Iowa

Tom Montgomery Fate: From Iowa to Chicago, my idea of home has evolved

Published

2 years ago

March 24, 2023

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Tom Montgomery Fate: From Iowa to Chicago, my idea of home has evolved

“The place do you name dwelling?” a reporter as soon as requested me in an interview for her newspaper.

“Iowa,” I mentioned.

“I believed you lived in Chicago,” she replied.

“I do,” I mentioned. “However I’m out of Iowa. I’m from there, and I left there.”

Then, I defined that I’d lived in Chicago for many of my life however was slowly migrating again to Iowa the entire time. We lived in Hyde Park on Chicago’s South Aspect for six years, then moved west to Oak Park, on the city-suburb border, for six years, after which to Glen Ellyn, a western ‘burb, for an additional six years. We had been returning to Iowa in 10-mile increments each six years and would arrive on the Illinois-Iowa border once I was 104.

A street is seen in fall 2022 close to Coon Rapids, Iowa. (Tom Destiny)

Although that westward migration stalled way back. And since then, my concept of dwelling has developed. Now it’s much less a bodily location than a sort of belonging. It’s the place my sense of being and my huge longings converge into one factor, one thing wordless — a sort of realizing, or perception, that I belong to creation. I consider the massive bluestem or blazing star on the prairie — how every plant is anchored by its looking out — for water, for all times. As affected person and chronic as an Iowa farmer, the roots preserve spiraling deeper into the darkness, on their method dwelling.

I first got here throughout this sense of dwelling 30 years in the past in a subject research course on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. In a sweat lodge, Francis White Lance, a medication man, shared a core perception: mitakuye oyasin, that means “all my relations,” or “I’m associated to all that’s.” Residence as relationship — with birds and bugs and rivers and rocks, and different folks. The phrase serves as a sort of closing prayer in Lakota ceremonies and connotes a house that’s each bodily and religious.

On the Pine Ridge, and elsewhere, I’d be taught that I needed to go away Iowa to grasp all that dwelling might imply. This paradox suggests why that boring, flat, lovely state now serves as my trailhead for a guide of journey essays. A few of my journeys are “out of Iowa,” as in from there, and rooted in my household and childhood, whereas others are “out of Iowa,” as in away from there, and describe my treks via vastly completely different cultures. However these two strands of reminiscence — “from” and “away from” — additionally converge right into a single braid of that means: journey that takes you dwelling.

“We journey, initially, to lose ourselves,” writes Pico Iyer, “and we journey, subsequent, to seek out ourselves.” Iyer has written a dozen journey books about unique, far-flung cultures — from the Philippines to Kathmandu. I liked these books, however the one I reread is a critique of all of the others: “The Artwork of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere,” through which Iyer explores the need of the internal journey — of being misplaced, and located, after which misplaced once more. This type of looking out is implied within the French origin of “journey” — travail: labor, toil, struggling, bother. Journey entails battle, and a means of discovery and transformation.

“It issues not the place or how far you journey,” Henry David Thoreau writes, “the farther generally the more serious — however how a lot alive you’re.” Once I learn “Walden” in school, this line confused me. So did his claiming that he’d “traveled an ideal deal in Harmony,” the small city the place he lived his entire life. It made extra sense a few years later, once I reread the guide, and contemplated my very own life in a small city. Thoreau knew he belonged there.

And perhaps that’s the entire level: We’re all the time on some detour, and all the time on our method dwelling. However because the birds remind us, that phrase — “dwelling” — is each a verb and a noun, each a journey and a vacation spot. Which is why we’re by no means fairly positive when and if we’ve arrived — whether or not in small-town Iowa or the South Aspect of Chicago.

Tom Montgomery Destiny is an emeritus professor on the School of DuPage in Glen Ellyn. This frivolously edited essay is excerpted with permission from Destiny’s new guide “The Lengthy Method Residence: Detours and Discoveries.”

Submit a letter, of not more than 400 phrases, to the editor right here or e-mail letters@chicagotribune.com.

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Iowa

Latest Iowa high school volleyball rankings reveal regional pairings

Published

7 hours ago

October 10, 2024

Press Room

Latest Iowa high school volleyball rankings reveal regional pairings

It was an important date around the state for volleyball teams in Iowa, as the latest rankings were released and regional pairings in all five classes were revealed.

The two come into play once regionals reach the championship round, as the higher-ranked team will serve as the host for those games.

All five No. 1 squads remained the same, as Ankeny Centennial (Class 5A), Cedar Rapids Xavier (4A), Mount Vernon (3A), Denver (2A) and Ankeny Christian (1A) held serve.

New teams to the Top-15 include Iowa City West in 5A, Ballard in 4A, Wapsie Valley in 2A and Stanton in 1A. The entire 3A poll remained the same while Sidney made one of the biggest climbs, moving to ninth from 12th in 1A.

