Dear fans(???),
Well, we had no leads and no real idea of where anything was in the town, but Reagan and I and my eager parents went door-to-door in Carlisle, Iowa trying to find me a place to live. In the end we found out many interesting things about this new town of mine, some great and some down-right scary! Let's start from the beginning...
I started off with some internet research. Although, apartments.com and the online Des Moines paper showed no apartment complexes, I knew they were there. What I did find was some quick little quotes to help get to know my town more:
The population of Carlisle is approximately 3,241. The approximate number of families is 1,230. The amount of land area in Carlisle is 7.906 sq. kilometers. The amount of surface water is 0.03 sq kilometers. The distance from Carlisle to Washington, DC is 921 miles. The distance to the Iowa state capital is 7 miles. (as the crow flies) Carlisle is positioned 41.51 degrees north of the equator and 93.48 degrees west of the prime meridian. Carlisle, in Warren County, and a portion of Polk, previews a rollin country-side of Iowa. A rural atmosphere, Carlisle, south of Des Moines, lends itself to a get-a-way from city life. The beauty and friendly attitude of the people draw many to this town. A fourth of July celebration and parade highlight as one of Carlisle's special events. Septuplets were born to the McCaughey family who lives here. Now, I could tell you all about my family's journey that fateful Saturday night in which we knocked on Bob and Norma's door and they had a 2-bedroom apartment all ready for me that Reagan and I fell in love with and decided to call my home (and our home once married) over the next 2 years starting June 1st (address and phone number will be emailed, once I move), but I would rather read into these internet quotes found at these Carlisle websites to give you a sense of where I am moving.
First of all, why does the crow only fly to Des Moines and not to Washington D.C.?? How do the 8th graders get to their annual DC trip without daily flights by the crow?? Nice to know that if I catch the early bird flight from Carlisle to the state capitol it will only be a 7-mile flight though. Hell, by car, its at least 8 miles!! Next, simple math (see facts above!) will tell you that the average family has only 3 members. Take out the McCaughey family and you are down to me being a "large family" moving to town! I am having some reservations about moving to Carlise though. I mean, c'mon, .03 sq. miles of surfacewater?? I have bigger puddles after our last 9 inch rain here in Iowa City. Being an investor, I am thinking of purchasing that surface water and re-selling it in small portions to the vacationers that come to see the "rollin countryside" that Carlisle is famous for. And remember, the time to visit is the Fourth of July. We Carlinians take pride in America and put on quite a show. Actually, I've never seen it, but hell, we have a parade??! This has to be quite a deal! What the sites don't mention is that Carlise has great businesses too. They have 2 Casey's gas stations within a half-mile of each other (very strange), a bar called "Sisters" (great place for a single guy like me to wear my Hawaian shirt and drink a Shirley Temple over a conversation of tablecloth patterns) and the ever popular Pizza Ranch. We don't have a SuperWalmart, a Target (I'm working in a DesMoines Target--3 miles "as the crow flies"), or a Starbucks (I think Sisters serves cappuchino). All we have is a friendly atmosphere, a Fourth of July celebration, and the perennial baseball powerhouse Carlisle Wildcats (ISU colors, thank you very much!). So, come visit. If you are in the neighborhood this summer, catch the crow flight and stop by and see me. I will be the one sippin' lemondade with Bob and Norma watching the Fourth of July parade go by. Heck stay all night, I hear Sisters gets crazy during the Fourth of July celebration!
Love&Prayers,
Ben "bleeding Red and Gold" Barry
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