Murillo Flats

This building is Murillo Flats and was the last stop on the Sherman Hill Walking Tour. It was built in 1905 and was an early example of an architectural form emerging in Des Moines at the turn of the century...'flats' or as we call them now, apartments. This building was originally named "McNamara Flats" after its builder, James McNamara. He changed the name to "Murillo Flats" after Des Moines hosted a very successful art exhibit of the work of Bartolome Esteban Murillo, a Spanish painter circa 1617-1682. The building's original site was 3 blocks from where it now sits. It was moved over a 2 day period in March of this year during a very wet Iowa storm. Videographers from the History Channel filmed the move which will be shown soon on National Geographic's "Monster Moves" series. The building's current owner, Phil Kaser, plans to renovate it and rent out apartments in it for the next 5 years. After that, he told me, it all depends on the condo market; he may sell the apartments as condos or sell the whole building to another visionary.

A Fall Tradition

I moved back to Iowa in 2003, and every fall since then, I've wanted to do the Sherman Hill Walking Tour that is held the last two weekends in September. I always put it off and then miss both weekends. This year I made it happen! Sherman Hill is the historic neighborhood close to where I work that I would really like to move into. Alas, I haven't sold my country acreage...that's a whole other blog entry...but I spent yesterday afternoon enjoying the warm fall weather while I visited 9 properties on this year's tour. And in the process, I delighted in two serendipitious surprises.

The tour began here at Hoyt Sherman Place where I bought my ticket and picked up the tour map. Built in the Italinate style in 1877 by Hoyt Sherman who was a Des Moines businessman, the mansion today is home to the Des Moines Women's Club and also boasts a beautifully restored theatre as well as an art gallery. After browsing through the gallery, I noticed that the stage lights were on in the theatre. I entered the dimmed auditorium and discovered my first serendipity...the Des Moines Sweet Adelines who were rehearsing for their evening performance. I settled into a plush seat and listened as they sang through their numbers. Such sweet harmony, such exuberant energy! Then stepping out to direct...my friend, Diana Latch! I know Diana from work, and we talked once about her involvement with the Sweet Adelines. There she was directing, singing, dancing, cajoling her chorus to put more bounce in it, sing out, have fun! What a delight to see my friend in an entirely different setting than the hospital disaster and emergency planning sessions where we usually meet!

The rest of the tour beckoned, though, so leaving the music behind, I started walking the streets. The properties on the map reflected a variety of architectural styles from the late 1800s...Queen Anne, Victorian, Colonial Revival, Victorian Stick...all open to tour. Some were exquisitely restored, some were restored, but decorated in modern styles, one house was new, but built to look Victorian. Each had a fascinating story. There were also selected businesses and historic buildings on the map. My second serendipity came as I walked up 16th Street to the Wallace House Foundation. I could hear soft strains of classical piano music floating on the warm summer air. It was coming from the open windows of a 4-square brownstone next to Wallace House. I spoke to the men marking tickets on the porch. "What a great job you have this afternoon...you get to sit on this cool, shady porch, greet people and listen to that beautiful classical music!" I could see the man sitting at his grand piano through an open window. "Yes," the men replied, "and do you know who that is? That's Ed Fallon who ran for Governor last term." "Imagine that," I quipped. "A politician who can actually do something useful and creative!"

More on the rest of the afternoon later....

Roseman Bridge

This is Roseman Bridge made famous by the movie, The Bridges of Madison County. It's very pretty. The area around it is kept up by the folks who also own the small gift shop just behind where I took this pciture. They keep the little meadow mowed and the wooden stairs up to their shop in good repair. The bridge spans the Middle River, but is open only to foot traffic now. Built in 1883, it was completely renovated in 1992 at a cost of $152,515.00.

As I approached the bridge, I noticed these red painted ledges on either side of it. Those round, shiny things are coins! Seems like folks use the ledges much like wishing wells...tossing coins and making a wish! My assumption is that most of the wishes have to do with love and relationships, ala Robert and Franchesca from the movie. Hmm-m-m...been there, done that, and don't see myself going there again. So, I tossed a couple of coins (yes, they landed right where they were supposed to!), but my wish wasn't about a man. It was about love, though! Can you guess what it was?

Here's a hint: Je t'aime Paris et Provence!

"Oh, What a Beautiful Morning!"

