Virginia Bluebells, Yellow River State Forest, Harpers Ferry, Iowa

The forests of Yellow River State Forest, Iowa, are full of spring flowers this year, including carpets of Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica).

Mississippi River, Effigy Mounds National Monument, Harpers Ferry, Iowa

Past the Mississippi River's west channel from Effigy Mounds National Monument, Iowa, are middle islands, with the hills of western Wisconsin beyond.

The Effigy Mounds are a collection of funerary or ritual mounds, some shaped like animals, along the river. They were built over a millennium or more, and similar mounds are found throughout the Eastern Woodlands.

Taken by the history and beauty of the place, I placed a milkweed seed ball among three mounds. I now regret this. The Effigy Mounds are sacred to local Native American tribes whose ancestors are buried there.

Even today, they perform religious ceremonies at the site. And I just put a bit of my friend there, not considering their feelings. Shitty of me. You don't mess with other folks' family graveyards and memorial markers.

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