Barn Charm - Iowa State Fair 2013, Pioneer Hall

Today's "Barn Charm" is from our visit to the 2013 Iowa State Fair. Livie and I were riding one of the Sky Gliders (a ski lift type of ride high above the fairgrounds, providing a wonderful bird's-eye view of the grounds) when I got this photo with my iPhone camera (no Instagram app this time). I was glad I'd been able to snap a photo of this "barn" now known as Pioneer Hall (currently a museum). We were descending at this point as we were approaching this great, historic building, but still had a good angle to get most of the building in this shot.

You can click on the photo to get a larger view.

"Barn Charm" is hosted by Bluff Area Daily. Please click on the "Barn Charm" button below to view the rest of this week's great "Barn Charm" entries (available for viewing later this evening):

Barn Charm - An Illinois Farm in June

Back in June, my family and I drove to Chicago with my mom so we could visit my brother, sister-in-law, niece, and nephew. Livie, by the way, had a BLAST with her cousins!

As Andrew really likes driving when we go on road trips, I let him drive; during that time, I was able to snap some photos using the Instagram app on my iPhone as we drove along I-80 and I-88.

Here's an Instagram photo I was able to take of a farm in western Illinois (it may have been while we were still on I-80 heading east, or it may have been just after we got on I-88 heading east).

I love the two (partially) red barns side by side, the fluffy clouds, the farmhouse, green crops early in the season, and the two birds of prey circling overhead.

"Barn Charm" is hosted weekly by Bluff Area Daily. Please click on the "Barn Charm" button below to view the rest of this week's fantastic "Barn Charm" entries. (The link-up will be available later this evening).

Barn Charm - Another Living History Farm Barn

Wow! It's been a while since I last posted, hasn't it? I guess the summer has really gotten away from me. I've been trying to keep Livie busy, and in doing so, I've been completely unmotivated to write or do anything creative (aside from using my Instagram app on my iPhone). I've hardly even felt like reading, and that is SO unlike me.

Or maybe it's just that I've gotten to used to having a break from academic reading and writing (or any reading and writing) after an unexpected semester off from grad school. Ah, well. I'll get back into it.

I do, however, have quite a few barn photos saved up, having taken a number of barn photos throughout the spring and summer - whether traveling within Iowa, or in Illinois - for the sole purpose of sharing them with "Barn Charm," even though I've not felt like getting on the computer to post anything lately.

Anyway, here are a couple photos I took with my Instagram app. These were from Memorial Day weekend when we were in Urbandale, IA. This was our second family trip to Living History Farms, and again, it was over Memorial Day weekend; seems like this may become a new family tradition - going to Living History Farms on Memorial Day.

It had been a rainy, obviously overcast, and somewhat chilly day when we visited. But I got a couple cool barn shots, anyway. (You can see my other barn photos from this same trip if you click here and here.)

This wonderful, huge red barn was in the 1900s section of Living History Farms. I just LOVE red barns, and this one is certainly a handsome one, don't you think?

Livie loved going in this barn only to find that there was a horse eating hay in his stall.

By the way, I love that Livie is in her bright yellow rain gear (rain jacket, rain pants, rain boots) and her bright yellow is such a great contrast against the red paint on the barn.

"Barn Charm" is hosted by Bluff Area Daily. Please click on the button below to view the rest of this week's great "Barn Charm" entries:

Barn Charm - Williamsburg, IA

This photo was taken over Memorial Day Weekend, 2013. It was another one of my "drive by" shots, using the Instagram app on my phone.

This barn and farmland are just outside of Williamsburg, IA, on the north side of I-80. (You can click on the photo to see a larger version.)

"Barn Charm" is hosted by Bluff Area Daily. Please click on the "Barn Charm" button below to view the rest of this week's fantastic "Barn Charm" entries:

Remembering Sir Rafa

Today is the anniversary of my maternal grandfather's birth. He was an American hero, a family man, a storyteller. He would've been 99 years old today. His name was Rafael, and everyone called him "Ralph," (the grandchildren calling him "Ompa" - a version of the word Opa, meaning grandfather). But I always called him "Sir Rafa" (from a "fairy tale" I'd written about my family long ago).

I remember him at unexpected times - when I smell or taste spearmint (he always had spearmint gum), when I see a sunrise (he was always the earliest of risers), when I drink coffee (remembering that unlike mine, which I drink with hazelnut cream and a Splenda, he took his black, no sugar, because he said he was "sweet enough already"), when I get sucked into a good book or movie (he told the best stories). He almost always passed along nuggets of wisdom through telling us anecdotes.

