Monday, December 20, 2010

Iowa I Opener: Fairfield and Obama

Fairfield Town Square gazebo
In 2009, President Obama spoke at Georgetown University, a Catholic college, but the letters IHS, a commonly used monogram for Jesus Christ, were covered during his speech--so the sacred initials and Obama's face wouldn't appear in the same photograph.

Two summers prior, candidate Obama spoke at Fairfield, Iowa's town square. Fairfield is well, uh...different. It's the home of Maharishi University of Management, which was founded by the late Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the creator of the Transcendental Mediation movement and briefly, guru for the Beatles. The Fab Four later disavowed him. They skewered him in "Sexy Sadie."

Mahesh Yogi, 1918?-2008
The Maharishi's philosophy is difficult to classify, but I'm going to call it a morphing of Hinduism and Buddhism with some crackpot science and a dash of hucksterism thrown in. Oh, I am not a follower.

Enlightenment came to the rolling hills of southeastern Iowa in 1974 when the university purchased the campus of bankrupt Parsons College.

TMers have an obsession with things facing east-it puts them in alignment with the earth's rotation. For instance, in the 1990s, most of the former Parsons buildings, including some listed on the National Register of Historic Places, were demolished  because they weren't easterly facing.

 I can see why Parsons closed its doors.
India Cafe, Fairfield, Iowa

When Obama came to Fairfield he spoke at the gazebo in the square, and was quite accommodating the the many Mararishi followers in attendance. The image-conscious future president spoke at sunset--facing east--which meant the sun ruined photographers' opportunities for a good picture.

But at least he was in alignment with the earth's axis.

At Georgetown, he didn't want to be aligned with IHS.

Politico has a lot more on Obama's union with Earth.

As for myself, I made it a point to make it to Fairfield at dusk--just like Obama.

Fairfield has a number of India-themed businesses, including the restaurant on the left, which is across the street from the town square.

Next: Maharishi University of Management.

Earlier posts:

Pella
Wyatt Earp
Postville and Agriprocessors
Elk Horn and its Danish windmill
Danish Immigrant Museum
Omaha's Mormon Trail Center
Loess Hills
Jesse James' first train robbery
A Madison County bridge and some Cold Turkey
John Wayne's birthplace
Grinnell's Louis Sullivan Jewel Box
Amana Refrigeration
Amana cemeteries
Amana Millrace and the woolen mill
Amana Colonies overview
Anamosa State Penitentiary Cemetery
More about Stone City and Grant Wood
Stone City and Grant Wood
Where North Avenue ends
Field of Dreams
Guttenberg and its pool
A final look at Effigy Mounds National Monument
More Effigy Mounds
Effigy Mounds National Monument
Freedom Rock and Veterans Day
Pikes Peak
Buffalo Bill

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