Iowa has diverse land forms. I complain about seeing corn and beans on flat land but that is only in certain areas of the state. The glaciers played around a lot in Iowa. I use to live in Sidney, Iowa, on the edge of the bluffs that line the Missouri River. The bluffs are awesome and unusual, called loess hills. I could step into my backyard in Sidney and roll way down the hill. It was almost too steep to mow. In northern Iowa, seventy five percent of the richest soil in the world is found there. It is rich black dirt. In the far northeast of Iowa we have different land forms that remind one of European country hills.
In central Iowa where I now live we are fairly flat. The rivers have created land forms though, that give us hills and dales.We have farmers near here that own machines to pick up all the rocks that the glacier left behind. The rocks work up year after year.
In southern Iowa where I was raised as a kid, we had a hilly farm with clay soil and rocks everywhere. There is very little black soil in the south other than along the rivers and creeks.
The picture above is our rolling hills of the south. This particular area reminds me of England and Scotland, as the hills are very rolling and the cattle graze on the top and sides of the hills. When I drive to Osceola, I know that I am almost there when I see these hills. The town of Osceola is actually built on rolling hills like this with the courthouse at the top of the hill. If you can imagine hard enough less the two hundred and fifty years ago, we still had prairie grasses everywhere, buffalo, no trees and the Native American Indians lived along the rivers and streams. I had a Uncle who lived near Chariton that was a winter location of Indian tribes. He had large collections of artifacts from that farm.
I could never do a wordless Wednesday blog. I talk too much. Texture, the tactile quality, either visual or actual, helps us fulfill one of our many senses. The water lettuce is very slick looking and it sheds water quickly, but when you touch it, there is definitely a smooth texture. When you toss the little young plants in the water they will flip themselves over just like a rubber duck. First frost and this will all be gone. It takes too much light to be able to bring it inside.
Sage, a rough texture, is the only herb that I grew this year. I bought a new plant but one of my older plants also survived last winter. I like to plant herbs next to my sidewalk paths so that your legs will rub against it as you walk bu and you can smell the herb. This sage will be great for my wife to use in her dressing at Thanksgiving. 
