Last weekend, I jetted out to Peoria, Illinois (yes, they do have jets that go there) to spend a few days on a farm in Elmwood, IL. I have to start by saying that I could never live there, but what a great place to visit! I stayed at Karen & Rocky Hudson’s family farm that’s been in Rocky’s family for four generations (a rare thing these days). They grow corn and soybeans (the two most popular crops in this country). One of the cool things about the place is that their house literally sits in a cornfield – so it’s a regular suburban-type house with a green lawn, above ground swimming pool, but it’s literally surrounded by a field of corn stalks 10 feet or higher. So you sit in the back garden, swinging on a hammock under a tree and you’re looking at huge stalks of corn. It was too cool!
We were joined by two other farmers and spouses - Terry and Linda Spence from Missouri (they raise cattle) and Chris and Christi Petersen from Clear Lake, Iowa. Karen, Terry and Chris used to be consultants for the GRACE Factory Farm Project, which I managed years ago, but they’re now off doing their own thing, and I’ve gotten swallowed up with my Sustainable Table and Meatrix projects – but it was so great to spend a few days with them all.
And I bet you’re wondering what we did….
Unfortunately, I can’t talk about all of it – but it involved lots of time in the swimming pool, plenty of snacks, tons of fried food (oh, wheat-free vegetarians are challenged in a place like this!) and great company. Some of the highlights for me were getting to drive the conbine (that huge machine that harvests corn and soy) a few feet in the shed (I think Rocky was afraid I might rip the walls down if I spent too much time behind the wheel – though I have been invited back to help harvest the corn in the fall….)
I also climbed a grain silo – but I turned into a girl and got stuck on the ladder. I won’t mention the jump I would have had to make once I got up about 5 – 6 stories to get onto a roof – I told them I’ll work on the jump next time I visit, but getting me up that ladder was enough! I actually think that’s the first time I’ve ever climbed any kind of ladder – just never had reason to – and I did much better than I thought.
The midwest is a different place than the East Coast. Neither is better or worse than the other, but the culture is just different. And it’s nice. It’s nice that people speak with each other; it’s nice not to lock your door or worry about what’s left in the car. It’s not so nice, though, to not be able to find some tofu (especially in the middle of soy country!….) If you’re wondering why that’s so, most soy grown is considered a commodity crop – it’s not grown to make tofu – it’s grown to be processed so it can be used in processed foods you find in major supermarkets.
With all the shopping, eating, chatting and swimming we did, the best part for me was sitting out late a night, floating in the swimming pool, and watching shooting stars dance through the skies over the cornfield. Okay, I missed most of them because I couldn’t seem to keep my eyes in the right part of the sky, but the ones I saw were absolutely amazing. We think it was the beginning of the Persoid meteor showers. Some of them were huge and yellow and flew across the sky, leaving a tail behind them.
Rocky also plays percussion in the hometown band, so we got to go into Elmwood on Sunday night and listen to the orchestra play in the town square. I know it’s a sign I’m getting older when I’m sitting with a lot of gray hairs in a small town park on a Sunday evening, listening to the local orchestra play selections from West Side Story. But it was totally cool….
This weekend I’m in upstate New York, doing a Buddhist thing. More on that later….