Do you remember Oklahoma, that 'corny' musical? There's a song in it that I can't get out of my mind the past few days. "Oh, what a beautiful morning...there's a bright golden haze on the meadow...the corn is as high as an elephant's eye and it looks like it's growing right up to the sky!" Until I moved to Iowa, I thought those lyrics were simply creative hyperbole. Then I saw real corn, acres and acres of corn. The corn pictured here is growing in the field across the road from my house. I took this picture standing in that gravel road, looking up at the corn. You can see it's starting to dry and turn brown. Farmers will be anxiously checking moisture content in the next few weeks to determine exactly the right time to harvest it; if they pick too early, they'll have to pay the elevator to dry it down. This will eat into their profits. Soon enough, tho, the fields will hum with the engines of corn pickers and combines bringing in the corn and soybean harvest of 2008.

We don't have many elephants roaming around Iowa, but I think the tassels on this corn would definitely tickle the eyeballs of any passing pachyderm!

Autumn in Iowa Part 2

The wildflowers of summer are beginning to fade as fall approaches. They kind of bloom themselves to death! Growth during the hot, humid, rainy summer runs rampant...it's almost a relief to watch it slow down as it cools off. I know I really appreciate being able to mow the yard every 10 days instead of every 5-6 days during the height of summer. Most of what is blooming now is yellow; I don't have a clue about the real names. When I was in Yellowstone, yellow flowers were all lumped together as "DYC's" or damned yellow composites. No one else could remember the yellow names either. So here are some DYC's growing the ditch along the road where I walked Lucie yesterday.

Here are photos of other ditch plants. The yellow one is goldenrod more commonly known as ragweed. It causes a lot of grief this time of year in the form of sneezing, stuffy noses and teary eyes...not a favorite flower of very many people!

The seed pods are from the milkweed plant.

They swell and burst in late summer spewing their seeds in cottony fluff that gets caught on passing animals or drifts on the wind to new ground.

Autumn in Iowa

I see the autumanl equinox on the calendar next week. It is, indeed, changing over into fall in Iowa. There has been a shift in weather patterns ( thank goodness!) from hot and sticky to warm and dry. Daytime temps creep up into the 80s, but it's cooling to the 50s or even lower at night. Ah-h-h! Indian summer in all its glory. I love it! You don't have to watch the thermometer to recognize when fall arrives, though. You only need to observe the grasses and flowers along roadsides or in areas not under cultivation. The premier fall grass is big bluestem (adropogon gerardii) shown in the picture. The common name for the grass is "turkey foot" as its trefoil seed spikes resemble the track of the wild turkey. It has reached its full height and has begun to set its seeds. This is a native prairie grass, part of the tall grass prairie that covered the central United States before the plow. As you travel further west, this grass gives way to little bluestem, a shorter, more dense grass that made up the short grass prairies of the high plains. The buffalo followed these grasses; other animals...elk, deer, grizzly bears...made their home here as well before the settlers drove them west.

Several years ago, Bob and I restored many acres of our southern Iowa farm to native grass. He would burn off the dried grass every spring replacing valuable nutrients to the soil and mimicking the vast prairie grass fires of prehistory. It would emerge a few days later brilliant green against the charred soil. During the long, hot, humid days of summer, it grew and grew and grew reaching heights of over 8 feet. Towards the end of summer, we would turn our buffalo out into it. What a sight to watch 200 buffalo with their calves stampede into the fields....only to disappear in the grass! The only clue that they were there was the gently waving tips of the seed heads against the sky!

My Friend, Edith

I often mention my friend, Edith, in my blog entries. She's a dear friend whom I don't get to see often enough. I always enjoy her visits. While she didn't think this was such a great picture of her, I like it because it shows one of the things I like best about Edith...her great smile and fun-to-be-with personality. On this visit in early September, we enjoyed dinner out, a day of antiquing, a movie (see Mamma Mia! post), and shopping at a great place in Adel, IA...Atherton House. I discovered this shop a few years ago; it's where I buy my yearly santon. I was pleased to see santons made by the Fouque family during my visits to Provence. We also attended church, St. Timothy's Episcopal, in West Des Moines. Edith's father was an Episcopal priest. Imagine her surprise when our priest, Mary, mentioned Father Fly in her homily...a priest that Edith's father knew well when they lived in Wichita! Edith is researching her family's "Father Fly" stories which I'll share with Mary.

It's another one of those connection things that fascinate me so much!