The long shadows give you an idea when this photo was taken today. The snow is melting rapidly and I went out into the countryside around here, hoping to find some light, colors, or gesture that may tell the story about this time of the season. I came to a stop on a muddy and slippery gravel road that leads through one of the local vineyards.
Despite the hard winters we often experience, eastern Iowa is home of a growing number of wineries. It shouldn’t be a real surprise, we are on the same latitude as parts of Spain or Italy, both big wine producing countries. Well, I have friends in South Africa that read my blog and hey, I just want assure you, the Iowa wine is OK, but the fine wine from your part of the world is hard to beat!
Why does this image has a meaning to me? Iowa is all about big farming, corn or soybeans, not much else, monoculture at its best. It is one of the states where automation will change farming technology quickly and as a result will change local infrastructures. Wine growing is most likely not a solution for the rest of the state, but here, between the ridges, valleys, and hills of the drift-less area, it may have a place to allow some local entrepreneurs to make a living.
Let’s talk photography. A photo of a vineyard means probably nothing in California or Washington State (gosh, love their wines!) Here in Iowa it isn’t the most common thing and making the click of grapevine, growing out of snow covered ground, well, is even special to me…