State park trail entry point.

Journey Home

Tales from the pilgrimage.

Sustainability

  • Germinating Leeks

    I felt very American on the way to the farm. A flock of wild turkeys took flight from the field on the east side of our lane, and a bald eagle was picking at a deer carcass along 120th Street. These emblematic birds inspire me every time I see them. It was a great start… Read more

  • Climate Change, Roundabouts and Retail Stores

    During a tour of my usual spots to observe flooding it doesn’t look as bad as it has. In 2008, the flood waters came to within 100 yards of our home before receding. We are nowhere near that now. Yesterday afternoon Governor Kim Reynolds issued a press release saying the president had approved a major… Read more

  • Starting Spring

    It felt good to be outdoors on Friday. The sky was clear and temperatures warmed enough to shed my coat. Green-up has begun. We filed our income taxes with the Iowa Department of Revenue and the Internal Revenue Service. Earlier in the week I paid the second half of our annual county property taxes. This… Read more

  • Flooding in Late Winter

    The amount of snow and ice melt in the Midwest is monumental. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds issued disaster proclamations for 41 counties because of flooding (Click on the map to see details). News photographs show Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, Nebraska, home of the U.S. Strategic Command, is one third underwater with at least… Read more

  • 40 Acres Sans Mule

    There is nothing magical about 40 acres in the 21st Century. Today’s American farmers can make a living on much less, largely because of crop diversification, technology, and emerging markets for locally grown food. For a beginning specialty-crop farmer, 40 acres might be too much to handle. “40 acres and a mule” entered the vernacular… Read more

  • Flooding at Mill Creek

    Mill Creek swelled its banks swamping nearby farm fields. It looks like the nearby city sewer system was spared inundation… for now. Snow melt is everywhere in the county. Inches of packed snow yielded to ambient temperatures in the 50s and continuous rain. After a frigid, snowy winter the ice and snow pack is melting… Read more

  • Tuesday Snow Melt

    Depressions in the snow pack made a Swiss cheese-looking melt outside the French door where we feed wildlife. Deer are nocturnal grazers, eating what birds, squirrels and mice don’t, leaving their hoof prints behind in the snow. We hope this melt is the end of winter. Despite problems with downstream flooding, we are glad to… Read more

  • A Role for Tall Grass Prairie

    Reading a book about tall grass prairie and savannas has me wondering why people bother preserving them. Prairie used to cover more than 85 percent of Iowa land, according to the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge. Today less than one tenth of a percent of original tall grass prairie remains in the state. In that… Read more

  • Potluck Luncheon

    It runs counter to the Western Christian tradition but employees at the home, farm and auto supply store held a potluck luncheon on Ash Wednesday. While others were submitting to dust from a priest’s thumb, my co-workers were feasting on loose meat sandwiches, deviled eggs and Amish Wedding fare in the form of pickled green… Read more

  • Used Book Sale and Other Necessities

    Yesterday was the annual used book sale at our library. In addition to clearing the stacks of unpopular or outdated books, the community donates books, media and labor to manage the sale. Each item is reasonably priced and this year’s proceeds were about $800. That’s a lot of $0.50 and $1.00 books. I spent ten… Read more