(Tom Jirik wrote columns in several newspapers in Iowa from the late 1980’s to the mid 1990’s.  This column originally appeared in the The Boone Today) 

Sometimes we get bored with it all.  Television shows us the glimmering skylines of New York and Los Angeles.  Magazines tell us about sun-drenched shores in the Bahamas and the Mediterranean.  Newspaper travel sections tell us about weekend excitement in Chicago, Minneapolis and Kansas City.

Somehow, good old Boone just doesn’t seem to stack up against such stiff competition.

Last weekend, we hosted some good friends from North Dakota.  On Sunday morning we took them for a little tour of Boone.  As residents, Mary and I started the tour with a ho-hum attitude.  We intended to hit a few of the high points so we could get back home for lunch.

Eric and Nancy, our guests, had other ideas.  They were amazed at the size and beauty of the Des Moines River Valley.  The first glimpse of the Kate Shelly High Bridge took their breath away.  We had to take a second trip out to the bridge because they didn’t have their camera along the first time.

They looked in awe at the streams and cliffs of Ledges State Park.  They fell in love with the grand historic homes along Story Street and elsewhere in town.  They couldn’t believe the size and scenery in Boone’s expansive mchose Park.  They were charmed by the quaint but varied downtown district.

We listened knowingly as Nancy and Eric talked about small town life in North Dakota.  They told how their home town would do practically anything to attain Boone’s population, retail base and services.  They wistfully admired the opportunities available to us only minutes away in Ames and Des Moines.

As the tour moved along, Mary and I became a little more enthusiastic.  We related the bits and pieces of history that we’ve learned since coming to Boone.  We talked about our camping excursions to Ledges and our picnics at mchose Park.  We related what little we know of Boone’s railroads as we watched a lengthy freight train thunder across the Kate Shelly High Bridge.

“We really like living here, ” we told them.

Like most people in Boone, we can and do rattle off a list of reasons why we don’t like living in Boone.  We can and do talk about bad experiences and disappointments we’ve suffered while living here.  Most of the time, you’d think that most people in Boone hate living in Boone.

But we don’t.  And sometimes it takes someone from outside to help us step back and realize that Boone is a pretty great place.  Think about that when you carve your turkey for Thanksgiving.

Speaking of giving thanks, what can you can abut the fantastic weather last week?

Chuck Schwarzkopf at Boone’s Ben Franklin Store tells me that this year he’s had Christmas shoppers in his store wearing shorts and T-shirts.

I’m assuming that he’s not counting those infuriating people who do their Christmas shopping in July.