I know many off us are in a huge hurry to get out of this state. After all, there is almost nothing to do here but go cow-tipping and consume mass amounts of alcoholic beverages. But is it really all that bad?

I have lived in this state for nearly 19 years. I know every complaint in the book and chances are I have used them on more than one occasion. Yet, there are just come things you have to love about this state. I mean, where else on Earth can you find a place where in 92 of the 99 counties hogs outnumber humans?

Or what about those endless fields of corn, rolling delightfully across the horizon. Yep, that is what I thought, Iowa is quite unique. But probably the best thing about this state is the beautiful and varying weather bestowed upon it by mother nature.

Well, maybe beautiful is not always the right word. Heaven knows it has been for the last few days with our temperatures being around 80 degrees Fahrenheit. However, to describe our weather, I do not think beautiful is an all-encompassing description. Not to personify what the sky does, but I would really have to go with schizophrenic and neurotic as my descriptors.

Our weather is so darn unpredictable. Forget forecasting in Iowa, it will not do you any good. Just a couple of weeks ago it was hovering around the freezing point.

Now we are all running around outside in swimsuits trying to get a tan. In fact, even I, queen of pale and pasty, managed to get a bit golden over the last few days. It has just been crazy.

Oh, and do not forget those great storms that have been coming through at night. How exciting high voltages can be. Honestly, who needs Laser Metallica at the Science Center of Iowa. Just go outside at night, throw in Metallica’s “And Justice for All” CD, sit back and enjoy the electric show of nature.

Believe it or not, people do go outside to watch storms out of either curiosity or for just pure entertainment. I am guilty of it, much to my parents dismay. If I thought a career in tornado chasing was as exciting as the movie “Twister” made it out to be, I would be studying a completely different field.

I wandered campus around midnight the other day when one of our recent storms was hovering above. I saw people out enjoying the thrilling weather. There were even people taking pictures of the exotic sky lightning. Move over cow-tipping, Iowa’s new favorite past time is way above you, literally. Actually, I was just waiting for those extreme winds to come through and blow down the Veishea tents on Central Campus. They just looked like they could really fly.

But now that we have had our few days of beauty for the month of April, I am wondering when Iowa’s evil weather is going to rear its ugly head. After those record temperatures, we have now dropped back down to around 50 degrees. I do not even doubt that we could drop down below freezing again and get the dirty, four letter word that is only supposed to fall during the winter.

It can snow in April in Iowa. I think in Iowa it could even snow in August. That is why I call the weather here neurotic and schizophrenic; it just does not know what it will do the next day. There have even been blizzards in April in the last couple of decades, dropping up to eight inches of snow that blanket in white what ought to be green.

I love the weather here though. I love the split personality, absolute wackiness it provides in my everyday life. I enjoy when the leaves turn colors in the fall and when the flowers blossom in the spring. Step outside and enjoy the four seasons of Iowa while you still live here, even if they all come in one week’s time. It sure beats cow-tipping, I think. I have never actually been cow-tipping but I hear the animals can get up quite fast sometimes.

In any case, Iowa’s weather variety certainly is the state’s best quality, beating out by a large margin the hogs who will one day take over this state.

Ayrel Clark is a freshman in pre-journalism and mass communication from Johnston.