Hello CALS,
I hope you enjoyed the beautiful September weekend (see the poem below), all the way from cool to hot to cool again, from great Cyclone football expectations to "it could have been a better outcome," and including your own personal reflections on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and the profound impact and changes it has brought. A full weekend for sure.
As we start the fourth week of the semester, let me once again thank you for continuing to engage with our wonderful students, pursue our land grant university missions, and strive in every way we do. Keep current on ISU policies and guidance on COVID, let me know your ideas on any of this, and let's all do our best to take care of ourselves, each other, and our communities.
This week I’ll attend the Iowa Master Farmer luncheon, visit our Western Research and Demonstration Farm in Castana for their 75th anniversary field day, and on Saturday I'll take part in Cyclone Family Weekend activities at the Memorial Union, as well as the public celebration of life for one of our own, Owen Newlin. I’m sure you have a full week, too.
My best - Dan
Each September I recall a poem I was “made” to memorize in in junior high school, and while I didn’t enjoy that one bit, I have still always loved the poem. Here it is, “September” by Helen Hunt Jackson, 1879
The golden-rod is yellow;
The corn is turning brown;
The trees in apple orchards
With fruit are bending down.
The gentian’s bluest fringes
Are curling in the sun;
In dusty pods the milkweed
Its hidden silk has spun.
The sedges flaunt their harvest,
In every meadow nook;
And asters by the brook-side
Make asters in the brook.
From dewy lanes at morning
the grapes’ sweet odors rise;
At noon the roads all flutter
With yellow butterflies.
By all these lovely tokens
September days are here,
With summer’s best of weather,
And autumn’s best of cheer.
But none of all this beauty
Which floods the earth and air
Is unto me the secret
Which makes September fair.
‘T is a thing which I remember;
To name it thrills me yet:
One day of one September
I never can forget.
The first 20 lines are just right for the season – I think you’ll agree, and the last eight leave the reader wondering...apparently that was how she meant it to be. I also suggest you Google Helen Hunt Jackson (1930-1885), who you’ll find was not only a great American poet linked to other great American poets (Emily Dickinson, Ralph Waldo Emerson), but also a tireless advocate for Native Americans at a time when that made her a true stand-out independent woman and civil rights champion. She grew into it, and has left quite a legacy.
CALS Snippet Story
By Mary Wiedenhoeft, Morrill Professor in agronomy
Starting a new academic year and semester is always exciting for me. I have had so many “first days” of class, but I still get excited and nervous. I also look forward to this time of year because of the agronomy freshmen learning community field trip. Agronomy has a 22-year history of offering a two-day field trip the Friday and Saturday before classes start. It is a great opportunity for the freshmen to meet and get to know one another before classes begin; they will be colleagues in class, clubs, study groups, and in their careers. I love listening for the change in talking decibels from the first few minutes to the end of the two days. So many freshmen have commented that the fear of walking into a big classroom their first day of classes is reduced when they see friends they met on the field trip. It is a delight for me to be a part of this experience.
CALS Snippet Story
By Claudia Lemper-Manahl, associate teaching professor in plant pathology and microbiology
Things that make me smile when I come to campus are the sounds and sites from my office window. During these beautiful fall days in Ames, I can hear the Cyclone Marching Band practicing for the game each Friday, or the ROTC crew chanting in cadence as they march down the street in the early morning with their heavy back packs, and even students chatting in the front of Science 1 Hall about the fun microbiology lab they just finished. But most of all, I smile when I see students getting off the CyRide bus or walking to their next class wearing their spirited Cyclone attire each day. The community feeling of pride and spirit runs deep at ISU and reminds me of my younger years as a Cyclone.
Nature in Focus
A special thanks goes out to Tony Krebs, freshman in horticulture, and Barb Clawson, student services specialist in horticulture, for their quick work to perform an "extreme makeover" on the planters on the east side of Curtiss Hall. We have had a nice tradition of the horticulture clubs maintaining those planters, but during the pandemic, the project was temporarily stalled and the planters returned to “prairie in progress” status. That changed last week when Tony and Barb leapt into gear to transform the planters in time to be admired by Cyclone and Hawkeye fans alike. If you get a chance, please thank Barb and Tony for their quick work.
The crew at the Ag Engineering/Agronomy Research Farm on Highway 30 just west of Ames were proudly flying the American flag and Cyclone Nation flag this weekend. A terrific way to honor the nation and remember 9/11, and to celebrate Cyclone spirit and hope for a great (better?) game!
Have you been keeping tabs of the construction progress at the ISU Kent Corporation Feed Mill and Grain Science Complex? I encourage you to take a drive past the site at the corner of Highway 30 and State Avenue sometime.
Please keep sharing your photos with me via email!
