The Farm – Botkin Creative

Chloë on the farm

I’ve written before about our family farm in Iowa, where my Swedish ancestors settled down. My little niece (the sixth generation) had her first explorations of the place at our most recent family reunion. She got to drive the farm truck, ride the tractor, celebrate her second birthday, walk the train tracks, and play withContinue reading “Chloë on the farm”

In northwest Iowa

I have been coming here ever since I can remember. My father worked this land, weeding beans, feeding livestock. My grandmother grew up here, in the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s. Her father grew up here, in the dawn of agricultural industrialism. So when I drive up the lane, the smell of the place hits me, familiar,Continue reading “In northwest Iowa”