The Clingers: January 2025

2024 was a big year for the Clingers! We traveled, we moved, we learned to walk and talk (well, one of us did.) Here are the best things that happened to us this year, in no particular order:

Best Library Storytime - TIE! Lucha Libre Storytime and Cubby Bear Storytime, Des Moines Public Library

Did Abby enjoy meeting local celebrities and hearing stories and songs about baseball and lucha libre wrestling? Yes! Did Frankie enjoy it? No! She was terrified!

No toddlers were permanently traumatized in the taking of these photos.

Best Breakfast (Cambridge Edition) - Brookline Lunch

This Palestinian brunch spot in Central Square is right around the corner from the library Abby worked at for a few years, but we never ate there until this spring! We were intimidated by the long line that is always out the door, but it was definitely worth the wait. The Za’Atar Egg Bowl was incredible, and we’re still dreaming about the Baklava Pancakes with pistachios and rosewater syrup.

Best Breakfast (Indianola Edition) - Crouse Cafe

A quintessential Indianola Saturday morning includes a trip to the farmer’s market, a quick stop at Pageturners Bookstore, and a hearty breakfast at Crouse Cafe. We know it’s not traditional to have dessert after breakfast, but the pie is really good.

Most Naps in Historically Significant Locations - Frankie in Philadelphia

Braden had the great opportunity of presenting a paper at MLA this January, which meant that Abby and Frankie had the opportunity of seeing all the sights in Philadelphia. Something about being bundled up in her stroller in the Philadelphia winter really put Frankie right out. She slept through our visits to the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and the Philadelphia Free Library. She was awake for the Science Center and the Museum of Art, so it wasn’t a total bust!

Asleep

Temporarily awake

Awake past her bedtime

Highest Lunch - The Pru

“Hey look, it's the Pru!” From Deer Island to Hull, from Davis Square to Chestnut Hill Reservoir, or driving into the city on the 2, we were always on the lookout for the iconic Prudential Tower. For Christmas our dear sister, Maren, gave us entry tickets to the observation deck. The views of Boston were fantastic and the fixed-price lunch was good. Abby particularly enjoyed her mocktail! It was the perfect way to say goodbye to the city we’ve called home for the last six years.

Most Defended Dissertation - Mediations of Popular Belief in the Southern Cone: Museums, Prose, New Media, and Film on the Traditional Guarani Frontier by Braden Clinger

Braden’s dissertation has a ridiculously long title - imagine how long the dissertation itself is! The important thing is that he finished it. He’s planning on making an honest to goodness academic monograph out of it someday, but for now he is happy to let it take a nice little rest on his hard drive.

Dr. Clinger!!!

Most Balloons - Pranksgiving

Abby was startled on the night before Thanksgiving when she was invited into a room covered in balloons, where Brynn and Tony were lying in wait to pop out and surprise her! Braden was befuddled when he opened the bathroom door on Thanksgiving morning and saw about a hundred balloons. Dallas and Brenda were similarly bewildered when they opened the pantry door and another hundred balloons greeted them! We all had so much fun with the balloons on Pranksgiving, plus we didn’t have to help blow them all up, which is a big win. (We are looking forward to more balloons in 2025, considering we are now living in the hot air balloon capital of the Midwest)

Toddler heaven

Best Hockey Game - TIE! BC vs The Friars, Utah Hockey Club vs St. Louis Blues

We are Boston University fans and we are Boston Bruins fans. Let's get that out of the way. But despite our loyalties, we had so much fun cheering on Boston College with friends back in January. Then in September we had the opportunity to cheer the Utah Hockey Club on to victory in their first game ever, right here in Des Moines! Hopefully next time we see UHC they’ll have a real name and they won’t have any embarrassing own goals.

We got tacos after this

Go Eagles!

Go Unnamed Utah Hockey Club!

Longest Drive - Boston to Indianola

In August we packed our Boston lives into a U-Haul and set off for the rolling corn fields of Iowa! Over the 3 1/2 days of driving we saw Niagara Falls, Palmyra, Cuyahoga Valley State Park, Kirtland, Indiana Dunes State Park, and the gas stations of America. Juggling a moving van, a beat up old Prius, a dog, and a 1 year old is a lot. Thanks Julie and Vince for all your help - we couldn’t have done it without you!

Niagara Falls

Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Indiana Dunes National Park

Cleo was a passanger princess

Garage sweet garage

Most Fortuitous Moment - The Legend of the Lost Shoe

On our drive through Ohio, we took a pit stop at the old LDS Kirtland townsite to do some touristing. When we were done, Braden changed Fran’s diaper and we got back on the road. A nice man in a pickup truck flagged us down to let us know that he had seen a toddler’s shoe fly off of the back of our car when we turned onto the main road. We flipped the car around to look for the shoe, but did not find it. We drove back toward the freeway and, just as we had the on-ramp in sight, the local storm sirens started going off and our phones all started buzzing with extreme storm warnings. We quickly changed course again and found a mall parking lot where we could hunker down and the moving truck would be protected from the wind. The calm, warm day quickly changed into one of the craziest storms we have ever seen! If we had been on the freeway, who knows how we would have fared. It was a real road trip miracle.

