During our trip to Iowa this time around we made it to the Field of Dreams movie site in Dyersville. Tour bus loads of baseball teams, families on picnic blankets, and old friends playing a round of catch all flock to this site made famous by Hollywood.
Although it was the first time I felt the green velvet of left field between my toes like Shoeless Joe this place has had a special meaning to me for some time.
To warm myself up for our slow sizzling days in Iowa I have been reading the book Shoeless Joe, upon which the film Field of Dreams was based. We played catch in the outfield as occasionally the ball would skip past us and disappear into the corn. WP Kinsella does a far better job of describing the simple magic of an Iowa cornfield than I ever could.
“The fading sun was a rich orange; the shadows of the tall light standards reached across the field like long black arms. Yards away, the mysterious green and gold corn rustled like delicate guests in conversation.”
Leaving Iowa this afternoon I reflected back on our trip as though I was a school-child writing a report about “what I did this summer.”
I watched a 4th of July parade pass by the front of the house while a flag snapped above us in the wind. I strolled the banks of the Mississippi and climbed up to watch boats dance in its flow from the bluffs above. And well, I walked down the dusty streets of John’s hometown to buy a bottle of tequila from the grocery store so the family could make margaritas with dinner.
Through all of these experiences, John would lean in to me and say, “this is my Iowa,” and I’m pretty thankful that he’s let me into his world and his family to explore this wonderful place.
International Bod Days Festival is Sunday July 25th at Burns Bog. This annual event, now in its 19th year, includes food, entertainment, and interactive tours of the largest domed peat bog on the west coast of North America.
The festival will take place at 10388 Nordel Court (at Planet Ice) in North Delta. With free admission there will be live entertainment, activities, and an adventure zone for kids.
Bog tours will be operated from 10:30am until 3:30pm and you can download a 2-for-1 coupon to print and take with you.
Follow @Burns_Bog on Twitter or Facebook for updates and event information.
As a side note, there is currently a petition online to make Burns Bog a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its historical and ecological significance to the Pacific Northwest.
The Vancouver Police Museum is hosting a contest to find the perfect design for their souvenir t-shirts.
The contest launched yesterday and they already have some fantastic entries.
Our ideal design will promote our little museum in an artistic, clever and creative way–it could be directly police (or police history) related, it could be about forensic science or even about our creepy building that used to be the city morgue. Let your imagination run with it.
You can submit your design online for the chance to win a plethora of prizes including a “Tourist in Your Own City” Package from Vancouver Attractions, headshots from Blue Olive Photography, some framed Vancouver Archives photo prints from Miss604.com, Police Museum gift certificates, private tours, a Mighty Ugly workshop, and a spa gift certificate from Axiom.
There are only two weeks left to enter the contest and the finalists will be chosen based on popular vote (so be sure to promote your entry any way you can).
It’s hard to describe the beauty of the rolling hills covered in hundreds of hues of green that smell of freshly cut grass and sweetcorn here in Iowa.
I wasn’t able to snap photos of every piece of scenery but heading from the freeway the asphalt gives way to limestone concrete that covers dusty yellow byways. It contrasts against the bright blue sky and puffed-up marshmallow clouds. Black and white dairy cows are like polka dots in the grass as silos and apple-red barns break up the smooth, continuous landscape. The horizon isn’t flat with earth mirroring the sky in two lines on top of each other. It rises up and down, leans and curves around overflowing rivers.
This is the Iowa that I have been introduced to through the eyes of my husband, and it’s absolutely beautiful.
Theatre Under the Stars returns to the Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park for another season which starts next week.
This year’s performances are Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Singin’ in the Rain which will alternate each night from July 13th & 14th until August 21st.
Theatre Under the Stars has been a mainstay of Vancouver summertime entertainment since 1940 when it was the premiere event at the Malkin Bowl when it first opened up. In the early 1960s production shut down but the TUTS company was revived by enthusiasts in 1969. Things came to a halt once again in 1982 when the Malkin Bowl was ravaged by fire but TUTS soldiered on.
Tickets for this summer’s musical start at $19 which makes this a great date night, family activity, or evening entertainment destination.
For updates this season you can follow TUTS on Facebook or Twitter.
