Hope I don't see the same thing when I go to Clainda in a couple of weeks for my first book signing of 2026. I can remember driving across Southern Iowa in the 1950s and 1960s to see my grandparents in Clarinda. There was a farmstead about every mile and no large confinement buildings. The farms were about 300 to 500 acres at best.
My maternal grandfather, a dentist on the Clarinda square from 1914 to 1961, owned three farms totaling nearly 1,000 acres. I still recall going with him to fish in one of the farm ponds southwest of Clarinda. That farm was passed on to my maternal grandmother, my mother, and me and my brother and sister. We sold it after my dad passed away. With the proceeds, I was able to retire and move to Des Moines. I don't recall my grandfather talking about nitrates or water quality problems.
By the way, my maternal grandfather went to dental school with Casey Stengel. Casey decided to pursue baseball instead of a dental career and the rest is history!
Great story about Casey! Are you doing the Clarinda library? I plan to contact them about lining something up the day of the next A's banquet.
You're right, there weren't major ag water quality issues when we grew up that I recall. Other than occasional cow turds in pasture creeks! All the tiling has added to the problem.
Yes, I'm doing a program at the Clarinda library on April 20th. I replied to a post I saw from the Clarinda library on Facebook, saying my mom loved going to the original Carnegie Library when she was a girl. She might have even worked there when she was a girl too. The present librarian noticed I had written a baseball book and invited me down to Clarinda, knowing that I was born there, my parents were raised there, and my grandparents were leading citizens of Clarinda at one time.
It does. The house in your photo may have been one of those model homes that people purchased from Sears & Roebuck. It was crated up and sent by rail to rural locations. I can only wonder at the active and productive days that the house and property experienced. Now it speaks of abandonment and broken dreams.
I've also been thinking about all the drainage tile in our state (millions of milesband more being added all the time) and how it magnifies our nitrate issues. Maybe high fertilzer costs will cut back on corn inputs? We'll see...🧐
Thanks Tim. Apologies in advance for my play on words, but your writing and poetry made me think we need to liberate our soils from excessive ag chemicals and the harmful ones completely.. Or we need to liberate our farmers and farming communities from the Ag monopolies.
Thank YOU Ralph! I wanted to include the odor of vomit inducing hogshit being knifed into the soil. Totally agree with your perspective on liberation. I was approaching it from the tragic soil liberation of sensible conservation practices. Also how generations tied to the land are liberated (by big Ag, govt policy, etc) to chase promising lifestyles in other places that have their own perils. Thanks again!
Hope I don't see the same thing when I go to Clainda in a couple of weeks for my first book signing of 2026. I can remember driving across Southern Iowa in the 1950s and 1960s to see my grandparents in Clarinda. There was a farmstead about every mile and no large confinement buildings. The farms were about 300 to 500 acres at best.
My maternal grandfather, a dentist on the Clarinda square from 1914 to 1961, owned three farms totaling nearly 1,000 acres. I still recall going with him to fish in one of the farm ponds southwest of Clarinda. That farm was passed on to my maternal grandmother, my mother, and me and my brother and sister. We sold it after my dad passed away. With the proceeds, I was able to retire and move to Des Moines. I don't recall my grandfather talking about nitrates or water quality problems.
By the way, my maternal grandfather went to dental school with Casey Stengel. Casey decided to pursue baseball instead of a dental career and the rest is history!
Great story about Casey! Are you doing the Clarinda library? I plan to contact them about lining something up the day of the next A's banquet.
You're right, there weren't major ag water quality issues when we grew up that I recall. Other than occasional cow turds in pasture creeks! All the tiling has added to the problem.
Yes, I'm doing a program at the Clarinda library on April 20th. I replied to a post I saw from the Clarinda library on Facebook, saying my mom loved going to the original Carnegie Library when she was a girl. She might have even worked there when she was a girl too. The present librarian noticed I had written a baseball book and invited me down to Clarinda, knowing that I was born there, my parents were raised there, and my grandparents were leading citizens of Clarinda at one time.
It does. The house in your photo may have been one of those model homes that people purchased from Sears & Roebuck. It was crated up and sent by rail to rural locations. I can only wonder at the active and productive days that the house and property experienced. Now it speaks of abandonment and broken dreams.
Pretty spooky place at dusk when I took a wrong turn. Would love to hear its stories.
Thanks for this. The photo: it has stories too. The rise and fall of Iowa.
Thank you Nadine. I took pictures of vacant ghostly main streets too. But they almost seem pornographic to share, if that makes sense...
Almost an autopsy report. We’ve been an excavation site for decades and like stripped out coal mines, and reclamation is not going to be easy.
I've also been thinking about all the drainage tile in our state (millions of milesband more being added all the time) and how it magnifies our nitrate issues. Maybe high fertilzer costs will cut back on corn inputs? We'll see...🧐
Until we’re able to stop the two crop business model and diversify with other species, it’s difficult to see any light at the end of the tile.
And it's a model bankrupting the farmers to boot. Landowners have essentially become sharecroppers.
Everyone is losing except the multinational agrochemical corporations and their toady legislative water bearers.
Yes.
Thanks Tim. Apologies in advance for my play on words, but your writing and poetry made me think we need to liberate our soils from excessive ag chemicals and the harmful ones completely.. Or we need to liberate our farmers and farming communities from the Ag monopolies.
Thank YOU Ralph! I wanted to include the odor of vomit inducing hogshit being knifed into the soil. Totally agree with your perspective on liberation. I was approaching it from the tragic soil liberation of sensible conservation practices. Also how generations tied to the land are liberated (by big Ag, govt policy, etc) to chase promising lifestyles in other places that have their own perils. Thanks again!
You succeeded