iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 3h

It feels like I barely have time to take a breath these days but one of my office tillandsias is blooming and that makes me happy

Three tillandsias on a window sill against a blue sky.

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Extraordinary waste of GHG emissions happening in Iowa City rn, I surmise it’ll get worse.

Close up of the ESPN set up in the Iowa City Pentacrest with appropriately lots of garbage 🗑️ in the foreground.

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I love how USDA’s conservation programs are so anodyne and blandly useless they are basically co-opted by opposing ideologies in otherwise vastly different administrations and nothing ever changes on the ground. www.usda.gov/about-usda/n...

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Listening and reading about the Lee Co. Iowa proposed $15 billion steel mill all day and every time thinking that the southernmost portion of that county was "The Half-Breed Tract" instituted in 1824. It turned into a legal quagmire of land speculation - even Joseph Smith Jr. purchased land there.

Half Breed Survey assembled from the township maps of Samuel Morrison, 1838 by H. R. Harlan, 1925.

Harlan, E. R., (1924) “A Map of the Half Breed Tract”, The Annals of Iowa 14(6), 422-423.

https://pubs.lib.uiowa.edu/annals-of-iowa/article/id/7609/

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The geese really seem to enjoy the prairie restoration project on the floodplain down the hill from my neighborhood (and the high water we are having)

Water on a floodplain with geese swimming about and trees in the background.

Geese walking around on a still green hillside in with recent planting of grasses and grassed terraces.

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

In my Iowa City neighborhood the deer are really brazen this year

Four deer in the daylight in front of two houses.

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

My kind of Sankey diagram From: Richter, B. D., Lamsal, G., Marston, L., Dhakal, S., Sangha, L. S., Rushforth, R. R., ... & Schmidt, J. C. (2024). New water accounting reveals why the Colorado River no longer reaches the sea. Communications Earth & Environment, 5(1), 134.

Figure showing a summary of the Colorado River Basin’s water supplies (left side) and all water consumed in each sub-basin, in each water-use sector, and by individual crops. All estimates based on 2000–2019 averages. Both agriculture and MCI (municipal, commercial, and industrial) uses are herein referred to as “direct human uses.” “Indirect uses” include both reservoir evaporation as well as evapotranspiration by riparian/wetland vegetation.

From
Richter, Brian D., Gambhir Lamsal, Landon Marston, Sameer Dhakal, Laljeet Singh Sangha, Richard R. Rushforth, Dongyang Wei et al. "New water accounting reveals why the Colorado River no longer reaches the sea." Communications Earth & Environment 5, no. 1 (2024): 134.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01291-0.pdf

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

It does! "Pecan (Carya illinoensis) can be found in bottomland woods. It is located along the Mississippi River. It can also be found along the Des Moines River in Kossuth county, possibly planted by native Americans."

Map of Iowa showing location of pecan trees along the Mississippi

https://naturalresources.extension.iastate.edu/forestry/iowa_trees/trees/pecan.html

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Quite happy to see (and buy!) pawpaws at the Iowa City farmers market - these are from people who planted trees but also have volunteer ones at their farm. Local native foods, diversified production, small scale farming. What’s not to like?

A paper bag with half a dozen nice looking ripe pawpaws.

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

This is a tangent, but I get really creeped out by white people buying historical Native American artifacts that often should be rematriated. Buying art from contemporary artists who get a fair price in the process seems much more ethical to me. This is another Susan Point print, Memory.

Memory
Artist Susan Point
Medium Hand-pulled silkscreen print
Dimensions30 x 30 x 5 in. (76.2 x 76.2 x 12.7 cm)
Classifications Print
Credit Line Seattle Public Utilities 1% for Art Portable Works Collection

https://seattlearts.emuseum.com/objects/3268/memory

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Her prints are amazing - I snagged one of the the Tribal Council ones, the last one in this post, at auction, framed, at a very very good price years ago and I am still pinching myself,

Beyond the Edge – 2015 Limited Edition Serigraph
https://stoningtongallery.com/artwork/beyond-the-edge-2015/

Celebration of Life RM III/IV
Susan Point, RCA
Coast Salish
Serigraph, Remarque III/V
Unframed, 22” x 22”

https://steinbruecknativegallery.com/celebration-of-life-susan-point/

Snake Lady - Limited Edition Print
Susan Point
Description
17" x 17"

Silkscreen 35/90

https://www.lattimergallery.com/collections/susan-point/products/limited-edition-print-by-susan-point-5707

Tribal Council - Limited Edition Print
Susan Point
$920.00
Description
14" x 12"

1986

Edition of 1000

https://www.lattimergallery.com/collections/susan-point/products/tribal-council-limited-edition-print

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

I am personally extremely fond of the work of Susan Point, a Coast Salish artist from Musqueam, a First Nation in Vancouver, who creates spindle whorls in glass, wood and print.

