Through one of the photography classes I teach at a local community college I look for destinations for the class to visit near and far within Siouxland. Besides possibly introducing the students to places locally they might not have visited before, it also puts their photographic skills to test from composition to using ISO and white balance settings to possibly trying slow shutter speeds or dragging the shutter. My reasoning is that if they are on vacation someplace, they shouldn’t be afraid of pulling out the camera and using it to document their trip or to make awe inspiring imagery to share later with family and friends.
The Adams House Museum is a brick home built in the early 1880’s by a local druggist named E.D. Ayers according to a printed handout presented by the museum. Volunteer Ken Johnson gave the class a quick history lesson about the house and some of the furnishings, not all of which are original but mostly period pieces to the early family that lived there.
In the early 1900’s a local farmer and his wife, Sam and Della Adams, purchased the home, and it was noted in the information handed out that only wealthier folk in those days could afford to build or purchase a brick home.
It’s always interesting to walk through a home museum. To see what appliances and other types of utensils were used during a particular time period one to two centuries ago. Various photographs about the museum showed snippets of history about the area and what it looked like before really being settled. Photographs showing the early days of a community are so totally different than what one sees today. Which is only natural, considering there are so many more folk living these days, and living longer.
A number of items within the museum were donated by area families, passed down through the generations are now on display for others to consider its place in history and a bit of reminder that actual people inhabited this house and others in the area helping create what it has become.
Some days when it’s doable, I just like to get in my vehicle and drive about Siouxland. Earlier this year I made a short day trip into Nebraska and stopped at a few small towns along the way. One of these places was Wayne, NE. It has a population a little over 5,500 via some 2019 online information.
Many times when I come upon a place it is without research as I am mostly looking for photographic opportunities plus just seeing what is in the Siouxland region. And many times I find that I will venture back in the future to explore something specific about a particular community just as a historical museum or former residence and maybe even utilize a trip to it for a class I teach through a local community college. And it’s just fun to see what is there, knowing well in advance that my day trip will probably not coincide with any festival or event that might take place in a community as I arrive mid-week, an unlikely time period for places to host community celebrations of any kind.
There is though a particular summer time event I have never attended in Wayne and want to at some point which is the Chicken Show. It began in the early 1980’s as part of a push by the local arts community to draw attention to itself and the community as a whole. Online information says chickens as a theme was utilized for the possible endless kinds of humor that might evolve, the rural location of Wayne, and the fact that there might also be endless art opportunities involving the chicken.
And from what I hear the show continues today in as strong a fashion as ever to delight of those residents of that community.
This past spring and summer I took some time to visit a few small communities in Siouxland that I had not stopped in before to just check them out and see what was there. My trips generally take place during the week and never seem to coincide with any events, which generally happen on weekends or evenings. Uehling, NE was one of the places I came across on a day trip. Like so many others its population is a little over 200 people but has some nice buildings maintained with a few flourishes about town for its appearance.
Founded in the early 1900’s it was also a short-lived railroad destination as train tracks headed west expanding the reach of a young nation. And like so many of those smaller communities it seemed to prosper early on then settled in as the train route continued west and larger communities were founded in other places that also because seats of local county and state government.
But even in passing it’s fun to see a small community still holding its own over 100 years later. A place people call home and visitors can only wonder about its part in creating history as they pass through.
Some times the prospect of waking up early to get somewhere before the sun actually peeks over the horizon seems a difficult task. It’s not always a long drive to reach someplace in Siouxland, but I find jump starting my “get off my ass and go” engine takes a bit of effort. But when I get somewhere, I am most certainly glad I got up and explored the destination, enjoying the light play that an early morning sun will sometimes create.
Add a little cool overnight temperatures and as the sun warms up the earth magical things happen as the light plays with the mist that is created. I don’t always avail myself of every opportunity I might have in photographing light play. And sometimes I know I am just being lazy. But these days I don’t mind. I will enjoy what I see and the moment and only hope there may be more sometime down the road.
In the last year I have spent more time visiting nature places in Siouxland with a concerted effort to hopefully photograph birds and other animals than in previous years. Shooting wildlife is not as easy as it seems. The critters are quite fast, but because of the pandemic I spent a good portion of my time traipsing through various nature preserves in the area, near and far. And enjoyed it. Shutting out so much “white noise” that has occurred because of people’s views on staying healthy, or not.
While walking a trail near the Missouri River not far from Winnebago, NE I saw some geese fly overhead with apparently an escort by some a flock of red-wing blackbirds. It made me think of those WWII war movies where B-51 bombers flew to Europe escorted by fighter plans to run interference during their mission. While I don’t believe the smaller birds were escorting the larger birds, it did give me pause, and a chance to marvel at nature and possible quirks I never noticed.
