Officially Homesick

Home was on NPR this morning.

 

I must admit that I am a 24-year old conservative who religiously listens to NPR.  That is not exactly their target demographic but since NPR was the only station that came in when we lived in Ankeny, we have gotten sort of addicted.

 

(In a yelling at the radio sort of way.)

 

I still listen to it down here just because the voices on Morning Edition and All Things Considered are familiar and, frankly, there's not a lot of familiarity down here.

 

THIS particular  morning, Joey and I had a lovely drive to DTS, I dropped him off and flipped on the radio.  The segment that was just beginning was on suburban poverty and guess what city they spotlighted?

 

DES MOINES!!

 

I almost cried.  (And I'm really not kidding; I did!)  I listened to people from Altoona and West Des Moines and Clive talk about the growing number of poor in their surburban enclaves. 

 

I heard a lady from Altoona talk about the commuter bus that runs from Altoona to Des Moines twice a day at 6 a.m. and I smiled as I remembered the Ankeny to Des Moines commuter bus that went every day at about 6:30.  We could see it from our balcony back home.

 

I heard the housing commisioner in Des Moines talk about the downtown homeless shelters, and I got nostalgic as I remembered walking to the library over lunch real quick with Jamie and Tiffany when I worked for Wells Fargo Financial.  We'd walk right past one of those shelters.

 

All in all, I am now sufficiently homesick, and just from getting a little flicker of home on NPR.  It's only 8:00; I'm in for a long day...

 

I'd better go make some coffee or something.