I grew up in a small Iowa town, population 1,500. The folks were a mixture of Dutch, German, English, mostly middle class. I knew there were people in town who were certainly richer than us, and some who were less fortunate than our family. Most townies were hard working folks. Everyone outside of the city limits (I have to smile when I write that because we literally had one-stoplight) were farmers to some of the best crop growing soil in the world, although I didn’t realize it when I was a kid.

I don’t remember going without much growing up. Mom always made a good supper, meat and potatoes, a casserole or one of her homemade soups. I could eat hot lunch at school (less than 2 blocks away) or if they were serving something I didn’t care for, I’d walk home and eat leftovers or a tuna salad sandwich.

We went shopping quite often in Sheldon, Le Mars or Sioux Falls, mom sometimes letting me skip afternoon classes. Still most of my school clothes were ordered out of the Montgomery Wards, J.C. Penney catalog or made by a seamstress in town. Mom was an expert knitter and could crochet intricate patterns but struggled to replace a button on dad’s shirts. I think she enjoyed picking out material and patterns for outfits for me which I find kinda odd. She never seemed comfortable in fabric stores unless it was buying skeins of wool yarn. But we’d haul it to the woman who could stitch anything together and voila’ I’d have a new outfit in a week.

We weren’t rich or poor but I cannot remember any day of my life growing up in that house where mom or dad were flat broke. They always had (some) cash. If I was alone after school there was a candy dish with loose change on the dining room table. I’d take a nickel, walk a couple blocks ‘to town’ and buy some Brach’s chocolates, which were weighed out by the ounce from the U-shaped candy counter (chocolate covered peanuts, malt balls or stars were my favorites).

Mom kept a small box with dividers above the fridge in the cupboard (she was a 6 footer and had no problems with reaching stuff). Between the dividers were CASH allotments to pay bills, phone, electric, (we had a fuel oil furnace so had to get that tank filled up from the De Boer Brothers). Plus 2 gas station bills. Mom went to one, De Boer’s, dad filled up at another, Ver Berg’s. I know, another oddity of the house. Mom or dad would drive around town, stopping to pay the bills each month-in CASH.

I guess mom’s reasoning for keeping a stash of cash rubbed off. Would if she were driving to Sioux Falls and had a flat tire? More than likely, someone would stop and offer to change the tire for her. (Don’t know how long Triple A and such services have been around but the Gerritson’s didn’t subscribe to any but full coverage car insurance). Mom would of course offer to give him something for his help. I’m thinking a 5 or ten dollar bill back in the ‘60’s.

Mom just couldn’t be without some cash in her wallet. She might have had a Ward’s or Penney’s card (which she would have paid in full by check every month, signing her first, middle, maiden name before her married name, which took more than the signature line provided-haha), but I don’t believe she had a true credit card.

I just can’t fathom becoming a cashless society. Until a couple years ago I still wrote checks at the grocery store, although now I use a debit card. I faithfully come home and subtract the total in the checkbook. But to stop at Jimmy John’s, Subway or Dairy Queen, it just seems logical to pay cash. I don’t pay cash to fill up the Jeep anymore. I fully embrace not having to go inside to pay and would have appreciated that a great deal when I had littles.

Twenty years ago I recall a teacher friend telling me she had stopped at the grocery store to buy some Halloween candy for her students on her way to school. The grocery store debit/credit card gizmo was on the fritz that morning and she had no cash to pay for the treats so had to leave empty handed. I was dumbfounded. She had a 40 mile drive to get to school. How could she leave town without a few bucks on her in case her car broke down? I read an article in the paper today about some church denominations making changes in how they collect offerings. Seems like younger people, 25-45 don’t carry cash so the church has adapted. Now the collection plates have credit card readers attached. Oh. My. Stars. As for me and the Hubs, we will continue our old-fashioned way of life and always carry some cash…

I’ve been an Iowa Hawkeye fan for decades. We moved from Iowa to Michigan almost 40 years ago, however Iowa will always be home and the Hawks have my heart. Initially over the years it was men’s basketball. Kenny Arnold, Bobby Hansen, Steve Carfino, Roy Marble, the Twin Towers-Michael Payne & Greg Stokes and my all time favorite, BJ Armstrong. Hubs loves football foremost but for me it was basketball and Lute Olsen. I was devastated when he left Iowa. But soon there was a new doctor in the house (Tom Davis) who healed all those boo-boos.

