More on our Iowa trip

 If you went out to look at my little garden, you would assume the weeds have taken it over.  But after being gone for two days, I came home to a bountiful harvest, at least considering the size and weediness of the garden.

I picked that many green beans yesterday, too, and there are more out there.  My mom always told me that beans that are planted to harvest in the fall were the best ones, never bothered by bugs.  I guess she knew what she was talking about.

Back to our trip:  There was much more to see at the Heartland museum than Big Bud.  There were plenty of tractors and lots of displays about local history.  They had a main street of Victorian furniture and stores, and a couple of other main streets from different eras.  

Any time I see one of these refrigerators, I take a picture because the earliest refrigerator I recall from my Iowa childhood looked like this.  I was young, and was short enough that the top of my head didn't even reach the top of the door.

Barber shop

Above is Lavinia Sellers' hat parlor.  Many years ago my cousin, Carolyn, planned a gathering of relatives; she had Lavina do a program for us in Bethany, Missouri.  She had all kinds of hats old and new:  She would put on an appropriate hat and read a poem, Bible verse, or article that the hat reminded her of.  This might sound boring when I describe it, but I absolutely loved that program and have never forgotten it.  She had business cards that read "The Hat Lady", which inspired me to have some cards made for myself... "The Poem Lady".  I had been singing at various places in the community at the time and often read a few poems I had written myself so the singing would not get so boring.  I also went through a period in my life when I sent notes and greeting cards to a lot of people.  When I wrote a poem for one of those folks, I'd sometimes include my business card just for kicks.  That was many phone numbers ago; I think I've already written a poem for everything there is.  Or maybe I'm just too lazy to sit down and work at it like I used to.  You can read Alvinia's obituary HERE, and hear her daughter tell her story HERE.  She was an inspiration to me the one time I saw her.

There was quite a tractor collection in the main museum, too.  A man working there told us most everything in the museum has been either loaned or donated, and there is only one paid employee.  The rest are volunteers.  Clarion, small as it is, is the county seat of Wright County.  Two towns on opposite sides of the county wanted the honor of being designated the county seat; they settled that problem by putting it in the exact geographic center of the county. 

I'm not sure, but this may be the first Australian tractor I've seen.

As you can see, there were plenty of tractors there; this is just a sample of them.

When we left the Heartland museum we went to Subway for a sandwich, then went north to Charles City, Iowa.  We found a great Comfort Inn motel there.  Our room cost us only $90, all told, and was about as nice as any we've had.  (I'm making a mental note to give them a good review.)

I'll tell you about our experiences in Charles City in another entry.  

And that's the way it is.