Genius Loci: Spirit of Place - Iowa

My grandfather farmed this exact piece of land in the 1930's and 40's - Colo, Iowa.
My father grew up here as a boy.
Photo by Alecia Stevens, Nov 2009

A fitting place to open this blog, I grew up here, or just north of here, and the changing colors of the Iowa ground is deeply rooted in me. Or, perhaps, I am deeply rooted in it. It is my terroir. I might pretend to be a fancy city girl now, but my base is the prairie, wide skies and changing earth. I see greens that others can't see. Like the Eskimo has 100 names for snow, I see 100 shades of green.

I was there last weekend and this dry autumn landscape just grabbed me - as if my life were a set of flip cards, whirring through my fingers, and the first ten years of it hold images of this place with the rotation of planting and harvesting, planting and harvesting, a rhythm that whispers to me when I return. It no longer shouts, but is always the background din.