I didn’t grow up with an ocean view or easy access to a large body of water. Indiana is a land full of fields – corn, soybeans, winter wheat, alfalfa, and more. The fact that I never saw the ocean until after high school didn’t bother me. I always felt a little bit like Sarah from “Sarah, Plain and Tall”. When she moved to the Midwest and left her ocean-side home in Maine, she pined for the sea and dunes. But when she looked out at the fields of her farming home and saw the “rolling waves of grain”, her homesickness abated.
I love this photo of my sister Valerie – isn’t she beautiful?
A large field really is like the sea – the vast expanse ripples with the blowing wind and the mist rising over it all. You might not be able to surf on it or paddle through it, but it’s beautiful nonetheless. If you’ve never seen a field at twilight with fireflies glowing above it and the sound of crickets in the background, then you’re missing out.
The above photo was taken by my mother. It’s one of the fields that they own and rent to a local farmer. This was the view from my bedroom window. Some years it was corn and other years soybeans. I’m not sure which is my favorite. When we moved to Boston and were surrounded by trees and rocks, I struggled. The first time I saw an actual cornfield near our home, I made Chris stop the car. It was literally one of those, “Stop the car! Stop the car!!!” moments, nearly scaring my husband half to death. I made him drive up and down the road and around the corner so I could just soak it in.
Being in New Zealand means that I get to see lots of the ocean and gorgeous vistas of hills and mountains. It’s absolutely beautiful, but nothing compares to the Midwest.
I agree. There is something really magical about fields.
This makes me miss the portion of my childhood that was in Missouri and my days of visiting my gram in Iowa. It’s a different kind of beauty that some people from outside the midwest don’t often see at first. Wonderful discriptions – Thanks!
This made me miss the rivers at home! I guess it’s all perspective. Some people love the sight of the mountains in the distance, some rolling hills, some the ocean, some, like me, the marshes and rivers, and some, like you, the plains. Whatever reminds us of home. To me, the sight of the marsh and the river winding through it, is home.
Now I’m all nostalgic.
Oh, and I was so upset this fall that I missed the cotton blooming at home, but one Sunday on the way back to Columbia from Charleston, Ed took a detour to drive through the country. Sadly, the cotton had already been picked where we were, but a week later he went hunting, saw a field full of blooming cotton and pulled over to take a picture and send to me! It’s now the background on my phone 🙂
Even though I grew up in a coastal state about an hour from the ocean, my hometown is a small farming community in the Lowcountry of SC. Every day growing up I saw cotton, soybean, corn, and wheat fields. And although I love the ocean views, to me a cotton field blooming in the fall is just about as pretty as it gets. I love the country and farmland, and if I could, I’d move back tomorrow. I totally get what you are saying! (even if it’s not the Midwest I’m talking about)