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A few weeks ago some friends we'd not seen in a long while stopped by as they drove through Iowa. They were heading home to Omaha.

John grew up in Illinois, Lori is from Kansas. They had met back when we all lived in Ohio.

I mention all this geography because we got into a conversation about what exactly is meant by the Midwest. (My wife also was involved in the discussion, but as she's from Louisiana, we're just going to leave her out of this polemic.)

Over dinner I'd pointed out that, in the view of many I've met here in Eastern Iowa, Ohio is not considered part of the Midwest.

In fact, one person recently commented that she'd run across lots of people while on a recent vacation who speak like me. By which she meant the East.

Having been born and reared in Ohio, I've been surprised by the notion that the state is anything but Midwestern. But maybe your perspective changes once you cross the Mississippi.

My random and highly unscientific samplings during the past eight months have yielded no precise boundary for “the Midwest.” It all depends, it seems, on where you started out.

While Ohio and definitely Pennsylvania are branded as Eastern states by most parties hereabouts, Kentucky is labeled as the South. (I can't say everyone I've spoken with about this could locate Kentucky on a map with any certainty. But, then, this is about personal outlook, right?)

Michigan was out, too, probably because of its known association with Detroit. (Trust me, much of Michigan, too, would like Detroit to just go away.)

Most count Indiana as a member of the Midwest Club, and everyone includes Illinois (though I get the impression that, if they had their druthers, they'd subtract Chicago, due to its size).

Nebraska also is accepted - but for some, only eastern Nebraska.

Moving westward gets tricky. Many hesitated when questioned about the Dakotas - the Plains rather than the Midwest?

But all agreed: Iowa is the Midwest - indeed, the epicenter of the Midwest.

Our recent guests just shook their heads. They, too, have run into this geographic quagmire - but they also believe Ohio is in the Midwest.

Well, they said, upon reflection, maybe just parts of it.

Their 10-year-old daughter, for the record, emphatically denied even Iowa was in the Midwest. Instead, her teacher had told her, it was somewhere called Tornado Alley.

So I guess the question then becomes, what makes a place Midwestern? Because clearly where someplace lands on a map isn't going to resolve it.

In 1967 classical pianist Glenn Gould put together a radio show in his native Canada titled, “The Idea of North.” His concept was that “North” had to do with attitude as well as cold and isolation.

Following that example, surely for “Midwest” we'd have to embrace lack of clutter. Super-busy, highly populated places don't fit the description - hence, the grudging inclusion of Chicago.

And sky. The Midwest is about big, blue sky.

In most places in the Midwest, you needn't drive - or even walk - far to see sky unimpeded by buildings, city lights or mountains.

To my view, Hiawatha, this week's Business 380 theme, could be a poster child for the Midwest. To start, there are those puppy-friendly “Hi!” signs.

And just take a drive through that community. At one end are curbless streets lining rows of backs of houses.

A hand-lettered sign on one lawn, spotted during a recent visit, offers a piano for sale. St. Wenceslaus Church touts an upcoming goulash supper and encourages taking the Cub Scout pledge.

As with North Liberty, there is no downtown. And, as with North Liberty, this probably is for the same, determined reasons.

But beyond the homes, Hiawatha, being Midwestern-sensible, is anchored by commerce. Rows of squat business parks provide shingles for insurance agents, financial investment counselors, small manufacturers, dentists and podiatrists.

Nail stylists and restaurants live cheek-to-cheek with giant car dealerships. More construction under way promises … well, more.

It's all bisected with a major highway.

And right smack amid the heart of it all? A cornfield.

What could be more whimsically Midwestern than that? Where else could you be?

About midway during their visit, smack in the midst our lengthy discourse on the Midwest, my friend John broke into song.

Out in our front yard, in the bright afternoon sunlight, he sang the entire chorus to “Iowa Stubborn,” from “The Music Man.”

Oh, there's nothing halfway

About the Iowa way to treat you,

When we treat you

Which we may not do at all ….

(Meredith Willson, 1957, © Music Theatre International)

Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is what we call the Midwest.

Where else could you be?