I had a great visit to the DOT today. Said no one ever.
Well, not exactly. You see, last Wednesday at the clock struck a quarter after 3 I queued outside the door to the Iowa Department of Transportation, fistful of paperwork proving my identity, residence, and tax-payer status and expired Missouri driver’s license. Not but 10 minutes later I walked out that same door, extending my hand for the requisite squirt of hand sanitizer on my way out, this time with temporary Iowa driver’s license in hand.
A great visit? Well, quick if nothing else, which anyone who has dealt with bureaucracy before would hardly expect. Certainly, I imagined nothing less than being sent away for not presenting the correct paperwork. Hence my inch-thick stack of US passport, voter ID card, paycheck stubs and multiple W2 forms.
But why, beyond the unexpected expediency make such a big deal about a driver’s license renewal? In a word, it felt symbolic.
“I’ve slowly but surely cultivated not only a bounty of blooms in the community garden at my Sherman Hill apartment complex, but a ever growing stack of doodles, drawings and watercolor paintings that have filled out my portfolio and even a published children’s book. ”
For nine years I have called Iowa my home, first as a Graphic Design major at Drake University, then a designer at a national media company based in Des Moines, a fitness instructor at a local yoga studio, and now an adjunct professor at Grand View University (more on that later).
In between, I’ve slowly but surely cultivated not only a bounty of blooms in the community garden at my Sherman Hill apartment complex, but a ever growing stack of doodles, drawings and watercolor paintings that have filled out my portfolio and even a published children’s book.
A year or two ago I still wasn’t sure that Des Moines was the place I wanted to set down roots. In hindsight I realize those feelings stemmed not from a specific desire to be somewhere else, but the general desire of a young 20-something to simply not settle. The world is big, why stay rooted in a mid-size Midwestern city?
Because I’m known in this community. It’s the reason (amid a global pandemic of all things) I was offered two new jobs this summer (freelance designer for Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa and aforementioned teaching gig). It’s the reason I will soon have my own space at Mainframe Studios.
And it’s reason enough to give up my now expired Missouri driver’s license.
I’m here to stay.