Of Cataracts and License Plates

When we took our nearly three weeks trip through the west several years ago, the National Parks of Utah were high on my 'must see' list. After Bryce, Escalante and Capitol Reef, you realize you can't see them all. This picture was taken overlooking the Dirty Devil River just before the confluence with the Colorado River which then flows southward through Canyonlands National Park near the area known as Cataract Canyon.

Most people now, when they hear cataract, immediately think of the condition causing cloudy vision - especially if they are of a 'certain age'. There is another definition for cataract from the Greek katarassein - to dash down- which evolved into the Latin cataract - another word for waterfall or downpour. I have to admit that while we stopped at the above pictured Cataract Falls when we passed through Canyonlands National Park, I, too, think of cloudy vision when I hear the word cataract.

Last year my vision worsened to the point where I could no longer read license plate numbers while driving down the highway; even some roadside signs were hard to make out. I was relieved when my optometrist said he thought I should have cataract surgery. And even more relieved when I began seeing clearly again after my surgery.
Being able to read license plates may not seem like a big deal to most people, but I've always been a license plate reader -originally just to see where a vehicle was from - later to try and decipher those cleverly concocted vanity plates. (EL8D; BAKE4U; 2BENVD; 4U2NV; CARPEDM)
Iowa license plates have changed a lot over the years. When I was first old enough to recognize them, they had the number 2 (For Adams County) on the left followed by the license plate number. With 99 counties in Iowa, I did not know all of them, but I certainly recognized our surrounding counties - 87 - Taylor; 88 -Union; 15 - Cass; 69 - Montgomery; 73 - Page; as well as some of the ones with larger populations, like 77 - Polk; 78 -Pottawattamie; 52 - Johnson  and 82 - Scott.
In 1979, Iowa went to a three character alpha designation followed by the numeric plate number. The county number was written out at the bottom but plates still followed in an alphabetical order, thus Adams County was ABC. These plates were green with white letters and numbers. They were good for six years with a sticker being applied for each year after '79. Plates were changed to blue with white in 1985 and the letters began where they had left off six years previously with the K series. I remember Mom's new license plate that year began with LCA which we said was for her grandchildren, Lorrie, Christine and Andrew.
I think the first REAP (Resource Enhancement and Protection) or DNR plates became available in 1991. I bought mine when I got my '85 Dodge Aires wagon in '92. It has been on both cars since then - the '93 Ford Escort wagon and the current 2003 Saturn Ion.



Something else I remember from my youth was how people would vie for the first license plate each year. Plates went on sale December 1. Most years there was a line of people wanting a low license plate number. I remember Jack Ford and Byron Steadman as two who always tried to get number 1. It may have been an ego thing, or it may have been a way of showing prosperity - a delinquent charge was added if the plates weren't purchased by December 31 - which resulted in a flurry of activity right after the holidays. If you had a very high license plate number, it meant you were a person a low means who couldn't afford to buy the new plates until you absolutely had to. The Free Press even published the plate numbers and names of the first twenty-five on the front page each year.
In 1934, during the Depression, there was no rush for the number 1 plate. Our future landlord, Hayden Hutchison got #2 for his Dodge sedan. His father, O.T. Hutchison received # 3 for his Willys-Knight.

This plate I had on the back of my cars all those years got so faded that last fall before I put the new sticker on, I switched the plates and put the better one on the rear - all the better to be seen by anyone with cataracts.