As a friend of mine said, “Kindness is still best for all.”
I was reminded of that valuable lesson on Saturday. While coming home the backway from the Montezuma Lions Toy Show, I came across a young lady whose car was stuck in a Level B Road snow drift at the intersection of 470th Avenue and 100th Street, northwest of Montezuma. This young lady, who hails from upper state New York, was out canvassing for Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren on 470th Avenue. There are a few houses on that section of the road west of Highway 63 before it turns into a Level B Road. Not being from Iowa, she drove her car down the road and while trying to turn south on to 100th Street, she got stuck on a mound of snow from the road being graded. I drove past her, then stopped and backed up, rolling down my window to see what was going on. “I’m stuck,” she said, smiling as to ask if I could help. I pulled to the side of the road and got out, inching my way across the icy road to assess the situation. Her wheels were spinning and she was going no where. I live a half-mile south, so I drove home and got a bucket of sand. Arriving back on the scene, I used what sand I had and it did no good – she was stuck. Along came another fellow from Lake Ponderosa who got out to help. The two of us spent a good 20-minutes working to get her unstuck, all to no avail. We even tried putting salt around her tires and that didn’t help either. It wasn’t long before my neighbor up the road stopped by to help. We pushed and pulled and her car wasn’t budging. My neighbor found a place to hook on a tow rope and my other neighbor from the lake, hooked on and within a few minutes, they had her pulled off the snow mound. While all this was going on, I was lightly teasing her about politics. She seemed to be a good sport about it all. “Rural Iowa in general leans more Republican,” I said. “You have to go to Des Moines or Iowa City to find more Democrats.” I went on to say, people in rural Iowa fly Trump flags in the yard and hang big Trump signs in their work shops. “They even sell Trump flags at the Iowa State Fair,” I told her. “Right now I’m just canvassing Democrat voters,” she assured me. After getting her unstuck, I told her not to forget that three good Republicans just got her out of a snow drift. She was one happy young lady as she drove off. At that point, it didn’t matter who she supported for President, what she stood for, what she believed or anything else. It was neighbors being “Iowa nice,” and helping each other out. Our paths may never cross again, but I’m sure she will not forget the kindness of three rural Iowa strangers on a cool late January day. With the Iowa Caucus just around the corner, the endless hours of political commercials and all the mud-slinging, it is easy to get caught up in the craziness. What we all need to remember is the importance of being “Iowa Nice” and having compassion for each other in the current political climate. Now that is real climate change. Have a great week and take care of yourself, my friends. And always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always.
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