Dirty Thoughts

Spring is my favorite time of the year and after living away from Iowa for about 10 years, the time that I notice I miss home the most. Today, when I looked out my bedroom window and the saw the rocky field with brown dirt behind our apartment building, I suddenly became very nostalgic for a freshly plowed black corn field.

I spent about half of my childhood (from 12-18) growing up on an acreage. I come from "Big Farm County" where farms of thousands of acres are not unheard of. My grandpa was a farmer until he retired. But farmers never really retire. During his retirement, he bought 10 acres of land with an old farmhouse and while my family lived in the farmhouse, my grandpa planted corn, soybeans, alfalfa, or raised about 10 cattle on those 10 acres until he died as his "retirement hobby." Today my dad, who is a police officer, still lives on that plot of land and grows alfalfa and makes hay as his hobby.

Even though I may miss it now, I was never a farm girl. I hated it when we moved from "town" (ca. 1800 people) eight miles south of town to the "country." Even so, coming from Iowa, I can't help but know a little bit about farming and the state which produces the most corn in the United States also has some of the most fertile top soil in the world.

Growing up, I never thought too much about the dirt in Iowa. It wasn't until I had lived in Mississippi and experienced the red clay that may grow exquisite cotton, but stains your clothes like you wouldn't believe that I truly began to appreciate Iowa dirt. In case you have never visited the Midwest or think all dirt is the same, let me tell you Iowa dirt is something special. It is black, loose, and stone-free. If you look into a bag of potting soil, you can get a good idea of what Iowa soil looks and smells like. It smells best after a spring rain and when I was a little girl it made the best mud-pies. It is the kind of dirt that you like to run your fingers through and when it is mud, the kind you like to squish your toes in.

My mom used to work in a "dime store" and according to family legend once some visitors from the South came into the store and wanted to know where they could buy some Iowa dirt to take home as a souvenir, only to be told that she would be happy to dig a bag of dirt out of the backyard and give them their souvenir for free!

Unfortunately, much Iowa top soil is washed down the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers every year and while farming is the life-blood of the land, it also abuses the land. However, today many Iowa farmers are conscientious of this and go to great effort to preserve the land for following generations.

For me, Iowa dirt is, and will always be, the only dirt in the world that can make me feel free and clean.