AND THE KIDS CAN WALK TO SCHOOL

    I ended the conversation by asking Sonny and Paula why they liked living in Milo. Sonny said, "If you get into trouble, there's always someone to help out. It's a great place to raise your kids, and they can walk to school." Paula agreed and reminisced about the real estate salesperson who, years ago, assured her that her children could walk to school. One of Paula's children is grown, and she calls him a "city boy" because he is doing pottery for an art gallery in St. Louis, Missouri. Mentioning the ability for kids to walk to school was an interesting benefit considering their children were grown and gone. I packed up my computer, walked past the bandstand in the middle of Main Street, and slowly headed out of town. Just a couple of blocks from the elementary school I watched a group of four young girls, some with backpacks, chattering and slowly walking down the sidewalk, past comfortable old houses in the warm spring afternoon. It was the sort of scene film directors use to establish a mood when they are introducing a small town setting in their film. It was a strange and poignant moment, one that I would probably never see in Silicon Valley. The girls seemed safe and happy. At that time it seemed that all the good people of Iowa needed to do was to attract more young couples to have more kids in places like Milo.