He had the most contagious laugh. Today, that's what I miss the most.

 His "official" portrait when he was a Sergeant (E-5) in the US Army. 

 He and my grandmother posed with Andrew and me at our wedding in 2002. 

 He and my mom smile for the camera at the wedding reception. 

He's met baby Livie for the first time in June 2006; this was the day we arrived in El Paso.

This song's for you, Sir Rafa: 

A Rainy Morning in Downtown Des Moines

A couple weekends ago, we were in the Des Moines area visiting my parents.

This was the first weekend we had the opportunity to visit them since the Downtown Des Moines Farmers' Market opened for the 2013 season at the beginning of May, so, of course, we had to go to the Farmers' Market!

However, when we woke up that Saturday, we were greeted with lightning and thunder. But we went anyway, thankful that the lightning had stopped and the heavy rain had eased up a bit, and thankful that we had rain gear, as the rain hadn't stopped for long.

While there, during a brief break from the rain (heavy, light and misty, or otherwise), I took a photo of the Polk County Courthouse with the Instagram app on my phone.

Barn Charm - Inside 1850s Americana

Last week, I shared a fantastic barn from Living History Farm's 1850s farm (you can click here to see it). This week, I thought I'd share the photos I took of this barn's interior. I used my iPhone camera, as my digital camera's memory was full. (Oops!) I didn't use the Instagram app this time, just the camera.

As you can see in both photos, this particular barn's purpose is (was) to store farming equipment. 

Sorry, I know this second one is a bit blurry. But you can see that they've got tobacco hanging from the ceiling to dry. (I don't know if this used to be a big crop for Iowa, or if Living History Farms has it in here for "show." I should look up Iowa's main crops from the late 19th century.)

And on the floor, is a yolk for oxen.

"Barn Charm" is hosted by Bluff Area Daily. Please click on the "Barn Charm" button below to view the rest of this week's fantastic barn entries (the link with this week's entries will be available between 6 - 7 PM Central time Monday evening):

Barn Charm - 1850s Americana

Last week, my family and I were in the Urbandale, IA area for Memorial Day weekend. While we were there, we went to Living History Farms (as it seems that's now our new Memorial Day Weekend tradition).

Living History Farms is a great "living museum" of what life was like in midwestern America in "the olden days." (I've posted about Living History Farms before, so when you have the time, check out my other LHF posts. You can either click the label entitled "Living History Farms" beneath this post, or go to the upper left of the page and search for "Living History Farms.")

Anyway, while we were there, I was able to take some fun Instagram photos of barns as they would have been during various times in American history.

This barn photo that I'm sharing this week is a typical rustic barn from the 1850s time period.

(You can click on the photo to see a somewhat larger view of it.)

"Barn Charm" is hosted by Bluff Area Daily. Please click on the "Barn Charm" button below to view the rest of this week's wonderful "Barn Charm" entries:

Barn Charm, Historic Ushers Ferry Part II

Last week, I shared a photo I took at Ushers Ferry Historic Village. This week, I'm sharing the remaining two Instagram photos I'd taken of that same red barn.

"Barn Charm" is hosted by Bluff Area Daily. Please check out the rest of this week's fantastic "Barn Charm" entries by clicking the "Barn Charm" button below:

"Living History" Farming Photo

Yesterday, I'd posted a "Barn Charm" entry from historic Ushers Ferry Historic Village in Cedar Rapids, IA, which we'd visited for a Girl Scout activity last Friday evening. Today, I thought I'd share another Instagram shot from that same visit.

I thought this was a cool color for a tractor. (I love blue.) It looks well-used. It was hooked up to a hay-rack which was used to give a group of  Girl Scouts and their adult companions a hay-rack ride.

Barn Charm - Historic Ushers Ferry

Last Friday, Livie got to participate in a Girl Scout activity at a local historic "museum" called Ushers Ferry. It's a representation of an early 20th Century town - what a small Iowa would've been like at the turn of the century.

While Livie and the other Girl Scouts were busy with their activities, I was able to walk around a little bit. Having never been to Ushers Ferry (only Living History Farms in Urbandale, IA), it was nice to see another example of "living history" in our area. And of course, while I was wandering around, I noticed the barn - a red barn, no less! - bathed in the golden light sunset casts. I was excited to have another subject for "Barn Charm"!

So, of course, I just had to snap a photo. Again, I'd used the Instagram app.

