About a month ago, I left the D.C. area for a weekend and visited a small town in southwestern Iowa. I had ended up in that small town almost by accident in late 2019 and wrote a big magazine piece about what I found — tiny Imogene, Iowa, beating the odds and hanging on thanks to great community institutions, including a church and an Irish pub.

Imogene hosts a town festival, Shamrock Days, every July. So this year, I made sure to visit during Shamrock Days. I spoke to the locals about all sorts of things, including their pandemic experience. Yesterday, the Washington Examiner published that piece, and I tweeted it out.