They Built It - Will We Come?

We humans are creatures of music, and creatures of storytelling.  Our relationships to people, to places, to our world, to our fellow humans, can be marvelous, hurtful, or both at the same time.

This is a story about relationships.

In May of 1995, my spouse, my then young son and I flew to Iowa from our upstate New York home to attend the wedding of a cousin.  The lilacs were in bloom and it was a beautiful spring.

Iowa and I have a complex relationship, but that's a story for another day.  Returning to today's story...

During the visit, another cousin (the bride's younger brother) offered to take us to the Field of Dreams move site in Dyersville, Iowa.

Back in 1995, Field of Dreams wasn't quite the same as it is now.  But how did it come into existence?

In 1989, a movie set was built on parts of two farms a few miles outside Dyersville, a small city (population then around 4,000)  in eastern Iowa for a movie called Field of Dreams. My son wasn't that interested in baseball but I wanted, very much, to see the Field of Dreams.

After all, dreams (or visions) can come true.  The plot of the movie is simple, in a way.  A farmer hears a voice coming out of his cornfield whispering "if you build it, he will come" and has a vision. The rest of the movie basically has to do with the vision, the farmer's complex relationship with his father, and finally, what happens when the protagonist builds the field.  I plan to see the movie again in the near future.

One of the two farm families, the Lansings, decided not to plow the set over after the movie was filmed.  The other farm family did plow their land over.  The Lansings made a good decision.  By 1995, the field was a tourist attraction. 

On that day in May, we took a two lane road (what some call "blue highways") from where the bride lived, to Dyersville. 

We walked the grounds. We could have played catch on the field, and maybe this would have been a better story if we had.   But that wasn't my son's thing.   We didn't play catch, but we soaked in that special plot of land.  Neither I or my spouse remember going into the house.  Did I take pictures?  Maybe.  I don't have them available to me -they would have been film, and I didn't own a computer at the time.

But I do have this.   I bought this t-shirt.  I still have it. 

Afterwards, we visited the Ertl toy factory located in town, enjoyed seeing all the toys (many of them based on farm equipment, and bought my son a Thomas the Tank Engine toy.Earlier Ertl toys can be collectable but I don't believe any of them are made in the U.S. any more.  I hope I'm wrong.  

Ertl collection, Tioga County Museum, Owego, New York (taken by AM)

Over the years, many made that pilgrimage to eastern Iowa.  Eventually, a decision was made to build another ball field, this one a genuine major league dimensioned field, and play a major league game there. It was supposed to be played in 2020, but the pandemic moved it to this year.  I had wanted to try to go to the 2020 game and lost track of it.  I wasn't there for the game on Thursday physically, but I was, in spirit.

On August 12, the Chicago White Sox played the New York Yankees at that adjacent field  built in late 2019, based in part on the old Comiskey Park in Chicago where the White Sox played for many years. This time it was a real life 'if they built it' that never would have been possible without the original story and movie.

And yes, there will be a 2022 Field of Dreams game, possibly with the Chicago Cubs as one of the teams.

I'm thinking of making plans.  My relationship to Iowa is complex, also.  It will take some thinking and planning.

We'll see.