Highway of Love

I?ve written about U.S. Highway 34 before. It has many unique qualities, stops, and sights along the way. It seems there?s no end to its surprises.

I travel U.S. 34 a lot. It provides SE Iowa motorists with a nice diagonal to Des Moines, and me a quick shot to Newton to visit a certain friend.

A while back, returning from Newton, my eyes were pulled up to the words ?Find Your Love? spray painted on an overpass over the highway. Going east, the words are on the overpass at the exit for Agency and Hedrick, or exit 195.

Then, a little farther east, on the back side of a ?Do Not Enter? sign, in the same color of spray paint (red) was ?Love You!? actually ?(heart) U!? Then another. Then another. In fact, most of the ?Do Not Enter? signs between the Agency-Hedrick exit and Mt. Pleasant have the ?(heart) U!? on the back side.

My inquisitive mind took note.

On my next trip to Mt. Pleasant from Newton, I made a point of watching for the overpass. Sure 'nuff, there it was. This time, however, the name ?Sara? had been added, with a question mark at the end, as in ?Sara Find Your Love??

My mind went into warp speed.

I imagined Sara as a nursing student from Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa. She was doing her practicals at the Henry County Health Center in Mt. Pleasant, and driving the route daily. Some poor fella was obviously in love with Sara and trying to get her attention. When she failed to notice the overpass message, the guy went back and added her name.

Sara got the message. She is now trying to decide between the overtures of an X-ray technician at Henry County Health Center, and her wannabe suitor in Ottumwa. It will be interesting to see if the graffiti changes.

Now, I don't condone defacing public or private property. However, this scenario definitely caught my attention, and warmed my heart. Someone obviously went to a lot of work to write those words upside down from a highway overpass, not to mention the ?(heart) U!? on the back of many of the ?Do Not Enter? signs. He (assuming it is a he) had to do this and not get caught. (I would have been nabbed as soon as I stepped out of a vehicle with a can of spray paint.) If anyone out there knows the story behind this graffiti, I would love to hear it?anonymity guaranteed.

My friend also travels U.S. Highway 34 on her trips from Newton to Mt. Pleasant. Some of you know U.S. Highway 34 as the ?Red Bull? highway. There are signs here and there indicating such. ?Red Bull? is the name of the 34th Infantry Division that fought in World War I, World War II, and still serves today.

Another of the many features along Highway 34 is the pig statue in front of a farmhouse between Fairfield and Mt. Pleasant. The pig statue belongs to Sandy and Jerry Nelson, and it?s sort of an eye-catcher. The Nelsons dress the pig up to fit the time of year. At Christmas, the pig is a reindeer pulling a sleigh. For St. Patrick?s day, the pig is dressed in green. For the 4th of July, it will be The Patriotic Pig.

After all of this with Sara and the ?(heart) U!? signs, U.S 34 may have to be renamed ?The Highway of Love.? The pig could be dressed up in a tux and be the best man, er, best pig. My vote is for the Ottumwa suitor.

Have a good story? Call Curt Swarm in Mt. Pleasant at 319-217-0526, email him at curtswarm@yahoo.com, or visit his website at www.empty-nest-words-photos-and-frames.com