Iowa: Beautiful land

 

An Iowa sunset last autumn.

    One of the first things we sixth-graders learned in Iowa history class was that the name, "Iowa" means "beautiful land" in the Native American language.

    That's true, according to "Our Iowa Heritage."

    I think about this phrase because the beauty of one's state is certainly in the eyes of the beholder.

    I was born and partly raised in Minnesota, which surely is a beautiful state with all its lakes, waterfalls and natural areas. Other states we've traveled are very pretty as well: Mississippi, for example, has lots of trees and an obvious logging business. Florida has its beaches. There's also Wisconsin and Michigan.

    My sister lives in Bozeman, Montana, and that has stunning views of the Rocky Mountains. Montana has to be one of the more spectacular states in the nation, with Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park and more. Residents there are perhaps used to the spectacular.

    That's also true in Arizona, which has a desert that many consider beautiful and, of course, the Grand Canyon. That's probably the most magnificent natural wonder I've ever seen.

    In high school, I detasseled corn in the summertime when I decided that Iowa was also very pretty. Detasselers go out in the cornfields early in the morning and the sun coming up over the vast field of seed corn was just dazzling. 

    It's claimed that Iowa, which used be covered by tall grass prairies, has the most managed landscapes of any state in America. An estimated .1 percent of the prairie remains. But it is certainly not a flat state: Ask anyone who has ridden across Iowa on a bicycle, such as those on RAGBRAI (the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa).

    Almost 30 years ago we purchased property in a neighborhood on a lake about 8 miles north of Davenport, Iowa. That's where we've lived since, and it is a very pretty neighborhood, indeed. We now have a Facebook page and neighbors regularly post photos of sunrises, sunsets or views of the lake. They look just lovely.

    I don't know of an 'ugly' state, but there certainly are parts of states that are unattractive. For example, driving through Iowa and Nebraska on Interstate 80 is boring to many travelers. Our Midwestern land is also called the "fly-over" part of America.

    What states do you think are beautiful? Which ones, not so much?