January 25, 2012: Texas Ranch Road 1, Lyndon B. Johnson State Park & Historic Site, Stonewall, Texas.
The last time I was in Texas, more than one hotel had waffle irons that would give you a waffle in the shape of Texas. If you’ve been down there, you know Texans love the shape of Texas, and the New York Times is on it:
“The shape’s not perfect,” says Bud Kennedy, a longtime columnist for The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “It has jagged edges and sharp points and smooth lines. But it’s not some boring box shape. It’s a great brand, and not just on cattle. I went to Iowa four years ago for one of the presidential debates. There’s a lot of homespun sense of place in Iowa, but there was no place where people served me waffles the shape of Iowa.”
If you think about it, Iowa would be a good shape for waffles. Two good lines on the top and bottom with character on the edges. (It wouldn’t be a bad shape for highway signs, either.)
By the time the national media comes back to Iowa to start covering the 2020 caucuses — sometime between five weeks from tomorrow and 20 months from now — let’s rectify this shortcoming. Iowa-shaped waffles for everyone!