Back to the Heartland

A couple of weeks ago I completed my move from Texas back to the Midwest. I headed up north to Charleston, Illinois to take the job as General Manager of WEIU-TV & FM, the radio-TV center of Eastern Illinois University. With minor exceptions, the move went calmly and was accomplished with minimal hassle.

At some point down the road I'll spend some time talking about the job and the university environment. At this point I find it quite exciting and productive.

But right now I want to spend a few words on the house I bought when I moved back to the heartland. The home I'm affectionately dubbing, The Farm House.

This beautiful American classic was built way back in 1917 by a farmer, maybe rancher would be a better term, who had received a contract to breed mules for America's war effort. Yeah, this was long before humvees or even jeeps, to be sure. Those old enough to have read about "The Big One" may remember that horses and mules were still the major forms of transportation during the war. So a contract to raise them for the effort was likely pretty lucrative.

The bad news was that when the war ended, so did much of the demand for mules! Automobile and truck production ramped up and Americans were quick to adapt to a much more mechanized society. As a result, the enterprise of breeding mules for fun and profit near Charleston, Illinois, began to fail.

The Great Depression brought the end. By then the farm had fallen into foreclosure and was bought by a local physician who owned the farm for many years.

Then in the 70's, a local farmer purchased the land and added it to his farming operation. It has remained in Max Winkler's hands until this year when I quickly became fascinated with the home while looking for a place to live when taking over my new position.

Max still has a vibrant farming operation which leaves me much to watch as he continues to grow corn and soybeans on more than a thousand acres surrounding the Farm House. And at night, the porch allows me to watch the setting sun in the west, the enveloping stars from the east or the incoming weather from, well pretty much every direction!

Yes, I've endured my share of "Green Acres" jokes already. And to be honest, some are pretty darned funny! And no, I have not yet ventured to the Rural King to purchase a pair of overalls. Though you never know what might happen!

So to slightly paraphrase a beautiful John Denver song from back in the 70's, this move to the Farm House gave me the chance to "Come home to a place I'd never been before".

It's great to be home!

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