Le Mars, Iowa

 

  "The secret of success is not doing what one likes, but liking what one has to do."  

~ Thomas M. Barnes

 Recently, I had a really great weekend with friends, family and Rory down in NW Iowa.  The next couple of posts are going to talk about this trip. 

Katester's BFF and college roommate makes her home in LeMars, Iowa in the farm country where she and her husband, Michael grew up.   

Every summer they bring the kids up to the cabin and we all have a great time knocking around the lake and the Wisconsin Woods.  Michael and I go trap shooting if we can.  He's great, intelligent, fun guy to be around and I enjoy his viewpoint on a wide variety of subjects.

Every year about this time, he and Brittney invite us down to stalk the wily pheasant in the lush farmland around Le Mars.  I look forward to it with relish.  

On the way to Le Mars, you pass within a few hundred feet of a towering land mark.  Hawkeye Point, the highest spot in Iowa.   

Hawkeye Point, the highest spot in Iowa.

As one drives by Hawkeye Point, the attentive will look around and wonder: "How, 'zackly do they know where the highest point is?  It has to be measured in fractions of an inch.  Plowing and raising clods must change the location...."

On a really sad note, last year's trip was Rowdy's last hunt. I wrote about it here. 

Rory had to stay home last year.  He was no where near a gun dog yet.  We spent the time since then making him a better hunter and there are posts all through this blog about his progress. This trip was the culmination of the work we've done together and I'm looking forward to telling you about it.  But first and overview of the area. 

In my humble opinion, Le Mars represents everything that makes America great.  Farming requires a successful attitude and a society that rewards success.  You have to grow the crop, produce the product and get it to market.  There aren't many examples of layabouts there.  It's a place where your efforts get rewarded. 

Evidently, the Kelley family is a leading example of this with the Blue Bunny Ice cream story.  Starting with a dairy operation long ago, they exanded into butter and then ice cream.    

Which leads me to the picture I'm going to share with this post from the exact center of downtown Le Mars. 

 

 

Now that I've got that discussion out of the way, I can start talking about how good Rory, Michael and his friends did at stalking the wily Pheasant.

On that happy note, I remain,

Dad/Geoff