COUNCIL BLUFFS If you’ve traveled at all, seen the Rockies, the Grand Canyon, the oceans, the redwoods you might wonder how anyone could find Iowa beautiful. It’s true Iowa’s beauty is more subtle but, every seasonal change brings a whole new color palette to the Council Bluffs surroundings. Winters are brown, grays and blues. The temperatures vary from tolerably cold, to a cold that makes it hurt to breath, with varying amounts of snow thrown in to make it interesting. But oh how I still love that first snow! Just when you think having to wear winter gear one more day will put you over the edge, you wake up one morning and you can smell the dirt. Water from the snowmelt rushes down the street and sure enough if you look little purple crocuses are poking through the remaining white of the snow. Senses beware! We are talking color and pleasant smell overloads. Lilacs, crabapples, redbuds and forsythia are jus a few of the flowering trees and shrubs that have burst into bloom in the Council Bluffs Spring. Of course, we do have some “little” problems with the occasional tornado; hail bearing thunderstorms, and slightly strong wind gusts. But those drawbacks are somewhat exaggerated. Within a very short time, the spring buds are fully open and summer ‘s color palette takes over. Green greets your eyes now. Hundreds of shades of green surround you from the trees, shrubs, lawns, and the acres and acres of farm fields. The winds that blow now are warm and not all that refreshing. With summer’s beauty, also comes its heat. Council Bluffs’ location along the Missouri contributes to the high amount of humidity in the air and unfortunately, this makes the heat even less bearable. (Air conditioning is a modern miracle.) “Fire Hydrant” parties are a common occurrence about this time of year. And the most popular place in Council Bluffs is the local pool. Those big blue skied days turn the green fields to various shades of browns, russets, and golds. The daily temperature starts to take some refreshing dips and fall is here. Now gray is a dominant color. But in a strange way, it’s a nice change. Fall is the rainiest season in Council Bluffs. Farmers hope for just the right mixture; enough rain for the crops to fully mature but not too much rain that would prohibit harvesting those crops. The deciduous trees (cottonwoods, maples, elms, and burr oaks) turn a rainbow of browns, golds and reds. Then when the wind blows, we’re showered with their falling leaves. Happiness is walking through crunchy piles of leaves in the fall. My drive to school each day takes me through suburbs, farmland, and downtown city streets. I see horses, deer, sheep, chickens and ducks every day. I see factories, warehouses, hospitals, a rock quarry, homes, stores and schools all in the same drive. I get to see skies that if you saw them painted, you’d say” No way, too fake.” I’ve driven through low-lying fog that was straight out of a ghost story. I’ve seen “sun-dogs” – kind of a sun rainbow. And just when you start to think that nothing’s new out of the sky fall snowflakes the size of half dollars! I know they were clumps of snowflakes, but still I’d never seen snow fall that way before. Council Bluffs is a beautiful place to live.