foot long marvel of utility and beauty spanning the East River and connecting Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Stand at the apex of Brooklyn Bridge’s boardwalk in the morning, listening to the hum of the heart of capitalism, and then find yourself back in Iowa later that night, alone with your thoughts in the comfortable silence of a drive on U.S. 71, slicing through the world’s most productive farmland, headed home to Carroll, Iowa.
That, more than a politician’s opportunistic words, will give you the real sense of America.
Douglas Burns, a fourth-generation Iowa journalist, is a member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Burns resides in Carroll.
Please consider following some of the other writers in the collaborative.
Iowa Writers’ Collaborative Columnists
Laura Belin: Iowa Politics with Laura Belin, Windsor Heights
Doug Burns: The Iowa Mercury, Carroll
Dave Busiek: Dave Busiek on Media, Des Moines
Iowa Writers’ Collaborative, Roundup
Steph Copley: It Was Never a Dress, Johnston
Art Cullen: Art Cullen’s Notebook, Storm Lake
Suzanna de Baca: Dispatches from the Heartland, Huxley
Debra Engle: A Whole New World, Madison County
Julie Gammack: Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck, Des Moines and Okoboji
Joe Geha: Fern and Joe, Ames
Jody Gifford: Benign Inspiration, West Des Moines
Rob Gray: Rob Gray’s Area, Ankeny
Nik Heftman: The Seven Times, Los Angeles and Iowa
Beth Hoffman: In the Dirt, Lovilla
Dana James: New Black Iowa, Des Moines
Pat Kinney: View from Cedar Valley, Waterloo
Fern Kupfer: Fern and Joe, Ames
Robert Leonard: Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture, Bussey
Letters from Iowans, Iowa
Tar Macias: Hola Iowa, Iowa
Darcy Maulsby, Keep’n it Rural, Lake City
Alison McGaughey, The Inquisitive Quad Citizen, Quad Cities
Kurt Meyer: Showing Up, St. Ansgar
Wini Moranville: Wini’s Food Stories, Des Moines
Jeff Morrison: Between Two Rivers, Cedar Rapids
Kyle Munson: Kyle Munson’s Main Street, Des Moines
Jane Nguyen: The Asian Iowan, West Des Moines
John Naughton: My Life, in Color, Des Moines
Chuck Offenburger: Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger, Jefferson and Des Moines
Barry Piatt: Piatt on Politics Behind the Curtain, Washington, D.C.
Dave Price: Dave Price’s Perspective, Des Moines
Macey Spensley: The Midwest Creative, Iowa
Larry Stone: Listening to the Land, Elkader
Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Buggy Land, Kalona
Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Emerging Voices, Kalona
Cheryl Tevis: Unfinished Business, Boone County
Ed Tibbetts: Along the Mississippi, Davenport
Teresa Zilk: Talking Good, Des Moines
‘The Iowa Writers Collaborative is also proud to ally with Iowa Capital Dispatch.
Love your perspective. Dams are very cool as well.
Great perspective! The rolling hills of western Iowa with their patchwork of green fields are beautiful. The same is true when white snow covers the area. It is always good to return home!