Looking for the Green in Siouxland, Rural Iowa

As the temperatures in the Siouxland region continue to rise, albeit slowly, I look forward to once again getting into my vehicle and driving about. Seeking whatever is over the next rise or pausing to enjoy the scene just outside my windshield.

Rural Plymouth County, Iowa, Monday, May 25, 2015. (Photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

Blue skies will return and the grass and surrounding countryside will begin to green up, leaving behind that barren winter look.

Near Smithland, Iowa rural Woodbury County Thursday, May 28, 2015. (Photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

Having grown up in the country, I enjoy tooling down a country road, be it gravel or black top. Not driving especially fast so that I can enjoy what I see and the quiet one generally finds in the country. Stop and listen, and you might hear birds, the wind, crickets, if it’s nearer dusk or evening and what some might call the sound of silence. Well, maybe to a city dweller.

Rural Plymouth County, Iowa, Monday, May 25, 2015. (Photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

The view can be expansive, even in the Midwest like in Siouxland, or a closer view of a country scene. While the photos themselves can’t relate all of the experience like freshly mowed alfalfa in a field, a nearby stockyard or the damp smell created by newly plowed earth or after a fresh rain, they can set up the experience to which a viewer if they so desire, then makes an effort to experience the same themselves.

Jerry Mennenga

Sioux City, Iowa

Rural Plymouth County, Iowa, Monday, May 25, 2015. (Photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

Loess Hills in Siouxland, Harrison County

Driving around the Siouxland area of Iowa I am many times drawn to the Loess Hills region. The compacted earth created by an earlier ice age created these specific deposits of earth. It is the rolling hills that I enjoy enjoy driving about in and sitting on the top of one such hill and looking into the valley below. People think of fly-over Iowa as flat corn field, but corn fields are found in the hills as well.

A summer’s day driving through the Loess Hills in Harrison County, Iowa Tuesday August 29, 2017. (photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

A summer’s day driving through the Loess Hills in Harrison County, Iowa Tuesday August 29, 2017. (photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

But there are also those picturesque barns and vistas that can bring simple joy when out driving about and enjoying nature. Being outdoors being the key aspect.

Jerry Mennenga

Sioux City, Iowa

A summer’s day driving through the Loess Hills in Harrison County, Iowa Tuesday August 29, 2017. (photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

Overlooking a valley floor from the Loess Hills in Monona County, Iowa Tuesday August 29, 2017. (photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

Thinking of Siouxland’s Greener Pastures

A few days ago the Siouxland region received a slight blizzard. Whiteout conditions for practically all of northwest Iowa and I and many others had the pleasure of clearing 14 inches of snow from our walks and driveways. Mother Nature’s way of ensuring people get a little exercise during the colder months. And now the temperatures are dropping again to below zero. All of this following the little rodent’s (Punxsutawney Phil) prediction of an early spring. And thinking of spring has me thinking of once again getting out and getting lost on some of Iowa’s back roads looking for scenics and other out of the way areas that I can photograph and share.

I really like to be shooting all the time, but that isn’t always possible, but then it doesn’t hurt to daydream a little in anticipation of hitting the road again.

Jerry Mennenga

Sioux City, Iowa

A fence line in rural Monona County, Iowa, Thursday, May 28, 2015. (Photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

A barn situated off old Highway 141 in rural Woodbury County, Iowa, Thursday, May 28, 2015. (Photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

A pastoral scene with a Holga plastic lens at Stone State Park in Sioux City, Iowa, Friday, Oct. 4, 2015. (Photo by Jerry L Mennenga)

 

Wistful thinking in Siouxland about next summer

The last couple of days have been rainy, as it was a bit last week. The temps are still decent though. This time of year in November, having a couple inches of rain is nice instead of some inches of snow. I like snow, and snowshoeing. I just don’t know if I am ready yet. For the shoveling, slick roads and yes, cooler temps. Snow is forecast in a few days, which is okay, but two nights of lows are predicted to be 10 and 12 degrees. That is just too cold. Although before next summer, it will get colder. Throw in some of the prairie wind gusts, and below zero is a real possibility.

Jerry Mennenga

Sioux City, Iowa

A line of clouds dot the sky in rural Plymouth County, Iowa, Monday, May 25, 2015. (Photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

Clouds dot the skyline behind a farm in rural Plymouth County, Iowa, Monday, May 25, 2015. (Photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

A spring day in rural Plymouth County, Iowa, Monday, May 25, 2015. (Photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

Siouxland Iowa scenics

Growing up on a farm and living in a rural area of Illinois, the scenery is not much different than what you may find in western Iowa, or southeastern South Dakota or northeastern Nebraska. Farm land, and lots of it. Rolling hills in this area currently resplendent with corn and bean fields, at least those areas not seriously affected by the current drought conditions. And sitting among these acres of farm land are those wooden barn structures that have been used for hundreds of years, but are slowly disappearing in some areas as more economical steel structures replace them. I have always liked photographing the country side, and those old, weathered barns and other buildings that give a sense of nostalgia to what the rural agricultural area was once. But there are fewer of them now. As farms grow in size to compete with multi national companies that own large farms themselves, the barns are falling apart, not cared for, not needed in this faster paced, get it done modern world we now live in. From time to time I will be posting images of scenics throughout the Siouxland area that I come across, for those nostalgic reasons and because I personally find them beautiful to look at, and holding remnants of the past from which this country grew. More work can be found here.

Jerry Mennenga

Sioux City, Iowa