Summer in the Midwest

Summer officially made its way to Ames a week ago, but signs of its impending arrival had been here ever since we drove into town from the West Coast early in June. Summer-like thunderstorms had been rolling their way through these parts on an almost every-other-day basis , leaving us with incredibly lush lawns, fast-growing trees and an oh-so-inviting environment for the squirrels and rabbits that populate our nearby neighborhoods. Yes, all this rain has created the perfect environment for mosquitoes. But they’re a minor nuisance, and they’re more than made up for by all the fireflies that are flitting over our neighborhood lawns and lighting up our evenings. We know we have to savor those lightning bugs now because they soon will disappear, not to be seen again until next year.

Summer days around this Heart of the American Heartland have a different “feel” than they do in California. For one thing, everything and everyone seem, somehow, calmer. Of course, Ames is a college town, and when Iowa State is not in session, our streets have half the traffic they do during the school year. A friend who lives in another small town with its own big-time university once told me how much he enjoyed not having students there in the summer. At the time, I couldn’t understand that — after all, it was “his” university that “made” his small town the cultural and smart place it was.

Well, that was then, and here we are now, in Ames. And while I take a backseat to no one in my love and admiration for Iowa State and what it means for Our Town — I must admit — it’s a bit easier driving around these summer days and nights — and much less crowded in restaurants — because the students are elsewhere. But don’t misunderstand — their temporary absence does not mean that Ames is slumbering. There are enough “events” going on to keep anyone busy — even if they’re retired, as we are, and have nothing on our daily calendars that we must attend to.

Summer Sundays are “music days”  for us. We usually drive to Prairie Moon Winery north of town to listen to whatever band that’s performing in the winery’s lovely outdoor venue. A “country” band could show up one Sunday, with a jazz ensemble appearing a week later. These concerts last until 6, at which point we get into the car and head to Roosevelt Park in Ames, where different bands and singers perform, starting at 7. Unlike the performances at Prairie Moon, where there’s a small entrance fee, these Roosevelt concerts are free. Neighbors walk to the park, set up their lawn chairs, kick off their shoes, and settle in for 90 minutes of fun. Their kids romp around, play ball or enjoy themselves on nearby playground equipment. It’s the image you dream of when you think of Midwestern towns or small cities, and in our case, we’re lucky to be living this dream for now.

There are plenty of opportunities to “get involved” here, and Sharon has taken full advantage of one of them. She’s volunteering at Reiman Gardens — a lovely green space near Jack Trice Stadium. The Reiman family made this park possible with an incredibly generous donation, and it’s one of the “go-to” spots for Ames residents who want to “escape” for an afternoon to see the garden’s amazing butterfly or plant collection, or to walk pathways canopied by trees, or to  simply to sit in a lush, landscaped area shaded from the summer sun.

I’m getting up early these Wednesdays and Fridays so I can make it on-air by 7 at our local “community” radio station.  Yes, I’m still reporting news on radio after all these years, but this is a bit different.  For one thing, being a “community” station,  KHOI is  staffed  by volunteers. For another, I’m providing summaries of news printed in the daily Ames Tribune and the weekly outlying papers.  I started this gig last summer when we were here, and the station wanted me to continue when we returned  home to California.   So I had to learn a few new “tricks” — thanks in no small part to our tech-savvy son Bradley — recording the news summaries the day before they aired and sending them to a station-retrieval site.  Trust me — it’s a whole lot more fun being in the studio, where the program hosts and I can interact with each other as if, yes, we’re actually together.

We’ve tried to act like Ames “residents” this summer because, well, we ARE Ames residents this summer.  So we’ve purchased CyRide bus passes and season passes to the Furman Aquatic Center, which is just down the road a bit from our little place.  We take CyRide to Campustown across from Iowa State when we want to have lunch there, and we try to get to the aquatic center on hot days when cool water would feel the best.  Our wet June has cut down on our Furman visits, but there’s plenty of time for us to get our money’s worth from those passes.

One of the upcoming events we’re looking forward to is the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa — known to Iowans as RAGBRAI.  The Des Moines newspaper has sponsored this ride across the state for four decades.  About 10,000 bicyclists take part, and thousands of others accompany them for the fun and games that take place in the overnight stops during the week-long trek.  This year, one of those stops is here in Ames, and the city is gearing up for jammed streets and crowded camping venues and a general mess.  The city has put out the word that volunteers — 1,000 of them — are needed to handle all this, and, foolishly or not, we’ve submitted our names.  RAGBRAI arrives here July 24, giving us plenty of time to either think better of all this — or jump in wholeheartedly.

There’s more — much more — to do here in Ames, of course.  We’ve attended city council and school board meetings, had many lunches with friends at Hickory Park and other favorite eateries, and had coffee — often — at the delightful Café Diem on Main Street.  I take morning walks through our  historic Old Town neighborhood and then make my way to the library, where I peruse the panoply of daily and weekly papers. A few times already, we’ve decided, on the spur of the moment, to see a movie at one of our nearby cinemas.  Mondays and Tuesdays, we can buy tickets for $5 apiece, and since we were here last summer, the theater’s seating has changed for the better. Now, each screening room features lounge-type seats you can reconfigure any way you like.  The only problem is, they’re too comfy, and sometimes I doze off during key scenes.  Oh, well.

“Summer afternoon, summer afternoon — to me, those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.”  The great American novelist Henry James wrote that, and when we’re here,  it’s easy to see his point.  There may, indeed,  be better places than Ames to spend our summer days and nights during this, the autumn of our lives. But Ames will do.  Oh, my, will it do.