Beaver Woman Spindle Whorl by Susan Point
https://stoningtongallery.com/artwork/beaver-woman-spindle-whorl/

A frog and raven wood spindle whorl by Susan Point

Salish Spindle Whorl Scinqua

https://www.lattimergallery.com/collections/susan-point/products/salish-spindle-whorl-scinqua-limited-edition-print

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Our coop is selling beef tallow chips that cost twice as much as regular chips and say 💩 like “omega 3 boards” implying they are better for omega 3 though the beef is not pasture raised (and still has lots of saturated fats lol), “family operated” and “gluten free burgers”. MAHA creep is real.

Beef tallow potato chips at $9.99 a bag next to still pretty fancy potato chips that cost $4.99.

A bunch of different varieties of beef tallow potato chips in a store rack.

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

The pawpaws the raccoons 🦝🦝🦝 did not get to

Three ripe pawpaws on a black background.

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Believe or not good ricotta is still very hard to find in Iowa City - @manetooleefa.bsky.social and I made it at home today using local Radiance milk (which is amazing) and local Kalona buttermilk (also pretty good).

A glob of ricotta draining in cheesecloth in a red container on top of a wood board.

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Iowa City peeps, I’ll be at the Great Plains Action Society community conversation on big ag and water, on Thursday September 10 and 24, 6 to 8 PM at the GPAS Hub. Come with reflections, questions, experiences, ideas to share!

Flyer showing the details of the community conversation on big ag and water, on Thursday September 10 and 24, 6 to 8 PM at the Great Plains Hub, 810 Maiden Lane.

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Pomodori ripieni, Italian style, with tomatoes from today’s Iowa City farmers market.

Four very red stuffed tomatoes 🍅 (uncooked) with basil leaves for garnish, on a while plate.

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I wouldn’t mind a nap myself either

A tabby cat, EP, asleep on a green run in the foreground and a white Catahoula dog, Freya, asleep in a light brown dog bed in the background.

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

These two don’t really care for each other and Freya (R) is deaf and blind but they seem to regularly end up napping in the same spots

A tabby cat, EP, and a white Catahoula dog, Freya, asleep on a green and yellow rug.

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

A not-very-happy dog but she keeps picking at a sore so

Freya, a white Catahoula dog, on the couch with a blue stuffed cone around her head, surrounded by pillows.

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

I don't know how many today are thinking of Dolly Parton in connection with infrastructure, but I am. In 1945 in Sevier Co. TN where she was born, there were 3,078 farms. 197 had running water and 300 had electricity, supplied by the TVA. I'm pondering the role of the New Deal in her rural America.

Rural Electrification Administration poster titled "light" showing a big lightbulb in the front and a lit house in the background.

Rural Electrification Administration poster titled "running water" showing a big faucet.

Rural Electrification Administration poster titled "radio" showing big white waves on the light going to a lit house on the left.

Front page of a Rural Electrification Administration booklet titled "light and power for the farm".

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

And so another semester begins. Super excited about starting a new project and learning new things

Photo of the book Nature’s Nation: American Art and Environment.

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

First batch of the corn harvest that @manetooleefa.bsky.social grew at the Johnson Coumty’s poor farm garden.

A photo of multicolored flint corn partly shucked with the husks opened up - it’s pinkish, red, yellow, purple and blue.

A photo of multicolored flint corn partly shucked with the guy who grew it looking funny.

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Heron and bald eagle on our walk by the Iowa river today

A heron perched on a rock surrounded by water.

A bald eagle taking flight from a tree in a clear blue sky.

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Pro tip: when making spaghetti alla Nerano, fry your zucchine in olive oil.

A plate of spaghetti alla Nerano in a white bowl on a black tablecloth.

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Reading Sarah Phillips book on conservation & the New Deal and I’m struck by how it was clear then that in the West land “should never have been farmed in the first place” & “grasslands should never have been plowed” but farmers resisted land retirement and hello Colorado River how are you in 2026.

A photo of Sarah Phillips “This Land, This Nation” book.

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Always good to start the day with a hummingbird sighting from the living room

A hummingbird feeding from one of the plants in our patio garden - view from the inside of the house.

