In the hit movie 'Field of Dreams' the question is asked 'Is this heaven?' In that film, the answer is 'No, it's Iowa'.

But for those of us that grew up on a farm, the answer could just as well be 'South Dakota', 'Minnesota', 'Nebraska' or any of the other rural states in the country.

Growing up on a South Dakota farm was special. Now, of course, I grew up on a Minnesota farm, but hey, we were a stone's throw from the South Dakota border, so for the purposes here, it will do.

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And truly, I don't think it matters what generation you are from. It was special for my Grandfather, my father, me, my kids (who actually lived in a small town, but spent enough time on the farm to know) and my Grandkids, some of whom live on a farm and others who LOVE going to their Grandpa's farm.. It really doesn't matter if it's 1921 or 2021. I'll bet a dollar to a doughnut a lot of the memories are the same.

Outside. Always outside. So many places to explore, and then, explore over and over and over. There was always something new to discover, a cool rock that you missed the first dozen times, a new birds nest with little chirp's or maybe a young rabbit that the dog just had to chase (and never caught). With the benefit of a child's imagination, those three trees in the grove became a castle or a fort or anything that a hundred dreams could dream up.

The hay loft was a basketball auditorium, the old garage where you worked on a race car that only lived in the corner of your mind.

And growing up on a farm meant other things, too.

Hide and seek in corn fields. Grazing cattle. Cleaning hog barns. Picking eggs, 4-H, running machinery at, uh, maybe a too young age. And touching an electric fence. But only once. Lesson learned.

Most of it was fun, some of it wasn't. But the memories are all warm and in full bloom.

If you grew up on a South Dakota farm, or a farm close by or far away, you know how special it was.

onlyinyourstatedotcom contributed to this article

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