It is drizzling here. It’s funny how the Midwestern rain smells differently. I think the soft summer rain awakens the fertile earth in Iowa. The sweet, unmistakable aroma of the rich, dark soil mingles with crops, livestock, and old barns. A Sunday morning rain in Iowa is surely one of God’s surprising gifts. It has been quite a few years. I thought I would get over it. But no. I am as thrilled about this serenely handsome land-in-the-middle of America as when I first saw a snowfall on the Plaza in Kansas City or a prairie sunset in Olathe. I think the sweet smell of Sunday morning rain in Cedar Falls is right up there.