Welcome to my Camera Section. If there are any pictures of you or yours that you do not wish to have on this page, please email me.
This is Mom and her boys on Mother's Day 2002.
Before I left Iowa for a long time to be far far away learning crazy PhD stuff, I took pictures of the homestead. These photos may not mean anything to you the average viewer, but for me, they bring back countless precious memories.
Bankston is the nearest town to my house. It has a population of about 35 or so. Not a big town. This is a picture taken from the west end of Bankston, facing east into town.
This is a picture from the north side of Bankston facing south.
From the north side of Bankston, taken facing south again but a bit farther back than the previous picture.
This is taken from the north edge of Bankston, facing north out into the beautiful Iowan country.
Taken just north of Bankston, facing north-northwest. It didn't show up well in the picture, but from this spot you can see Holy Cross in the distance. Holy Cross was the town in which I went to church. I don't know why we didn't go to Bankston. It might have something to do with the fact that my Dad grew up in Holy Cross.
Kemp's Quarry, taken facing north.
Taken on top of the west hill, next to the paintball course. From this crest you head down into the valley where I spent the majority of my youth exploring the wilderness and playing in the waters.
Taken from the top of the east hill in the park area on the opposite side of the valley as the previous picture.
The view facing west from the T-section near the top of the east hill.
The "Pond Bottom" at the bottom of the east hill. The pond USED to be a great place to go swimming. But now it's all full of nasty green seaweed. Oh, who am I kidding... It was always full of nasty green seaweed.
Flash back to the west hill again. This is a view into the valley from about halfway up the hill.
The view of my house, the double garage, the "junk shed", and the barn from the road after coming down the west hill.
The wooden bridge at the beginning of our lane. Hang a right to come to my house. Hang a left to head into 100 acres of county park and wildlife preserve.
The view west off the wooden bridge. This is a little creek that runs along about half of the perimeter of our property. A lot of time was spent in these waters building dams and catching wildlife.
The lawn of the east side of the house, as viewed from the lane.
The north face of the house, complete with American flag and dog
The west side of the house. Mom's in the garage, probably organizing some of my stuff that I was storing there for the summer.
The front pasture (and, in the distance, the back pasture). You can see Dad's boat parked here. One of my favorite things to do when I'm back home is to go fishing with my Dad on the mighty Mississippi. It's only about a 15 minute drive from my house.
The east side of the house taken from the small hill just behind it.
The south hill and the hay field above it. Even though this is how I'll remember it for a long time, shortly after taking these pictures, a flood whiped out all the landscaping on the hill. So I have no idea what it really looks like anymore.
The front pasture. In the foreground we have (from left to right): Manure spreader, Escalator, Hay Rake. Towards the back we have a Bailer, (?????), another Hay Rake, and the Chicken Coop.
The view from the double garage north down the lane.
The east lawn again. This time taken from behind the house so that you can see the park bottom just beyond the fence. You get used to having new "neighbors" every weekend.