midwest soft spot

Ok, so I have a very soft spot in my heart for the midwest, and whenever I travel here (right now I'm in Independence, Missouri until Sunday) I am reminded of that soft spot. I think the recollection started today with the barista at the Chicago airport Starbucks who kept calling me "ma'am": "was that an americano ma'am?" "What size did you want, ma'am?" "here you go ma'am." And then there was the kind man next to me on the flight to Kansas City who pointed out the spectacular rainbow we were flying over top of (I couldn't resist making a joke about feeling a little like Dorothy heading back over the rainbow to Kansas). And then there is the distinct possibility that we will have a thunderstorm tomorrow - I LOVE the thunderstorms here, they are incredible testimonies of power.

There are also all the people here that I'm fond of and the fond memories attached to many of the people and places. In spite of not always enjoying myself over the course of the four years I spent near here in Iowa, there were some really lovely times. And it is nice to come back to familiar things, like the noisy bugs that no one else seems to notice (I have a vivid memory of a campfire one evening where someone remarked on the quiet stillness of the night - quiet? still? I thought they were joking. They weren't), and that thick, humid smell in the air. Despite these being things that were initially annoying, they have come to be things that have a special place in my heart. It is amazing what places can do to you, and all it takes are the sensory inputs - the sounds and smells - to bring back floods of memories.