Visit to American Gothic House, Cholera Cemetery and Wildflowers

Hello and it has been awhile. I have done a fair number of interesting things the last 3-4 weeks but have had been too busy to post. I will try to hit the highlights here.

A few weeks ago there was a visit to Iowa artist Grant Wood's American Gothic House in Eldon, Iowa. The museum was closed but someone had updated the  replicas of the iconic father and daughter outside of the museum to reflect pandemic times.

Grant Wood's "American Gothic" painting is the second most parodied painting in the world after the Mona Lisa. 

Here is the original famous house.

The painting "American Gothic" by Grant Wood

I did a 10 mile walk last Sunday with Tom and the dog. We did a rural loop in Fairfield near where I am renting. This sign caught our eye as we were walking down one gravel road.

We walked off the gravel road onto a grassy path and after about 3/4 mile (just as the sign says) we came upon a remote cemetery with about 40 graves surrounded by forest and field. The third cholera pandemic of 1846-1860 that took millions of lives world-wide took its toll in Fairfield, Iowa as well. Whole families from the area died and were buried here.

Cholera cemeteries like this one were located far from the city because the living feared the spread of the contagion. Not much was known about the disease at that time. 

This unexpected part of our walk was very timely vis-a-vis our present Covid-19 pandemic. 

On a happier note, I have enjoyed many long walks in Nature. Here are a sampling of wildflower and nature photos.

Did you miss seeing Lucky? He is happy to be stream-hopping, pond-splashing and stick-chasing after a long winter.