A road trip with my wife to Decorah, Iowa filled this past weekend and gave us a chance to get away for a visit with my son and also gave us an opportunity to see the cooperative local farm effort that he's been involved with. He and a group of friends have taken it upon themselves to start a produce operation to provide locally grown produce to the markets in the area, with the hope that the idea will expand and also provide fresh vegetables to local eateries as well.
A new friend, Maggie, allows this group to use some of her farmland to establish growing plots and we spent some short time (rain issues) to develop and plant one of these plots. In the background another friend was setting a trellis for growing hops, also for sale to local "home brew" establishments. The weather was unusually cool, but provided comfort for us more aged members while we raked and hoedthe bedding plot. The background sounds of the wind flowing through the forest and bird calls added to the "back to the land" experience and was punctuated by many moments of laughter and teasing.
The chance to meet this wonderful woman, Maggie, added to the down home feeling of the weekend. She opened up her house and her heart to both my wife and myself, and through many hours of talking and tale telling we became good friends. An extraordinary woman with a background that didn't even elude to her becoming entangled in the "education of dirt", Maggie has a zest for living and discovering the puzzles of life. Her marketing and development skills from the "big" world of business, which has taken her hither and yon, provides the direction, but "hands off" approach, so that the youthful members of the co-op can develop the skills needed to plan and market their vision.
While the weather was typical of Iowa's unsettled spring seasons, including an un-welcomed hard frost (it is May, right?), we three old duffers piled into the car on Saturday and toured the towns of Lanesboro and Spring Grove, passing wonderful Northeast Iowa scenery and Amish farmsteads on the way. We browsed outstanding galleries, including the Cornucopia Art Center ( www.lanesboroarts.org ) that was filled with all the styles, concepts and medias of art one could imagine. The gallery director was both enlightening and humorous and we all enjoyed spending time in such an exquisite venue.
Unfortunately Sunday came to soon, but I was afforded one opportunity to get out into some of the natural areas that surround Decorah for a short photo shoot early in the morning. The air was crisp and still and while driving the winding bends and twists of the forest roads I couldn't help feeling a real sense of completeness, not only about the weekend, but with myself. With the soothing strains of Enya playing in the background of the car the myriad of colors and darting sunlight was almost intoxicating until I slammed on the breaks to find myself facing the above scene of a calm rolling trout stream flowing on anendless journey to a sea. The timelessness of the scene, of seasons turning off and on in front of a liquid Earth Spirit that seems to be never ending was reason enough to gather my equipment and my artistic spirit for a "one and only" image from the trip, and sometimes that's just enough.
Later in the afternoon, as we bid my son and his lovely Amanda farewell and bid adiau to Maggie, my wife was whispering in my ear "you have to get back here to work" and I nodded in complete agreement and felt fortunate to leave with the image that was stored deep in my cameras memory and the fresh memories of new friends and family tucked away deep in my soul. I have been made more acutely aware that a place is made so much more meaningful by the people that you find in it, and I have been made all the better for the discovery.
Other sites of my work:
A Piece Of Work Gallery, Spirit Lake, Iowa http://www.apieceofworkinc.com/alcove_3.php
Art Of The Vine Gallery http://www.artofthevinegallery.com/
Artisans Road Trip http://www.artisansroadtrip.com/index.htm
BetterPhoto.com http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=251674&mp=V1
CR Gallery, Milford, Iowa
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