There are a lot of really nice places to live in this world. Sometimes Iowa is not the most pleasant place, but I wouldn’t trade it for anywhere right now, in the middle of October.
I’m guessing that there are not many places in the world where you would find an event like this. People gather, talk, eat a little pie, then drive a few miles of gravel road to a dirt road, then get out to wander around in a prairie.
The occasion was Martha Skillman’s 80th birthday (sorry, I didn’t get a photo of the birthday girl). The southeastern Iowa section of the Iowa Prairie Network sponsered the event.
Martha has a small prairie remnant that is about 20 acres in size. For you urban people, that is about the size of the parking lot for a super Wal-Mart. Most of Iowa has been row-cropped and the original vegitation bears little resemblence to what was here when the settlers of European descent arrived.
Although the plants are dry now and at the end of the season, there were still some good flowers and butterflies to be seen.
A good time was had by all.
Then we went back and ate more pie and listened to the Brown Otter Singers.
Perfect end to a perfect event.
I hope that people like Martha Skillman continue to preserve these praise lands. It’s a gift to the future