Toads-in-the-Hole

While sitting with our friends on the Old Capitol Lawn- one of the only two families to enjoy the sweltering heat interrupted occasionally by slight breezes and gulped Arnold Palmers- all underscored by a an acoustic guitar/vocal set- I remarked to dear Pam that this 4th of July was the first of our last days. We won't have another 4th of July in Iowa City. This coming first day of Horn School will be the last of its kind. Octoberfest in the Amana Colonies will be a tiny foamy Gotterdammerung, and so on until June of 2013.

It is probably not that atypical for a family to move every 4-5 years in this day and age, but I'm ready to be done with it. I sincerely hope that this next move is a generational effort, that we plant trees that will grow to shade whole yards and vines that supply crates of modestly drinkable vintage. Adelaide (old soul that she is) and I have discussed on a few occasions the strange fact that, as full of a life as she has led here in Iowa City, it is not actually where she will grow up. Ten years from now she'll remember in scraps and smells what now seems to her like a whole world.

But every place leads to a New World. Maybe we will put roots down in our next locale, but we are a restless people.