"Barn Charm" is hosted by Bluff Area Daily. Please check out the rest of this week's fantastic "Barn Charm" entries by clicking the "Barn Charm" button below:

Mother's Day Adventure, 2013, at Wapsipinicon, Part II

Okay, here are the remaining photos I'd promised to share. (You can click on any of the photos to get a somewhat larger view of each photo.) And if you missed yesterday's post, you can see Part I by clicking here.

 After looking at moss and running around in an open field, we got into the car and drove a little further. When we saw that the creek had "grown" into a substantial river, we stopped again to look around. Livie's asking if we can actually see the bottom? No.

 

 She is so hyped up about being at a state park, she is yelling, "I need a plan, and a gorilla!!" (I don't know where she got THAT idea!)

 

 At this point, we saw some birds of prey flying around. It was cool! Livie had actually found some sort of hawk feather on the ground, which she was very curious about. One bird overhead looked like a bald eagle! (And some crows/ravens circling around, too.) I tried getting a photo of the eagle, but it had landed in the trees across the river, and my little camera wasn't zooming in clearly. You can see its blurry image in the center of the photo.

 

 I'd gotten a blurry image of the eagle as it flew away. Bird watchers, is that a bald eagle?!! So cool! (Sorry it's so blurry. Again, it was across the river and high up, so I couldn't get a good shot with my little, bitty camera.)

 

 And then we saw another bird swooping down to, presumably, fish in the river. Again, it was on the other side, so I didn't get a non-blurry shot. I'm assuming it's some sort of heron? (I'm hoping TexWisGirl or Nancy will stop by and be able to make an educated guess.)

 On the other side of the "access" road/driveway (whatever you want to call the road), we saw these stairs. We decided to go up to explore. It was a good cardio workout, I can tell you that! It didn't faze Livie, though. She just charged right up.

 

 I, on the other hand, stopped to take photos. Oh, and see that "peak" behind the trees? Livie wanted to get up there. Okay. Let's go!

 

 Oh, here's the view from about 3/4 of the way up.

 We finally got to the top (we had to do a kind of curly-cue up at the top to get to that "overlook.") Livie proclaimed the view to be "extraordinary!!" And, "Why haven't we come here before?!" Good question. I assured her it wouldn't be the last time.

And here's our view as we left the park.

Mother's Day 2013 Adventure: Wapsipinicon State Park, Part I

On Sunday, Andrew, Livie, and I went on a special Mother's Day adventure. We went to Wapsipinicon State Park. Livie is a Girl Scout and is going to her first overnight "camping" trip this summer, so she's now excited about finding other camping opportunities. When I'd ordered sleeping bags for the two of us (it's a girl/adult overnight thing), she really, REALLY wanted to do more camping than just the one overnight trip we have planned.

So I found that there's camping at the Wapsipinicon location (either RV or tent). Before buying a tent and deciding, "Yes, we'll do some additional camping this summer," I wanted to see what this state park was like.

My plan, which I'd not told either of them, was to drive out to the State Park after church and brunch on Mother's Day. I was just going to plug the address into the Garmin and have Andrew follow the directions. The park is just about 20 miles away from us (maybe a bit less), so it wouldn't take too long to get there. It would be a nice Sunday drive, and we'd be able to get out and enjoy the sunshine and fresh air while we were there.

Throughout the whole drive to the park, Livie was trying to guess where we were going. She kept asking, "Daddy, am I right?" but of course he didn't know. I kept giving her hints, and that kept her entertained. I think that once we were close, though, and finally arrived at the exit off U.S. 151, Andrew saw the "State Park" sign and arrow, and figured out where we were going.

Anyway, I'll let the photos do the "talking," so here they are. (Upon looking at some of them, a few look slightly blurry, so my apologies.) There are a LOT of them, so sit back and get comfy!

Here's the view from the car as we're driving into the park.

Livie's posing in front of one of many rock formations. She LOVED seeing cool geology in person!

 We pulled over to explore a bit, and walk around, because we'd seen a couple signs pointing to "Ice Cave" and "Horse Thief Cave." This photo is in front of the entrance to the "Ice Cave." As you can imagine, it's probably very cool in there. 

We didn't have flashlights, so we only went in a short distance, because it was dark. It was cool, what little we did see, though. We vowed that next time, we'd bring flashlights.

It's dark! See? You can just see to the curve in the rock and it's pitch black from there. That's about as far as we went. 

We've turned around and are looking at the cave entrance. 

Livie wanted to take one more peek in there with Daddy. They'd only gone a couple steps into the entrance when Livie decided she wanted to turn around and come back out.

 We're taking a bit of a stroll near the creek. Livie is telling us she loves nature and she wishes we could've brought a canoe. 