Best Movie Theater Experience - The Creature from the Black Lagoon at the Fleur

We love going to the movies (check out Braden’s Letterboxd account if you dare), and we love repertory showings, but we weren’t able to go out to the theater this year as much as we used to. Tom Cruise would be so disappointed in us. In October the Fleur Cinema and Cafe in Des Moines had a free showing of The Creature from the Black Lagoon. You can’t beat that price, so Abby got tickets for Braden’s birthday. It was a 3D showing and the old-school costumes and effects were so fun. 2 thumbs way, way up!

Longest Graduate Student Strike - BUGWU Strike

Braden was a graduate instructor at Boston University this spring when the Graduate Workers’ Union voted to go on strike. With a lot of support from Abby (then a CPLSA member) and solidarity from union siblings in BUGWU, Braden took to the picket line. The BUGWU strike ended after Braden graduated and moved away.

Cutest gal on the picket line!

Most Whimiscal Museum - Dr. Seuss Museum

When Dallas and Brenda came to visit for Braden's graduation, we decided to take a little road trip out to see the museums in Springfield, Mass. We didn't know that Dallas would be so happy to visit the Dr. Seuss museum. It gave all the Indian Motorcycles in the museum next door a run for their money!

Biggest Fair - Iowa State Fair

Imagine eating fried cheese curds. Now imagine eating a corndog. Now imagine eating an elote bowl. Now a bucket of chocolate chip cookies. Now a turkey leg. Now a slice of ranch and pickle pizza. Now a deep fried oreo. Now imagine viewing–not eating–a life-sized cow sculpted in butter. You have been taken on a culinary survey of the Iowa State Fair. We have just scratched the surface. The good news is that the Iowa State Fair is enormous, so you’ll definitely get your steps in.

"Tiny Jugs Club"

A true Iowa work of art.

Most Minor (League) Baseball - Iowa Cubs

We went to see the I-Cubs in Des Moines. There were a lot of foul balls and some of the most midwestern drunken slant-foul language you’ve ever heard (“Well heckin’ darn!”). We will be going back next season for more baseball action and stadium food.

Fanciest Funeral Potatoes - Communal, Provo Utah

And they were flippin' delicious

Most Librarians in One Location - ALA Conference in San Diego

Abby got the amazing opportunity to attend the American Library Association conference in San Diego in July (Shout out to the CPL Professional Development Fund!) The Southern California weather was perfect for a light cardigan. There were talks by celebrity authors like Trevor Noah, Max Greenfield, Taraji P. Henson, and Anika Noni Rose; there were panels on topics like the freedom to read, AI, and developing diverse collections; and there were lots of free books to lug back to the hotel at the end of the day! It was basically heaven for a library nerd, but after being on the other side of the country for almost a week, it was good to be reunited with Braden and Frankie.

Most Music in One Day - Surprise Eurovision Party on the Day of Somerville Porchfest

Every year we tune in for the Eurovision Song Contest. Alas, this year Eurovision fell on the same Saturday as Somerville’s annual Porchfest. What were two wild and crazy music enthusiasts to do? We invited a couple of friends to enjoy a few of the porch gigs in our neighborhood in the early afternoon, then we all went back to our apartment to watch the show. A few more friends happened to be in the neighborhood for Porchfest, and we invited them up for the party as well. Our tiny apartment was not built to have 7 people in it, but we had a great time! Fran loved the UK’s entry. Abby did NOT like Ireland’s witchy vibes. Ukraine’s entry was moving. And Finland made us laugh more than we have ever laughed. (Let’s just say it started with a giant denim egg and went down/uphill from there.) By the end of the evening we felt blessed to have good friends but also felt the need to sit in silence for a few hours.

Future Eurovision Star?

Best New Job (Braden) - Simpson College

In August Braden started his new position at Simpson College as a 3-year term Assistant Professor. He has great students, fun colleagues, a large and aesthetically pleasing office, and an easy bike ride into the office. He complains about not having as much time to research and write as he would like, but this is an amazing opportunity to teach a variety of Spanish classes.

Best New Job (Abby) - In January Abby started her new position as the Branch Manager of the O’Connell Branch in Cambridge (the cutest library ever!) She loved the staff and patrons there. Unfortunately, she had to put in her notice after only 6 short months to move to Iowa. She is now working as a substitute in the Des Moines Public Library system, as well as getting lots of well-deserved quality time with Frankie.

The O'Connell Branch Library

Most Cinematic Locale - Bridges of Madison County

Dallas and Brenda came to visit us in Iowa in October, and we had a wonderful time! We did lots of fun things and ate lots of delicious food, but our favorite thing we did was our day trip to Winterset to see the Bridges of Madison County. The fall colors were in full bloom, making the drive between the bridges very picturesque, and we also enjoyed strolling around a lovely park and the cute town square. The bridges themselves were very stately, and Frankie had a blast stomping around on the wooden floorboards of each bridge. Someday we’ll watch the movie and say “Hey, I’ve been there!”

Best Birthday Party - Maren and Jacob’s Wedding

Maren and Jacob wanted to get married on the best day of the year, so they chose Abby’s birthday! Everyone was dressed to the nines, the food was awesome, there was cake and dancing, and we got to see family members we hadn’t seen in quite a while. We even sang Happy Birthday to Abby and her cousin Tad (that’s right, it was a wedding/birthday/birthday party!)