Welcome to Iowa Anytime

 It was a beautiful evening as the Chicago White Sox and the New York Yankees played an exciting game on the Field of Dreams in Iowa Friday night. Eight home runs and a thrilling 9th inning!

The announcers seemed overwhelmed that the corn from which the players emerged was taller than the athletes.  I am pleased they loved beautiful Iowa.  I know the Midwest is often considered fly-over country, but, seriously, had the Fox announcers never been here before? (They talked about grass as so green it looked like pretend grass carpet.) Iowans often travel to Chicago, New York, California.  Many have been to most U.S. states and overseas. 

I have lived in Iowa over 60 years of my life, most close to Dyersville in Dubuque.  I went with my father to Des Moines Bruins (Chicago Cubs minor league team) as a child.  When I lived in St. Louis, we had the Cardinals. When we lived in Detroit, we cheered for the Tigers.  When we lived in Connecticut, one of our son's cheered the Yankees while another cheered the Boston Red Sox. 

One game announcer said, "Iowans have probably never seen a Major League game before" The other chimed in, "It may take awhile before the 8000 fans here realize this is a real ball game."  The cameras showed one out-of-Iowa player taking a bite of corn right off a stalk and then spitting it out, finding it was not sweet corn but field corn.

But the field WAS beautiful.  The weather was perfect, unlike the terrible storms in the days before. The sunset gorgeous.  Welcome to Iowa any time.

 While CVID roared across the world and the fires and floods from the Climate Crisis covered the earth, including Greece, the home of the Olympic games, we watch the global celebration. Japanese children, singing at the Closing Ceremony pointed us to an unknown future. Hope!

Athletes from over 200 teams participated in 339 events. People from 93 nations won metals. Yes, of the 11,090 participants, more women than men won. In the United States 66 of the 113 medals were won by women. Title Nine, past almost 50 years ago, has made a difference. The mayors of both Tokyo and Paris--which will host the 2024 Olympics--are women. However, the goal is not to have more women than men, but more equal numbers of women and men from all countries. 

Faster, higher, stronger, together!  That is our hope.

Bombs and Baptism

 Bombs and Baptism.  Today is Hiroshima Day when the United States dropped an Atomic bomb on Japan 76 years ago.  Today is also the Baptismal Day of myself and my son, Kirk; I, 6 years before August 6, 1945, and Kirk, 30 years after my baptism.  I was baptized in the home of my Aunt and Uncle in Garner, Iowa (we lived in Des Moines), and Kirk in the backyard of Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Detroit, a statement to the neighborhood (many neighbors came) that we could be outside together one year after the Detroit Riots.  Bombs and guns are with us still.  Baptism in Christ joins us together now and forever.

Early morning walk

 Early Morning walk in East Park, Mason City, Iowa