I never tire and am always please when driving about Siouxland to see critters as they go about their day until I inadvertently disturb them when pulling up to a pond or other areas I am aware of in search of wildlife. And sometimes I think they spot my vehicle and hesitate just long enough for me to think I might actually get a photograph and then depart, just as I am hitting the shutter button on my camera. The challenge to photographing creatures in their environment. Some day I might actually become good at it, maybe, but for the time being, seeing the animals in their habitat is enjoyable in and of itself.
Sometimes it’s hard to imagine what history was like in a place, notwithstanding somewhere hundreds of miles away from Siouxland. Even with movie “reenactments” to help provide a clearer visual cue, I find it difficult. And then there is the issue of traveling to view historical sites, even pre-pandemic, it wasn’t always possible. And it seems some folk also thought that, after having experienced the real deal and had the wherewithal to make it possible for the masses to encounter something one has seen in books, online and museums. Of course there is a buck to be made, but considering the cost for an individual or family to travel to see a place and yes enjoy all the other accoutrements associated with visiting a place, the chance to view up close and personal the works of Michelangelo’s at the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican is pretty amazing.
One can sit and view the frescoes that Michelangelo created so many centuries ago. Audio devices when swiped near an icon plays recorded pieces that talk about each specific fresco and its historical meaning vis a vis the Bible. I attended during an opening photographing for a media outlet and didn’t have the chance to really sit and take in all of the amazing work to be seen. Each piece is life sized and one can sit or stand and marvel at what was created from the mind of many historians who think the artist a genius.
I do plan to return to Omaha to see this exhibit on display not too far from the Old Market. Just to marvel at the work someone spent so much of a lifetime to create and to understand a bit more. While maybe I won’t get to wander about the Vatican, which probably wouldn’t happen anyway, or taste the local cuisine in Rome, it will be nice to get lost in art for a while and imagine what it must have been like or to even comprehend what was being created and to see it happening in real time.
At the Fontenelle Forest Preserve in Bellevue, NE there is also a space for the rehabilitation of raptors rescued and found injured from the surrounding area. Not a lot of information about the rescue seems to be posted on the organization’s website but information can be found.
Volunteers help with rehabilitating these creatures and a space at the front of the forest preserve allows visitors to see and get somewhat acquainted with these aviators of the sky.
The rehab center is a way to get up close and really get the chance to see these magnificent birds without a pair of binoculars and see the fine detail of their feathers. As one who is trying to become a better “bird”photographer, and not really getting close to any of these in the wild, it was fun to see them, and maybe if lucky, see them in the wild after they get better and are released. Though I probably wouldn’t recognize them.
Many of the small town communities throughout Siouxland have an extensive history, many tied to the beginning of the railroad as it began crossing the vast regions of the country expanding west. That is true of the small Nebraska community of Emerson. It began as a railroad town in 1881, a “junction on the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway. It was first known as “Kenesaw Junction.” But there was another town in Nebraska by that name, a new one, “Emerson,” for the author Ralph Waldo Emerson, was chosen. Emerson incorporated in 1888 when the population was between 200 and 300. By 1893 the village had grown to 600 residents.”
Not quite 1,000 residents live in Emerson which sits on a crossroads to other points within the state and region. Everyone calls home someplace. People are born there, move with family or work work reasons. And in various places put down roots and stay. Small communities have disadvantages compared to their bigger siblings in some respects, but offer advantages that larger communities sometimes can’t. And problems and joys are found in both. The song said “Wherever I lay my hat, is my home”. For good or not, everyone comes from somewhere.
I don’t always get back to places I previously visited in Siouxland, such as the Fontenell Forest in Bellevue, NE and am always surprised and pleased to see additions to a place that while personally I might not indulge in, others do. And it’s fun to just watch. Such is the case of above the treetop experience with Tree Rush at the nature preserve. It gives people a chance to enjoy new heights as it were and experience what it must have been like for some of the Tarzan actors. I enjoyed watching, but at this point in time, I like my feet solidly on the ground as I don’t bounce as well as I used too. But watching the staff and the people checking out the opportunity it all seems well done. I watched a short training course given to people who signed up to participate and the place was hopping on my way out from a hike than when I came into the forest. Ingenuity in appreciating nature takes many avenues.
I live in the Siouxland area that encompasses a wide swatch of land in northwest Iowa, northeastern Nebraska and southeastern South Dakota. The people that inhabit this area are generous folk and your basic honest, Midwestern people you like to have as neighbors. I explore the area and share observations, mostly photographic, sometimes through video, and and short text. All images and video are copyrighted material of the author.
Jerry Mennenga, Sioux City, Iowa
jerrylmennenga@yahoo.com
lostinsiouxland 