Spring in Iowa means...

...new beginnings

April snow on forsythia bloom

Snowy mornings, butterfly afternoons, heat, cold, wind, flowers to photograph, favorite birds back from winter journeys, our prairie needs burning, garden demands planting, grandkids’ ball games, too much to do, too little time!

Praire burn

Still, I have squeezed in time to sit in the pre-dawn woods to watch the waning moon set, hear the first pheasant crow his wake-up call, and shiver less from the chill than from the rattling gobble of the tom turkey laying claim to the ridge above the river.

Jakes are wannabe gobblers

Soon the once-quiet woodlands are silent no longer. The chirrupping robin, monotone field sparrow, plaintive whistle of the bluebird, and kuk-kuk-kuking of the brassy pileated woodpecker join the chorus.

Palm warbler

When the sun peeks over the bluff, the time has come to check on the emerging asparagus, sniff the wild plum blossoms, search in vain for a morel mushroom, and admire the beauty of the dandelions dotting our “no-mow May” lawn. And to kneel down to watch the tiny native pollinators burrow into those yellow blooms with gratitude

.

Anemonella (Rue anemone)

---

So how did I get here, given my overflowing “to-do” list? Well, the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative has reconnected me with several old friends from my 25 years as outdoor water/photographer with the Des Moines Register from 1972 to 1997. Plus the group has helped me discover the talents and insights of a new (to me) set of writers. I‘m looking forward to sharing my Iowa roots, memories, observations, frustrations, and joys with those folks - and with readers.

I come at this endeavor as an Iowa farm kid who has never outgrown playing in the “crick.” I believe that every kid should have that same opportunity to go outside and get muddy. And I can easily wax nostalgic about the wild places we have lost in my seven-plus decades on this planet. For more about where those times, people, and adventures have led me, here’s a link to my website.

---

Larry Stone is an author, lecturer, photographer and now Substack columnist. His books are available on his website: www.larrystonesiowa.com

---

Iowa Writers’ Collaborative members offer a slice of life in Iowa not found elsewhere. If you can pay to subscribe to any of them individually, great.

And, please tell your friends.

Laura Belin: Iowa Politics with Laura Belin, Windsor Heights

Doug Burns: The Iowa Mercury, Carroll

Dave Busiek: Dave Busiek on Media, Des Moines

Art Cullen: Art Cullen’s Notebook, Storm Lake

Suzanna de Baca Dispatches from the Heartland, Huxley

Debra Engle: A Whole New World, Madison County

Julie Gammack: Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck, Des Moines and Okoboji

Joe Geha: Fern and Joe, Ames

Jody Gifford: Benign Inspiration, West Des Moines

Nik Heftman, The Seven Times, Los Angeles and Iowa

Beth Hoffman: In the Dirt, Lovilla

Dana James: New Black Iowa, Des Moines

Pat Kinney: View from Cedar Valley, Waterloo

Fern Kupfer: Fern and Joe, Ames

Robert Leonard: Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture, Bussey

Tar Macias: Hola Iowa, Iowa

Kurt Meyer, Showing Up, St. Ansgar

Kyle Munson, Kyle Munson’s Main Street, Des Moines

Jane Nguyen, The Asian Iowan, West Des Moines

John Naughton: My Life, in Color, Des Moines

Chuck Offenburger: Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger, Jefferson and Des Moines

Barry Piatt: Piatt on Politics: Behind the Curtains, Washington, D.C.

Macey Spensley, The Midwest Creative, Davenport and Des Moines

Larry Stone, Listening to the Land, Elkader

Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Buggy Land, Kalona

Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Emerging Voices, Kalona

Cheryl Tevis: Unfinished Business, Boone County

Ed Tibbetts: Along the Mississippi, Davenport

Teresa Zilk: Talking Good, Des Moines

The Iowa Writers Collaborative is also proud to ally with Iowa Capital Dispatch.

Robert Leonard has created the Iowa Podcasters’ Collaborative. If you know of a podcast that might be a fit for this endeavor, please contact him.