Onward from Sioux City IA

The only death in the Lewis & Clark party during their expedition occurred in what is now Sioux City.  Sergeant Floyd, a quartermaster became ill, died and was buried on a bluff in August 1804.  From journal notes, modern doctors and historians speculate a ruptured appendix may have been the cause, so medical intervention of that time would not have been able to save him even if he'd been at home.    Makes me thankful for the many miracles of modern medicine available today, and motivates prayer for our very broken health insurance and healthcare systems!  I wish more would pray for solutions rather than ridicule our government.  How easy it is to use our mouths to complain and curse, becoming part of the problem instead of working toward answers. I speak this to myself as much as anyone; I've done more than my fair share of the complaining for being turned down for medical insurance because of history while my body has been healthy enough to ride a bike several thousand miles. 

Riding this part of Iowa is lots of flat corn & soy fields, farming and all of its support services the backbone of economic endeavors. 



Interspersed amongst the fields are little wetlands. 

It's football season and team spirit lives on! We went through one town where almost every single shop had some sort of support for their high school football team displayed in the window.  

We seem to be in the heart of GMO land, passing by field after field with demonstration crops.  The plants are robust, the harvest this year is great; farmers gather to compare the production from various seeds.

I really do wonder what future consequences on human health might be to this quest to make new plants such as "round-up ready" crops, crops that can produce despite being sprayed with potent herbicides.   History has proven that when we violate the order of nature and natural ecosystems, whether intentionally or unknowingly, there are ill effects. 

I see vacant store fronts in little towns that have lost many of their farm jobs to big machines; I ride by abandoned family farm houses swallowed up by agribusiness. And I feel sad for these shrinking towns and a way of life that seems to be dying.  Can producing the maximum amount of food possible on a piece of land with the least amount of labor, no matter what the consequences, really be called good stewardship?

 Still, Human ingenuity and resiliency is something to be celebrated.   Some farmers supplement their income through offering services to hunters, and harvesting their fields in patterns that attract birds onto their property during hunting season. Small hunting guide businesses abound with catchy names such as Water and Wings, Fish and Fowl, Birds and Bucks,  Feathers and Fur.