A hummingbird feeding from one of the plants in our patio garden - view from the inside of the house. He is flying around.

A hummingbird feeding from one of the plants in our patio garden - view from the inside of the house. He is feeding on a flower on the left bottom side of the photo. .

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

When he sleeps like that I always feel like I need to check he’s not dead lol

View from the top - a tabby cat sleeping on a bar chair - his head is hanging from the side and is not visible.

View from the back of the chair - a tabby cat sleeping on a bar chair - his head is hanging from the side and the body is not visible.

Another view from the side - a tabby cat sleeping on a bar chair - his head is hanging from the side.

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Kinda hard to read with EP three inches from my face

A very close close up of EP, a tabby cat.

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

As some of you know I am a big fan of Grant Wood and one of my bucket list items is to teach a class and write a paper on Iowa’s environmental history through his paintings. My favorite work of his is Young Corn, but this is a top five. The Mourner's Bench: “the way of the transgressors is hard”.

Grant Wood
1891-1942
The Mourner's Bench, 1921-1922
Oak, carved and stained
On loan from the Cedar Rapids Community School District
L1.70.3.169
The Mourner's Bench is an example of Grant Wood's great craftsmanship abilities and sense of humor. He carved the doleful and weeping children's heads for the bench while the rest was made with the assistance of his art students from McKinley Junior High School, who also helped him paint and decorate his 5 Turner Alley studio-home.
This "mourner's" bench has the look of a medieval church pew bench.
It was actually created for students to sit on while they "mourned" the deeds that brought them to the principal's office, where the bench was.

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Controversial opinion (?): Iowa’s sweet corn - mind you, despite the perception out there the state is NOT a top producer of sweet corn - is way too sweet. Farmers’ market or grocery store, it’s cloyingly sweet and overpowers dishes. esmis.nal.usda.gov/sites/defaul...

Chard from USDA showing the top sweet corn producing states: California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Washington and Michigan.

https://esmis.nal.usda.gov/sites/default/release-files/795772/vegean26.pdf

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

A frequent visitor to the patio garden

A hummingbird feeding from a flower on a raised bad - view from a window.

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

One of my major pet peeves about the visuals of Iowa’s agriculture is that they show animals out and about in the farm free range. This is a hog Confined Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO). The one in three US 🐖 raised in Iowa all come from places like this. The animals are never outside. Iowa beef… 1/

Two big hog confinements with feed storage, windmills in the background and corn in the foreground.

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Chances that corn would have been burned in your car nowadays are about 60%. And you would be paying for it with multiple subsidies (crop insurance, conservation, disaster payments). I’d rather enjoy these instead. Better in so many ways.

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

The floodplain of the Upper Iowa River where the Community Prairie has now been restored was a corn field right up to the water. Because stewards of the land and blah blah blah

View of the Decorah Community Prairie before it was planted to Prairie. A corn field was planted right up to the river.

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

A kettle of vultures (with plane)

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Any time! We are somewhat limited by a blind and deaf puppy but still managed a water based family vacation. (She smelled the water but did not care to wade on it)

Freya, a white Catahoula dog, asleep in her stroller.

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

This is the waterfall and spring right above the Upper Iowa River - a local told us the water coming from the spring is still above the drinking water nitrate limit.

The waterfall at Dunning’s Spring park in Decorah.

The spring past the waterfall at Dunning’s Spring park.

Dunning’s Spring off of the waterfall, a little stone to the left.

The spring’s confluence with the Upper Iowa River.

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

My god you can see all the way to the (admittedly very shallow at the moment) bottom

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

At Seed Savers (Bucket 🪣 list check ✅)

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Behold! A clean(ish) Iowa River and people recreating in it. What would this state and the rest of the Midwest look like if all our rivers were clean?

View of the Upper Iowa in Decorah by the levee.

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Agricultural exceptionalism is rooted in racism and white supremacy, and the reason why this bipartisan baloney still dominates the narrative. "Family farms" can be owned by one individual or a (family owned) corporation. Landowning farmers benefit from subsidies that are capitalized in land values.

A pie chart showing the estimated share of principal operator farm estates with estate-tax returns and owing estate taxes forecast for 2024. 1 percent must file a return and about a third of those will owe estate taxes.

From https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/farm-economy/federal-tax-issues/federal-estate-taxes

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Monarchs and a heron on our walk - I’ll take it any day

A blue heron by the water, hanging by the rip rap.

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