Located about four miles north of my home, McFarland Park was the brain child of a Dr. Ernest J. McFarland, an Ames physician who owned 93 of the current 238 acres. After his death, his family gifted this area of prairie grassland, woodland, streams, and a man-made lake to Story County Conservation in the late 60's to avoid the land being parceled off to developers.
Over the decades, high school students built a vast hiking and mountain biking trail system; the Ames astronomy club built an observatory; and the Kiwanis built a handicapped accessible trail, all of which aid in conservation education for Story County.
I spent an early spring afternoon at McFarland Park with Kyle Renell, my friend who moved to Ames to study art after she retired from law practice and law enforcement in Minneapolis.
Here's are some favorite snippets of conversation from that day:
“This prairie reminded me when I first saw the desert. I expected the desert to be tan and boring, and instead it was all these other colors. And that's what this field evokes in me. You look out and it's golden and purple and there's a bank of trees in the far ground…I just find it fascinating because I grew up more city than I did country. So I've learned a lot by coming here.”
“The first time I saw this view, it reminded me of a painting of a Paris park. There's something about this kind of little inlet of water and it's got the walking paths and the people going around. To me, it's kind of romantic. It's weird because you can hear the traffic from the interstate, but then that becomes white noise. And the birds actually become louder than the traffic.”
“Have you been to Paris?”
“No, but I want to go.”
“So, McFarland Park reminds you of a place you'd never been?”
“What do you think the impact of this place is for the Ames community?”
“That's a good question. For Ames proper, I think except for the sound of the interstate, it gives you…this complete place for complete reflection. And…how do I say this? The fact that we don't see that many people [here] is also probably why people are so stressed out because they don't take the time to be by themselves and just reflect. Everybody has to be on their I-Phone. One of the things about Ada Hayden is you would encounter people either running or bike-riding or walking around. Now, if they're walking around talking to somebody, whoever they're walking with, that's fine, because you're having a conversation. But so often I find people are still wired. And it just kind of defeats the purpose, really.
I just don’t understand why you need to have an artificial soundtrack to your life, where this gives you a natural soundtrack.”
What do you think your life in Ames would be like if this place didn't exist?
It would be confined to the neighborhood, which isn't all that bad. I know a lot of my neighbors. It's a very small town, and it's a big city, sort of. Ames is kind of a schizophrenic place, I feel, because it is small town, but it's very cosmopolitan. There's all these different international people here, and a lot going on.
But, this place lets you get away. So I think it would be a big loss not to have these parks in Ames.
Like what you see? Invest in a painting or a limited edition print of McFarland Park.