We are just back from a day's trip back and forth - Cedar Rapids, Iowa - started on the evening of the 18th of May and returned after midnight the next day (aka. 20th). Was about 6 hours of driving and Saurabh and I shared the drive, well! I drove more than 50% :) Our Toyota Prius was giving us an awesome mileage (~48), of course it could have gotten better with no AC but we refuse to be indulging in any kind of self-flagellation, nevermind it being as trivial as climatic discomfort!
Well, the Cedar Rapids trip turned out to be short and sweet!! We went to this Czech Village in Cedar Rapids, a couple miles away from the downtown area and there we found these friendly, smiling Czechs, enagaging in various activities. It was there, that we entered this beautifully decorated "Czech Cottage" with this very friendly woman (owner) - Jitka (read as Yitka) - relating her Czech anecdotes to us. She had entered the US around the time of Communist turbulence in Czechoslovakia ... and has been here since, married, and with this pretty business-engagement housed in this cottage of hers - abounding in garnet jewelry, crystals, and Czech folk arts - yes! we picked up a couple small trinkets and knick knacks as souvenirs of this sudden Czech discovery in a midwestern town. Also, there was this "National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library", we could only see from the outside lounge, early closing hours, but then at the entrance to the museum there was this huge chandelier - hanging from the celing, made and brought in from the Czech Republic, fixed ostentatiously at the entrance to the museum. This Czech village kinda looked like a niche fringe outside of the US with people laid back in time, smiling and greeting people, and seemingly not engaged in an ever-widening frenzy of chores! What Jitka told us was that this village had been there for a long time, before she even moved in here, and now slowly there's just an aging brood of people living here, holding on to the prized Czech relics, with the outflux of the youngsters far and away.
The only thriving business in this town of Cedar Rapids, seemed to be Rockwell Collins, a leader in the design, production, and support of aviation and communication electronics. Considering that the US is now fighting its never-ending battles in the Middle East with billions of dollars spent at the warfront, defense contracts are definitely on the rise, and so are these billion dollar companies. Well! talking of dollars well spent, I was just reading about Dwight Eisenhower's ambitious project with wide reaching repercussions, the 1956 Interstate Highway Act, where the federal government invested more that $33 billion to establish a network of highways across the country. Since Saurabh and I have traveled together, driving on these highways, so many times for the last close to three years, we appreciate this great contribution of Eisenhower through and through. In fact, he was a Republican president, the first one in about two decades then, and proved his mettle both in war and home affairs. Those were difficult times for America, recuperating from the Second World War's lesions, and recuperating fast with vigor and laudable leadership by heroes of the land.
Drifting away from the politics of the land, and talking about the climatics ... it's been fabulous weather for the last couple days and the sun and shine in the land of the mighty, made us buy mountain bikes to gallivant across the midwestern lands. So, marking my calendar, to note the start of my biking days ahead - 20th May, 2006. Btw, looks like buying bikes here, means buying a host of paraphernalia, and one on the list remains - biking helmets ... well! yes! we do want to guard the gray cells of wisdom to pass it on to our little ones across the windows of time.
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