10- Bigger, Brighter

Why does it seem like pictures taken in the United States always seem to have great lighting, and feature a whole lot of sky?

Maybe its where I come from. The photo featured in this post (from www.city-guide.com), is of the Clocktower in the Iowa River Landing in Coralville, Iowa. In my brief trip to Iowa some years ago, I could not help but marvel at just how much greenery, and yes, how much sky, I saw. I had the privilege of having a kind host during my journey, so, I had a car to get around. I got to visit the University of Iowa, Davenport, Iowa's Blackbird Hotel, and the Iowa State Fair. I don't think I will ever be able bring myself to eat food as rich as fried Oreos, or fried butter on a stick, but hey, I sure can appreciate an integral slice of any country's culture.

There are places you visit wherein you find yourself wide-eyed and ever ready to sop up every inch of sensory real estate, and at blinding speed no less, like a Ford SUV burns fuel. Maybe the romantic in me has not completely died after all. Perhaps one can still really enjoy a good steak, with good company, and with good wine, and not just look at it as another business meeting, or, as another routine "refill" moment.

Honestly, this entry is partly meant to say that I do miss visiting the US. My visits to the States have tended to bring out a sense of wonderment from me. Maybe its the fact that behind the corporate suit, and the private school education, any accolades attached to my name, and my love for sophisticated comedies, music, and locations, lies a simple man, someone who CAN still jump at the sight of fire, so to speak. I figure that I always need to maintain the mindset that the world is still my oyster, that it still represents a body of temptation that I would not feel guilty about giving in to. I need to see, and not necessarily be seen.

Iowa amazed me because of how big- and yet still austere and down to Earth, things seemed to be. Yes, there were malls where you could get an iPad, and a City Center, etc., but for whatever reason, the wind, the pace of life, the sight of genuinely kind people, and independent breweries, made me feel surprisingly laid back. In an almost shockingly sentimental way, I felt at home. Shocking because I was in Iowa for a visit, to do work, absent of me necessarily entering the State with a mindset that says, "sit back, relax, and move without a care in the universe". This is not to say that I did not think I would enjoy myself. Maybe I was more surprised to have observed HOW I cemented my smiles into memory.

I don't know when my next trip to the US, or Iowa, will be. Without being complicated, or extra analytical about things, the best way to summarize my feelings about the potential for further use of my US Visa, what little US Dollars I have saved, and my gigantic black luggage which has seen many airports and hotels, might be to proudly exclaim:

"I can't wait."

MC

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