There's a little hole/cave type of area up towards the top of the rock formation in the distance. Andrew was sure he saw an animal (he thinks it was an owl, maybe?) peaking out momentarily before turning around and going back to sleep (or whatever it was doing). He and Livie are trying to see if they can spot it again. (No such luck.)

After investigating the moss on this rock here, Livie told me very seriously, "Moose eat moss."

And this is where I've decided to stop for the day. There are a TON of photos - too many to share in one post.  While I've chosen only about 20 photos to share (in two posts) out of the scores of photos I took, I think this is enough for now. So I think I'll go ahead and split this Mother's Day Adventure post into two, and share the rest in a second post tomorrow.

Barn Charm - Mother's Day Adventure

Hi everyone. I know my posts have been few and far between lately. I always come back, though.I'll get back into a more regular writing "groove" this fall, when I'm not taking a semester off.

Like today, as I've got a "Barn Charm" post to share.

Yesterday (Mother's Day), Andrew, Livie and I went out on a special Mother's Day adventure. After going to church and to Mother's Day brunch, we headed to the Wapsipinicon State Park, near Anamosa, IA; it was about a 20-25 minute drive from our house. (Be on the lookout within the next couple days for a post about this adventure.)

Today's "Barn Charm" entry is (yet another) drive-by shot, (again) using the Instagram app on my iPhone, taken around 2 PM on our way to Wapsipinicon State Park.

(You can click on the photo to see a somewhat enlarged version.)

As you can see, I didn't quite time it just right (at 50-55 MPH) to get the whole barn in the shot. Ah, well. There'll be other barns to shoot on other days, so I'll get another chance to get a whole barn in the shot one of these days.

(I was in the front passenger seat (Andrew was driving), by the way, so we were completely safe.)


"Barn Charm" is hosted by Bluff Area Daily. Please click on the "Barn Charm" button below to see the rest of this week's fantastic barn shots:

New Mexico Dream

Last night, I dreamed of New Mexico. I can't remember the exact details, other than I was driving somewhere sort of wooded - as though I were in the Ruidoso/Mescalero/Cloudcroft areas, up in the mountains where it's quite a bit cooler, getting a brief respite from the hot, arid desert near Alamogordo.

When I woke up, I was a bit surprised, almost unsure of where I was - just momentarily - as I found myself in my bedroom in eastern Iowa, instead of in Alamogordo. This dream left such a visceral impression of New Mexico upon me, that I guess I expected to wake up there, as though I still lived there.

Anyway, I've been kinda thinking of New Mexico all morning, which has probably been prompted by the overcast, rainy skies (as we rarely got overcast dreariness in New Mexico that lasted for any noticeable length of time), as well as the dream . Plus, while I was clearing the morning's dishes, I'd heard a song on my iPod that I actually first heard on the radio in my office (and numerous times afterward) while I was stationed in New Mexico.

So I thought I'd share a couple photos of New Mexico taken in and around Mescalero and Ruidoso. These represent the scenery I dreamed about last night.

They were both taken in 2007, when Andrew and I had spent the weekend at the Inn of the Mountain Gods, while Livie spent the weekend with her grandmother and great-grandparents in El Paso.

It had been threatening rain for a couple hours before the rain clouds had actually moved into our area; it had thunder-stormed just prior to my taking the photo of the lake.

From our room's balcony, Inn of the Mountain Gods, Mescalero, NM

On the road, somewhere between Mescalero and Ruidoso, NM

2013 Pow Wow

This past weekend, we headed to the University of Iowa's 20th Annual Pow Wow. We've been attending the University's pow wow since I started classes there in 2011, having learned in my Native American Literature class that the University holds one annually.

Here's a great explanation of what a pow wow is, as explained in this year's program (you can click on the photo to get a bigger view of the wording):

This year, Livie was really excited about attending the pow wow. Having been to the two previous years' events, she remembered all the colorful regalia, the drumming, the singing, and the food.

Plus, there's just a . . . a "vibe" about it, where you can even feel the drumming, in addition to just hearing it with your ears. It's a visceral effect, the vibrations literally resonating within your body (if you're standing in just the right spot).

I'm posting two brief clips of the Grand Entrance, in hopes that they will work (they're each just under 30 seconds).  You'll be able to see the Color Guard from the Meskwaki American Legion (from Tama, IA) with the flags in this first video clip:

 Towards the end of this second video clip, you'll be able to hear the "jingle" from the ladies who are wearing "jingle dresses":

Anyway, I'm not going to talk too much about it; instead, I'll just let the still photos do the talking.

