Northwood, Iowa

The First Shall be Last, and The Last First:  Is being first in alphabetical order a recipe for success in life? You can't get much closer to the beginning than a "double A." In their school days, they must have been right under the teacher's gaze, and recipients of much pedagogical praise. But, did it all guide their adult pathways? South Shell Rock Cemetery. [2019]

Odebolt, Iowa

Picture-Perfect Farmsteads:  His was a prosperous farmstead. You can tell by the number of barns and all the cribs and silos. That means he must have grown something of great value: Cracker Jacks! Well, not exactly, but here was grown most of the popcorn used to make it. Odebolt was the popcorn capital of America. The fields were in Iowa; the factories were in Chicago, and the railroad linked the two. Odebolt Cemetery. [2019]

Atlantic, Iowa

Picture-Perfect Farmsteads:  The farmers here (see them?) have achieved immortality (no you don't!). But, their sheep remain behind. How do we know they have risen into the heavens? Because their last name means "immortality," from the Greek ambrotos.  What are they eating in their new digs? Not lamb or mutton, but ambrosia. Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Cemetery. [2008]

Odebolt, Iowa

Portraits Etched into Granite:  What's the story they are trying to tell? Local company. Truck driving couple with their cab. Pulling what looks like a Pullman car. Name on the train is Portland. Connect the dots. Was this the job they were the proudest of? Odebolt Cemetery. [2019]

Atlantic, Iowa

Aerial Photographs on the Landscape:  Aerial photographs seem so fitting in a Roman Catholic Cemetery. Why? Because an air photo is essentially a God's-eye view of the world, or, in this case, a God's eye view of the Harman farm. Saints Peter and Paul Church Cemetery. [2008]