Tired of all the politics and hubbub of Des Monies life? Need to be reminded that some of Iowa’s water is less polluted than others? If so, then you should head to NE Iowa in search of beautiful fall hiking down in the valleys where the cold clear streams run clean and the trout are just waiting to jump out of the water for you.
Even if you are no fisher, the hiking along is worth it. I caught the brood rainbow trout of a lifetime at Bear Creek in the Iowa Driftless. With stops at Sny McGill, Buck Creek, and Mink Creek, it was a weekend to remember.
Fall is here and so is the camp fire. When a little cold bit hits the air in the morning, the leaves start to change, and the warm sun feels good on your face … you know it’s time to get that hiking stick and head into the woods. A little hot fire, a pan, some bread and honey, this is the simple life.
The Midwest at it’s best.
Well, you know, at least the truth has finally come out. Remember that Rob Sand, who is the “Governor of All?” According to the talking heads and their daydreaming wishes, the “moderate” Rob Sand would be able to lure some Trump supporters, and at the very least, moderates and independents over the line.
So, Iowa has made its winding way to the front page of every major news media. Who would have thought the quiet corn fields could have catapulted us to fame that quickly? There are a few things that will stir the hornet’s nest, like the combination of politics, education, and guns. Yikes.
It’s hard to know what to think these days. On one hand you have farmers on the news, along with John Deere crying foul on the tariffs. Not to mention the recent John Deere layoffs, just another addition to their never ending quest to trim the proverbial fat. But, then you take a little drive to one of the many expanding Des Moines suburbs, pick a direction; Ankeny, Waukee, West Des Moines, Altoona. What do you see?
Never ending housing develops seemly springing up out of fields like its the new corn.
It is an interesting time to be alive in Iowa, a place known for its slow pace of life and laid back culture. It’s hard to understate what a hidden gem of the upper Midwest the once beautiful prairie state is, sandwiched between the mighty Mississippi and that lesser known Missouri River, Iowa has plenty of its own drama and troubles.
In the high intensity political country we live in, Iowa has not escaped that bitter culture war that seems to be engulfing us with violent outbursts. As a reader and admirer of history, American history in particular, and as someone who is very familiar with the mostly violent past of this great country; it comes no surprise to me that the even here at the heart of the bread belt hatred and rivalry has overtaken common human decency at last.
This is, of course, overstating the facts, but indeed it is, at least for the hopeful few, a possible harbinger of a small respite that is in order for the once sea of prairie that is not corn that covers the landscape of Iowa. Indeed, the news has been bleak for John Deere (especially their employees) over the last few years, with things continuing to heat up.
TDLR:
As Deere suffers and the agriculture economy as a whole, across Iowa, contracts, it is possible the land may get a small, brief, respite from the continual environmental flogging it recieves. How so? The weak farm economy might spur an increase in CRP, row crop acres dropping generally, less chemicals and fertilizers being dumped (opps, I mean sprayed).