Centered in Iowa

Accidental Sagacity For Today

Lucy and I had the opportunity to take a sublime stroll down a country road this morning while the gig tugs were repaired by a local harness man near Luther. This time of year everything is so lovely in the early morning light. We walked past a government project of prairie grass reserve that was just breath taking. The plumes were mauve, stems purple and bases golden green; set against a blue sky this was Nature Mama at her finest. The stems were almost above my head and I wondered how this scene would have moved me if I had the opportunity to see it before corn and soybeans were its neighbor.

Still, no offence to those crops, for along the road they were bordered and laced with hay ground, which I always consider to enhance their beauty. The majestic corn was beginning to golden, but the beans on this road were still vibrant verdant. A lazy breeze tickled the silver undersides of the beans and they seemed to spread their good humor to us. I remembered while living in London, Iowa would be the butt of many jokes, but this morning, the beans and I laughed together.

We turned down a steep hill, which had its own sign proclaiming "HILL", which always tickles me, too. Oh, you mean that incredibly steep drop and vertical undulation of the land. Hill. Good to know. This particular Hill was gorgeous. Sumac starting its vermilion phase [see Todd, I can use it too], stoic oaks holding fast to their Brewster green, Black-eyed Susans tumbling down the bank, Cowslip elegantly fanning in the breeze, it struck me how gently wild is my home state. At the bottom of the Hill, was a brook and a startled Blue Heron flew up right in front of us. Lucy the Brave hid behind me until she was sure the giant dinosaur Beagle eating bird was gone, gone, gone.

On the walk home, I thought about the kernels and seeds that we were passing and how they would end up all over the world and the products that they would become would impact everyone on this earth. Iowa gets a bad wrap a lot of the time, but this morning, it was the center of the universe for me. The only thing I may have enjoyed more would have been to add a fancy pair and a roof seat break.

From the Carriage Driving Archives

Harold Ault sent me this photo of Loula Long Combs and I just had to share it, along with a brief Bio of the grand dame of horse shows that speaks to why I think she is so brilliant.

Loula Long Combs' first sentence was, "Please buy me a pony," according to her father, R. A. Long. Breeding and training horses was Loula's life-long passion. She entered her first horse show in 1896 at a fair in Kansas City's Fairmount Park. For almost 65 years, her horses won blue ribbons in shows throughout this country, Canada and England. She won the most ribbons at Kansas City's American Royal where she made a yearly appearance well into her 80s. To audiences' delight, Loula always wore a spectacular hat as she drove her carriage around the show ring.