The beauties of rural Iowa
In Davenport we owned a basement apartment; our playground was an alley out back, and we really didn’t have a yard. But my mother had three sisters that had farms in Jackson County, in rural Iowa. As kids we’d spend two or three weeks on the various farms, and it was just so incredible to get away. But there was just a sense of freedom and exploration. That reminded me of what someone said about water; I remember we found a spring out on one of the farms one day. And you come down to this ice cold spring water down on the ground, drinking that. And then find a blackberry patch and just getting sick on blackberries. But it was just so, you know. When we raised our kids we lived in the Chicago area. You know, there was just, there was no sense of farm, and I always regretted the fact that my kids didn’t grow up with those experiences that I had. And it wasn’t a lot of the year, but enough of the year where I got a touch of rural Iowa. And I think we’re all blessed to be in this place, and hopefully those with kids can take advantage of spending a little time in rural Iowa.