You Know It's Summer When...
 
You have garden fresh corn and green beans for supper. Mm good! Picking food out of your garden is so refreshing! I think that's why summer is so much fun, because everything tastes fresh and great. Here in about a month the apples in Iowa will be ready to come off the tree, and the last of the cherries will be harvested. Some of the grapes are ready now, but those are grown over by Des Moines, rather than in the Loess Hills area, where I live. 
 
Since I'm in an Iowa mood, I'll give some tidbits on my home state.
 

• First of all, Iowa is not all flat. Yes, a few parts of northern Iowa are flat, but everywhere else is dang hilly!
• We just don't grow corn and soybeans. There are a lot of different crops grown in Iowa, including alfalfa, wheat and oats, but for the most part, you'll see a lot of corn or beans. Additionally, there is a lot of land that is not used for farming. We have a lot of natural lakes and ponds, and a lot of natural prairie land. Of course, in some areas we still have forests. Some land is given up to CRP to help control the markets. I live in the Loess Hills area, which are hills created by glaciers, and dirt being blown in from the west.
• Iowa has more hogs, cattle and sheep than people.  After working with some animals, I can eat meat without a problem. Once you realize how insipid those animals really are, you realize their purpose was to be eaten.  I once saw the brain of a pig while we were butchering it one of my uncle's houses when I was small, and I tried to figure out why it looked so different than ours, because the eye of the pig that I had in my hand looked like a human one. Iowa meat does tastes better, by the way, because we tend to grind our meat fresh and it doesn't takes days to reach outside supermarkets.
• Iowans are not illiterate. Most Iowans have their high school diplomas and have gone to some type of college. Most farmers need to go to college now, so that they can work on their own machinery.
• The only people that call us Idiots Out Walking Around are those crazy northern people in the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes for Ten Thousand Fish. Additionally, we are bordered by the great state of Misery to the south of us.
• Norwegians in northern Iowa started calling themselves Iowegians.
• We don't all own cows to get our milk, but some people still have milkmen.
• The song County Fair by Lonestar sounds just like what we look forward to in late July. But, in August, we have the awesome Iowa State Fair to look forward to.
• If you haven't been to Adventureland, you're not a true Iowan. 
• While camping, you can expect to have animals (deer, turkeys, coons, bobcats, coyotes, ect.) join you in the area.
• We really do like to sit outside at night, sipping on tea or lemonade.
• You can see the stars at night. (Even in the cities.)
• We really do like to use the grill for all meals!
• There are only two seasons...winter and road construction.
• Basement doors are kept clean/open from April-September...got to love Tornado Alley!

And I saved the best for last...

• "Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa!"