News from the Trenches!

I was going to start off this entry with more boring information about caucuses (did you know the word "caucus" has the highest ratio of vowels to the letter "c" in the entire English language?), but luckily I don't have to, because, we unexpectedly received an email from a gentleman FROM Iowa yesterday, and well, why don't I just let him speak for himself:

" Dear Chris, Mark, or Mercedes (whichever one of you reads this first),

I came across your group the other day and thought I could actually add a level of actual information to your project. While you came up with a couple of fancy sounding facts and figures and wrote it in a fancy way, that's not at all the Iowa way of doing things. See, when I say something like: "Iowa has the third best cost of doing business in the US of A," I just say it. I don't need to dance around the point like it's May Day, and I'm dancing around a maypole with streamers in my hand. Bedazzled streamers, at that. What's that? How about another shot of the old Iowa spirit? Fine by me, partner. Did you know that Iowa is the sixth most livable state? Darn tootin'. It makes me quake in fear to think what the livability of your fancy North East states is. Fancy words can't cover up a lack of real community. Do you know that I know every single person that lives on my block? When someone makes a darn fool of himself by mowing his lawn on a Sunday, I know exactly who that fool is, and what he probably had for dinner the night before. Heck, I've probably got half my power tool set borrowed out at any given time. Are you that free-wheeling with your Complete Set of Keats or whatnot? Here's a tip: Get to know the man on the street, the man with watering his lawn with a good old fashioned watering hose, and you'll know the Iowa Caucus.

Your friend,

Chuck Gardener"