I met with two classes of high school juniors on Wednesday at my Alma Mater in St. Ansgar. My objective was to tell students about Hamlin Garland. During his boyhood 150 years earlier, Garland lived a dozen miles from where we gathered. The author, who employed the term “trail makers” in a book title, was himself a trail maker. For instance, he was an ardent advocate for wilderness preservation long before such thinking became more widespread.
Garland’s environmental advocacy was rooted in a growing awareness that the prairies of North Iowa were disappearing, a process he participated in from behind a plow. He wrote about this in “Boy Life on the Prairie,” published in 1899 and set in North Iowa. In this book’s conclusion, after being away from Iowa for several years, Garland and a neighbor friend return and notice the diminishing prairie:
“… fields of barley rippled where wild oats once waved. The ponds were dried up; the hazel bushes cut down. The kingbird was still on the wing, haughty as ever, and few gophers whistled. All else of the prairie had vanished as if it had all been dreamed. … They recalled all the now vanished pleasures of boy life on the prairie, and on them fell a sudden realization of the inexorable march of civilization. They shivered under the passing of the wind, as though it were the stream of time, bearing them swiftly away from their life on the flowering prairies.”
In a 1901 preservation message Garland contributed to a time capsule at Colorado College, which was opened in 2001, the author was passionate: “Let those of you who will defend the murder of trees and the gashing of hills, celebrating the material wealth and boundless enterprise of the mountain west. My office is a different one. I plead for the preservation of forests and cry out against the desecration of crystal streams. Let me offer sternest opposition to all wanton destruction of things beautiful. Be harshly forbidding to all who pollute the streams, deface the rock, or needlessly assault the earth.”
In a similar manner, I challenged students to submit at least one sentence for a “virtual time capsule” to be opened in 2123, a sentence (or more) for generations a century hence. Frankly, I was startled by these young adults’ anxieties about technology. Let me share the input from twelve students, one-third of all responses, edited lightly for brevity:
--"Technology has made a big impact… try your best to live “old school”: get your hands dirty, play in the dirt, and take on new adventures.”
--"2023 is filled with technology. People are glued to their phones, TVs, computers, etc. There’s more to life than technology. Take this into consideration and enjoy life without technology.”
--"I hope technology doesn’t take over.”
--"In 2023, technology is evolving more each day. The world is becoming run by technology. Don’t let social media take over your life and don’t believe everything you see”.
--"In 2023, technology is all around us. I hope it’s used more for good instead of bad. Keep some things old fashioned. I hope robots don’t take over the world.”
--"Don’t let technology run your life.”
--"Even with advances of technology and social media, while our small town is a great place to live, there honestly isn’t much to do here.”
--"Stay in shape, you never know when a robot will come for you.”
--"As pollution grows and war conquers, please save the earth as our ancestors did not.”
--"Don’t have kids as a teenager (or at all).”
And in closing, two overwhelmingly positive messages:
--"The world is beautiful, no matter how messed up things seem. There’s always beauty even in the most minute, mundane things. Keep on! We’re all fighting to keep the life we have in all its glory.”
--"Human willpower > anything.”
Interesting responses, don’t you think?
Iowa Writers’ Collaborative Columnists
Laura Belin: Iowa Politics with Laura Belin, Windsor Heights
Doug Burns: The Iowa Mercury, Carroll
Dave Busiek: Dave Busiek on Media, Des Moines
Art Cullen: Art Cullen’s Notebook, Storm Lake
Suzanna de Baca Dispatches from the Heartland, Huxley
Debra Engle: A Whole New World, Madison County
Julie Gammack: Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck, Des Moines and Okoboji
Joe Geha: Fern and Joe, Ames
Jody Gifford: Benign Inspiration, West Des Moines
Nik Heftman, The Seven Times, Iowa and California
Beth Hoffman: In the Dirt, Lovilla
Dana James: New Black Iowa, Des Moines
Pat Kinney: View from Cedar Valley, Waterloo
Fern Kupfer: Fern and Joe, Ames
Robert Leonard: Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture, Bussey
Tar Macias: Hola Iowa, Iowa
Kurt Meyer, Showing Up, St. Ansgar
Kyle Munson, Kyle Munson’s Main Street, Des Moines
Jane Nguyen, The Asian Iowan, West Des Moines
John Naughton: My Life, in Color, Des Moines
Chuck Offenburger: Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger, Jefferson and Des Moines
Barry Piatt: Piatt on Politics Behind the Curtain, Washington, D.C.
Macy Spensley, The Midwestern Creative, Davenport/Des Moines
Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Buggy Land, Kalona
Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Emerging Voices, Kalona
Cheryl Tevis: Unfinished Business, Boone County
Ed Tibbetts: Along the Mississippi, Davenport
Teresa Zilk: Talking Good, Des Moines
To receive a weekly roundup of all Iowa Writers’ Collaborative columnists, sign up here (free): ROUNDUP COLUMN
We are proud to have an alliance with Iowa Capital Dispatch.