It was Raining

Throughout the night, I heard the crack of thunder and the sound of rain. When I got up, it was pouring and had been doing so for some time. The paper will later report that just under two inches of rain fell, but I know it was a lot more.

Today we drove to Redfield to visit the cousins. It was raining.

Louise and Irene grew up on the farm in Redfield. Today it is farmed by Ed Swinger. We met everyone at the Dexfield Diner where we had an authentic, made from scratch meal in an authentic, farm town diner. Dexfield is a combination of the names of the two towns, Dexter and Redfield.

We got there a little after 11 and the place was empty. And it was raining. By the time we left around 1, it was packed and jumpin'. And...it was raining.

From the diner, we drove the 3 minutes out of town to the farm. The big attraction was the new house the Swinger's are building. 

Ed and Sue have been working the farm since about 2000 when Louise and Irene's Dad, Jim died. They lived in the old farm house and Louise lived with her Mom in the rancher style house they built in the sixties. 

Ed and Sue broke ground on this new house in the Spring of 2014, so they are 15 or 16 months into this build. They were in no hurry to get it done. But now that it is nearly finished, the urge to move from the turn of the century house that leaks (Did I mention it was raining?) and is being held together with duct tape and baling wire into the ultra modern spacious open floor plan deluxe farm mansion they have built is considerable. 

I expect they will be moving within the month. Just some flooring and minor finishing issues need to be finished. 

Susan and I were quite jealous of the many amenities they have added. The cabinets are especially appealing. The drawers open and close smoothly and suck in slowly at the end of the close. The cabinets are easy to access and all the shelves slide in and out. They have a special shelf that swings up and out that holds a mixer. They have a central vacuuming system and a little toe kick area that you sweep all the dirt to and then kick the button to suck up the dirt.

After the tour, we returned to Louise's rancher for dessert. Susan got a special late birthday present of a new Tin Man.

Louise gave usa Tin Man the last time we came to Iowa for Christmas and it was stolen from our front yard later the following Spring. Now we have Tin Man Too and all is well.

We headed back to Des Moines about 4:00 and it was raining.

By the time we reached Des Moines, it was starting to clear. Blue sky was evident and warmth was returning.

Every time we come to Des Moines, the Latin King is a restaurant we must visit. It's great Italian food. Also, we try to snatch as many books of matches as we can. I'm not sure how that tradition started but it is a major goal and keeps us in matches well into our next visit to Iowa.

By the time we left for dinner, the sky had cleared and it was a nice evening. We rode out in Neil's 1963 Cadillac Sedan DeVille. 

As we enjoyed our meals, we noticed it began to rain. One might describe it as a deluge. The experience reminded us all that classic cars of the sixties had really shitty ventilation systems and it took most of the ride home before the wind shield was clear of fog.

When we got back to the house...it was raining. Two inches, my ass!