Regional play for 1A and 2A begins Oct. 21 with 3A, 4A and 5A starting Oct. 22. The state tournament is scheduled for Nov. 4-7 in Coralville from the Xtream Arena. Complete regional pairings can be found on Bound.

Class 5A

1. Ankeny Centennial; 2. Pleasant Valley; 3. Ankeny; 4. West Des Moines Dowling; 5. Indianola; 6. Waukee Northwest; 7. Cedar Falls; 8. Cedar Rapids Prairie; 9. Waukee; 10. Iowa City Liberty; 11. West Des Moines Valley; 12. Sioux City East; 13. Iowa City West; 14. Iowa City High; 15. Linn-Mar.

Class 4A

1. Cedar Rapids Xavier; 2. Sioux City Bishop Heelan; 3. North Scott; 4. Clear Creek-Amana; 5. Lewis Central; 6. Pella; 7. Glenwood; 8. Carlisle; 9. Marion; 10. Adel-ADM; 11. Norwalk; 12. Sergeant Bluff-Luton; 13. MOC-Floyd Valley; 14. Ballard; 15. Grinnell.

Class 3A

1. Mount Vernon; 2. Western Christian; 3. West Delaware; 4. Dubuque Wahlert; 5. Davenport Assumption; 6. Sioux Center; 7. Carroll Kuemper; 8. Mid-Prairie; 9. Cherokee; 10. Wilton; 11. Solon; 12. Anamosa; 13. Roland-Story; 14. Clarinda; 15. Nevada.

Class 2A

1. Denver; 2. Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont; 3. Dyersville Beckman; 4. Dike-New Hartford; 5. Aplington-Parkersburg; 6. South Hardin; 7. Boyden-Hull; 8. Pella Christian; 9. Iowa City Regina; 10. Hinton; 11. Grundy Center; 12. Sumner-Fredericksburg; 13. Wapsie Valley; 14. West Burlington; 15. Shenandoah.

Class 1A

1. Ankeny Christian; 2. Holy Trinity; 3. Saint Ansgar; 4. Riverside; 5. BCLUW; 6. Janesville; 7. North Tama; 8. Don Bosco; 9. Sidney; 10. River Valley; 11. Akron-Westfield; 12. Stanton; 13. Fremont-Mills; 14. Southwest Valley; 15. Gladbrook-Reinbeck.

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Iowa

Iowa high school football computer rankings (10/10/2024)

Published

14 hours ago

October 10, 2024

Press Room

Iowa high school football computer rankings (10/10/2024)

Week 6 of the 2024 Iowa high school football season has wrapped up, and High School on SI is continuing its weekly computer rankings for the season.

The Dowling Maroons kept their top five placing in this week’s 5A Iowa computer rankings after a thrilling 41-35 victory over Ankeny Centennial. They face a strong Urbandale team on Friday, to keep their momentum going.

The top of the 5A computer rankings stay the same this week as the Bettendorf Bulldogs take home another win, this time defeating Kennedy 33-14. The Bulldogs look forward to Friday, where they will travel to Davenport Central in hopes to hold their place in the standings.

SBLive’s formula was created using its linear algebra-based ranking algorithm inspired by the Colley Bias-Free Ranking Method. Colley’s Method was created by Wes Colley, Ph.D., an astrophysicist at the University of Alabama at Huntsville. He devised his algorithm to help address the subjectivity and controversy regarding BCS college football selections in the 1990s and early 2000s, using a method that used no subjective variables.

FAQ: SBLive High School Football Computer Rankings

Here are SBLive’s latest Iowa football computer rankings, as of Oct. 7, 2024:

IOWA HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL COMPUTER RANKINGS

CLASS 5A | CLASS 4A

CLASS 3A | CLASS 2A

CLASS 1A | CLASS A

CLASS 8 MAN

DOWNLOAD THE SBLIVE APP

To get live updates on your phone — as well as follow your favorite teams and top games — you can download the SBLive Sports app: Download iPhone App | Download Android App

— Ben Dagg | @sblivesports

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Iowa

Grinnell window manufacturer announces plans to lay off 152 workers in November

Published

21 hours ago

October 9, 2024

Press Room

Grinnell window manufacturer announces plans to lay off 152 workers in November

JELD-WEN, a manufacturer of windows and doors in Grinnell, has announced it will be laying off 152 workers effective Nov. 7.

The announcement was made on Iowa’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) site.

The company, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, was founded in 1960 and has 18,000 employees, with operating facilities in 16 countries in North America and Europe with 2023 sales of $4.3 billion, according to the company’s website.

JELD-WEN did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Earlier this year, JELD-WEN announced the closing of its Hawkins, Wisconsin facility, affecting 338 employees, and in Vista, California, resulting in the loss of 110 jobs.

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