While many people might not think of ever vacationing in the Mid-West, I have fond memories of spending time in Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska for many summers ever since I was born. My mom is from Iowa, and many of her relatives still live there. I look forward to going seeing grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins each year. While some people might consider the Mid-West “boring” and have no interest in going, I would recommend it to those who want a change of scenery from urban life and to those who have any interest in seeing farming done on a large scale. No matter where you go, you can’t escape wide fields of crops or animals; the highways are lined with farm land and barns. There’s a large cornfield along my grandparent’s street. I always enjoy seeing the landscape because it’s so different from the Massachusetts scenery that I’m familiar with, and it’s beautiful in its own way in the Summer when everything is at peak growing season. It’s serene to look out on the highway and be able to see farm land for miles because Iowa is fairly flat with rolling hills.
During my trips to Iowa, my extended family and I have traveled to many different types of farms. I’ve held baby goats and walked through real corn mazes, ones not merely put up in the Fall for fun. I’ve seen acres of soy farms (Iowa is the largest producer of soy in the country) and Amish people selling their produce at farmers markets. You don’t realize how truly big farming operations can get until you go to a place like Iowa. Farming is a livelihood for many people there, and they have it down to a science.
A couple of years ago we went to a llama farm, where we got to feed and pet around 13 llamas. The older couple who owned the farm sheared them for their wool. While it might seem like llamas are a very unconventional animal to have on a farm, there were no other animals on their land, and they had been raising these llamas for years. They’re very docile, and they were really cute and soft! If you ever have the chance to visit any part of the Mid-West, even for a short time, take it. It’ll give you a window into a way of life that’s unfamiliar to those of us on the East Coast, and you’ll appreciate the time, space, and craft that it takes to farm for a living.
