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Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nit: s/ancestors/descendants. Also, I had some friends from Cedar Rapids who made Kolaches. I never knew how to spell the word. I’m guessing it’s a Czech thing given how many Czech people are in CR.
Proper Czech spelling is "Koláč" and it is universal word for round type of pastry with some filling in it. There are hundreds of variants depending on area and even familly.
Looking at title I thought it was something along the lines of state Iowa opting in for Dvorak keyboard layout as default or something... Lol.
nostalgia, sad and hopeful all at once, when the familiar and the alien mingle, as when we revisit the childhood streets where our friends are no more, or when we return all alone to the site of some joyful memory.
Looking at title I thought it was something along the lines of state Iowa opting in for Dvorak keyboard layout as default or something... Lol.
That's funny - I always think "maybe we'll talk about the composer instead of that dang keyboard layout this time!"
I grew up just a short distance north of Spillville, Iowa. Even in those days, the town was very Czech. In Dvorak's time, it was as Czech as San Francisco's China Town was Chinese. In Dvorak's day, the brewer delivered a bucket of beer to your front door every morning, as was custom in the old country. (Somebody start that business in Sunnyvale :) Spillville and Protivin were so Czech even when I was in school that I…
My grandparents were from southeastern Iowa, and I understand that their town was mainly German-speaking. It was pretty established, too: they grew up speaking it as third-generation Americans.
It stopped with their generation though, their town was harassed quite a bit during WWI, and that pushed people to assimilate.
It really interesting how much linguistic diversity America had that's only gone extinct within living memory.
I never thought I would see something about my hometown of 300 people in rural Iowa on Hackernews. There are several Dvořák murals in town as well as a museum for handmade grandfather clocks made by the Bily brothers. One of their descendants was my bus driver growing up and my grandfather grew up speaking Czech and English in the home. Kolaches are also a town staple and there are many fundraisers for Schools/Church…
Hello from Kendallville.
Looking at title I thought it was something along the lines of state Iowa opting in for Dvorak keyboard layout as default or something... Lol.
That's funny - I always think "maybe we'll talk about the composer instead of that dang keyboard layout this time!"
I grew up just a short distance north of Spillville, Iowa. Even in those days, the town was very Czech. In Dvorak's time, it was as Czech as San Francisco's China Town was Chinese. In Dvorak's day, the brewer delivered a bucket of beer to your front door every morning, as was custom in the old country. (Somebody start that business in Sunnyvale :) Spillville and Protivin were so Czech even when I was in school that I…