My Brother

I really like my brother. I didn't always. I didn't have any real reason to dislike him, I just did. I blame it on being a teenager and they fact that he was my older brother.

We grew apart while in college Again, not because of any thing or whatever, we just didn't see each other very often. I saw him twice a year when I went home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. And by the time I was in my latter half of my undergraduate degree, I would go home for roughly three days: December 24, 25, and 26. My mom had moved away from my hometown and lived somewhere where I didn't know anybody. All my friends had moved on--some were in college and some just took off. My dad lived in the small town where my whole family was from but spending more than a day with my dad was dangerous for everyone's health. Plus, I'd gotten to the point where my college friends were my family. So I'd go home for Christmas Eve and Christmas day and then head back to school where everyone else I knew was also getting the hell away from their families, too. We'd spend the rest of Winter Break playing Hearts (seriously), watching stupid TV, and drinking beer. It was awesome.

Anyway, my brother. After I graduated we saw each other more. Then he began to date his now-wife. She was tight with her siblings and didn't understand why my brother wasn't with his. And then she began inviting me down for weekends. And holidays. And Super Bowl Sundays. At one point, when I was trying to figure out what to do with my life, my brother told me I could come live in his basement. I could live rent free, and he'd pay for food if I did the dishes and helped around the house. I thought about it and then decided against it.

So, now I consider my brother and I pretty tight. He's one of the calming factors in my life. He always has been. He would often referee between my dad and I, and when he'd get mad at me about something, I knew I had gone too far--it takes a lot to push him too far. He's still the calming factor with my sister-in-law and my nieces and nephews. When he gets mad, the kids know they've pushed it too far.

We haven't had our normal brother-sister bonding time the last few years (picking up shit that my SiL forgot at 3:00 on Christmas Eve), but we try to make up for it in other ways. This year he was in Wisconsin for work for part of the time I was in Iowa. Despite only having a couple of days together, we played Wii, talked football, drank beer, and discussed Wisconsin--all in about six hours.

Wii
We boxed. The kids chose sides and became cheerleaders. I got my ass kicked. Then we played golf. Golf doesn't inspire small children cheering. The kids got bored, but I kicked his ass.

Football
He's a Vikings fan, I'm a Packers fan. He's an Iowa State fan, I'm a fairweather Iowa Hawkeyes fan and fairly devoted Wisconsin Badgers fan. We talked about the Big 12 and the Big 10, mainly focusing on the defections of Missouri (Mizzou) from the Big 12 to the SEC and Nebraska from the Big 12 to the Big 10.

What we decided about football:
Mizzou: They have no clue what they are getting into by joining the SEC. They better get themselves some sort of chant, show their students how to dress in cocktail dresses and seersucker pants, and learn to drink... and to play football, because they are going to get their asses kicked. I also explained the SEC chants, but all I knew were Hotty Toddy, Mississippi State's Woof-woof and cowbell (you know, for the simple folk), and part of Rammer Yammer ('Bama).

Nebraska: One of my top football memories of this season was UW's defeat of Nebraska. My brother agreed because we both hate Nebraska. What we agreed on: They are not up to par with the academics of the Big 10 schools--they're not even close. They haven't been a big football school for a long time despite their claim that playing in the same conference as Texas made them a football superpower. Sure, you play UT, but you are also in the same conference as Kansas State and Iowa State. Big Deal. Welcome to the Big 10. You suck.

Beer
He is not a big fan of New Glarus, I am. Or at least I am of Spotted Cow. He likes their IPA, I don't. But having New Glarus on tap is a requirement for all Wisconsin bars. I need to bump up my beer drinking. I had a headache due to weather (it passed, eventually). When I told him that was why I was nursing the beer he gave me he said, "You're gonna have to power through that [headache] if you want to become a professional [beer drinker]." I powered through, but I am pretty sure I am still an amateur compared to him.

Wisconsin
My brother loves supper clubs and Wisconsin is crazy with supper clubs. He went to this one outside of Prairie du Chien while he was up there for work. Someone had recommended it but with the caveat that it was a little uppity and fancy. As my brother said: "It would've been uppity if it were still 1975, which is when they last decorated." Coming from my brother, that was not an insult. He went on to describe the relish "tray" and iceberg lettuce salads served in fake wooden bowls and the perfectly cooked medium-rare steak and how "you people [me, since I claim Wisconsin as home] know what you're doing." In the end he described it this way: "There was a relish tray, iceberg lettuce, New Glarus on tap, and a slab of meat on a plate." I can't think of a better way to describe Wisconsin.

All in all, it was a good trip back to Iowa. It was low-key. There was no travel drama. There weren't any big reunions. I spent several days in Iowa City so I could feel a little more at home and eat at the spectacular Red Avocado.

But at the end of it, I was happy to come home.