It wasn’t until Iowa’s own Caitlin Clark (Des Moines Dowling) was into her collegiate career, making 3’s from mid-court and shattering every basketball record known to men and women when we started paying attention to the ladies team. Wow, they were exciting to watch. Classy and fun to root for.

When Caitlin went pro (yes we watch her and the Indiana Fever religiously-absolutely love Aliyah Boston too) we continued to enjoy the Hawkeye men’s and women’s basketball teams. We thought there might be a letdown after Caitlin left-but Carver-Hawkeye Arena continues to sell out. Felt there might be another letdown after Lisa Bluder retired-but no. Jan Jensen’s doing a fine job recruiting and coaching.

The men’s team has gone through some significant changes this year too. After ending McCaffery’s (sorry, too long) coaching tenure, Ben McCollum (a Storm Lake-Iowa City native) was hired to breathe some new life into the program. I guess it’s expected when there’s a coaching change but I was shocked and disappointed when all but one player transferred. Go Cooooop! I had such a soft spot for Josh Dix and Pryce Sandfort. Both are doing well at their new schools so I’ll stop with the pity party over my loss.

There’s something fiercely loyal about Hawkeye fans and it wasn’t until we moved to Michigan when I figured out the most likely reason. From where we live now, it’s possible to be at a game within an hour watching the Lions (go Sam Laporta and Jack Campbell) the Red Wings or the Tigers. Plus we’re a half hour away from the Spartans and Wolverines. Iowa folks do not have that luxury. You’re either a Hawkeye fan or Iowa State Cyclone wanna-be. That’s it. End of choices except for smaller colleges. No pro teams closer than Illinois, Missouri or Minnesota.

The returning players were a great base for this 2025-2026 team. My favorite was ‘Heiden’ in plain sight. Go Ava! A ‘big’ just starting to flourish at the end of last season. Who knew her role this year would be this huge and awesome? Well me, cause she was my favorite. Taylor-made ‘Steamroller’ Stremlow has shown significant strides in her sophomore year. Good ball handler, awesome passing ability with a penchant for sinking 3’s. Probably the biggest name returning for her senior year is number 45, The Incredible ‘Stuelke’ (happy Hannah). Plus 5th year senior defense specialist or (I’m-willing-to-take-a-charge-Wiley) Kylie Feuerbach.

Hubs has his favorite player too. It’s T-Mac, a three point shooter with her soul infused in the Hawkeye team. Unfortunately, Taylor McCabe tore her ACL in late January, had surgery to repair the damage but will be supporting her teammates from the bench for the rest of the season. He’s still pining her loss to the team.

I was excited about the incoming players to this year’s roster, and we had routine updates about a 5-star (you read that right-a-5) recruit from California. A really big Deal! A great Addie-tion. She’s very court-smart. Then came the news from Georgia. A sophomore guard was transferring to the Hawks. Rather small in stature but when that girl started throwing up 3’s, we knew it was the Wright choice. Shoot that Chit! (Her nickname is Chit-chat. A little basketball humor with a play on words. Try to keep up). She adds a solid presence on the floor and is a tremendous ball handler.

Freshmen Layla Hays (another big) hails from ‘way-up-north-to-Alaska. I’m sure she’s enjoying all that sunshine during the day and our mild Iowa winters. Ha! Lest we forget the rest of our Hawkeye family, there’s Callie Levin, Kennise Johnson, Emely Rodriguez, Jada Gyamfi and Teagan Mallegni (who’s heathy and getting more minutes).

Rounding out this year’s Iowa basketball ‘Journey’ is a gal who won my heart (just as Ava did last year) the second I saw her on the court. She’s a hustler, always going for the loose ball, steal or rebound. Her mid-range jump shot (elbow) is something to see. She hails from Davenport which melts my heart. We lived in the quad-cities a few years during the early 80’s (and never wanted to leave but there was a serious downturn in farm equipment manufacturing and hundreds of engineers were laid off). She’s getting more minutes and it would be a safe bet to assume the rest of the B1G in the future will be muttering “hey, that Houston’s gonna be a big problem.” BTW, thanks to Kinnick North23 (another Hawk fan living in hostile territory) for supplying these super cool pics…