By the way, just as a note: the lighting in the University of Iowa's Recreation Building isn't the best for either iPhones or my Canon PowerShot (something very much like this camera), and since I got the camera as a hand-me-down (my dad had gotten a new camera and handed off this little camera to me, sans instruction booklet). So instead of fiddling with my camera and trying to get the adjustments just right with the lighting and action (it would've been hit-or-miss), I just did my best with my point-and-shoot phone camera.

 Young pow wow dancers are waiting for their turn in the arena. (Instagram photo.)

Lunch! A fry bread (or "Indian"/"NDN") taco - ground beef with taco seasonings, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese on fry bread. Filling, but extremely tasty. (Instagram photo.)

Liv chose regular fry bread with a little bit of drizzled honey - very much like a Latin American sopaipilla. She couldn't wait to eat hers. They were freshly made and very hot, so she had to wait (very, VERY impatiently) for a couple minutes before digging in. (Regular iPhone photo.)

After eating our lunches, we decided to walk around the arena (inside the green "tennis/volleyball/basketball" area within the indoor track) to get closer, better views of the dancing and drumming. Also, there were vendors along the perimeter of the track, so we wanted to take a look at their wares. Obviously, there was a face painting booth. She chose a pink and black "half butterfly" pattern, which she LOVED wearing. (Regular iPhone photo.)

 This is an Instagram photo detailing some fantastic beading on a young woman's regalia. The beadwork is so detailed and intricate. I'll bet it took someone HOURS to make this - there were two (or three - I can't remember now) of these rectangular pieces as detailed in the photo above - the piece with the turquoise, cream/off-white, red, yellow, and uh, "sand"(?) colored beads.

 This is another Instagram photo of a woman's "jingle" dress. Those metallic objects are hollow cones. When the dress' wearer walks or dances, the cones clink against each other, making a jingling sound. It sounds fantastic listening to a group of women in jingle dresses dancing, especially with the drums and singing. 

This is a close-up Instagram shot of that same dress. I love the purple shiny material. This one was one of my favorite dresses. Another favorite (which I unfortunately didn't get a photo of) was a turquoise-colored jingle dress. 

 On the second day, Livie just HAD to get her face painted again. This time, as you can see, she chose a full-faced purple butterfly. (Regular iPhone photo.)

While we were still at the pow wow, I just so happened to notice I was receiving an in-coming phone call from my dad. The only reason I knew was because I was holding up my phone, ready to take a photo. This was during a dance, so the drummers were drumming and singing - with the poor acoustics causing echoing in the building, it was hard to hear, and nearly impossible to realize one's phone was ringing. 

I answered it, hoping we'd be able to hear each other. He said he was in the area and wanted to stop by to take us out to dinner. I'd mentioned we were at the pow wow and would be leaving in about 90 minutes (with a 45 minute drive home once we left). He said he was still a couple hours away, and what time did we think we'd get home? Well, it would be a while, even if he were still on the road a couple hours away - that would make planning a "what time should we meet?" tricky.

I told him we could meet in Coralville, IA, at a BBQ restaurant just off of I-80, knowing he'd be taking I-80 westbound to get home after his "Sunday drive." We were just minutes away from Coralville, and much farther away from home. 

That worked out, as he was east of us in Muscatine, IA, heading west. And he'd be in our area (Iowa City/Coralville) around the time we were planning to leave, anyway. Plus, all he'd have to do after dinner is to keep heading west and he'd be home within a couple hours. When the weather's nice, he'll occasionally take a "Sunday drive" and end up in eastern Iowa, southwestern Wisconsin, southern Minnesota, or the like - he LOVES driving the open road.

We ended up meeting him at a place called Bandana's BBQ in Coralville, IA around 5 PM. Livie chose the kids' rib basket (2 ribs, some garlic bread, corn, and BBQ beans). I chose the pulled pork sandwich and BBQ beans. My dad and Andrew both chose the BBQ sausage, beans, corn, okra and garlic bread. It hit the spot. We wrapped up with freshly made donut holes, which tasted exactly like funnel cake from the State Fair! 

As soon as we were finished, we said goodbye to my dad. Nonno (meaning "grandpa" in Italian) then headed to his car and we headed to ours. Livie immediately said, "I miss Nonno already." 

Fortunately, we'll be seeing them next month, probably. They live about 140 miles from us (about a 2.5 hour drive), and we usually make it out to their house about once a month. 

All in all it was a fantastic weekend.

If you're interested, here's our "Trip Report" from our first UI Pow Wow in 2011, as well as our "Trip Report" for the 2012 Pow Wow.