Zook Spur

After I finished teaching on September 22, 2008, I headed to the village of Zook Spur. I followed Oralabor Road west out of Ankeny, through the town of Polk City, and past the Big Creek State Park Area. The sky was gray and seemed to wanted to rain, but it wouldn't. I passed the same kind of farm land you see throughout Iowa, acreages with horses, fields turning golden, and quiet houses away from town. A little country church was packed with cars, strange for midday on Monday, but perhaps there was a funeral.

I was scared I wouldn't find the town, that I would pass it on the highway, and I almost did. I turned onto the highway. The town of Zook Spur was just four houses on a side road, and there is one road named Zook Spur Place. A house had a sign in the front yard that read Zook Spur: The Town Too Tough to Die. Housework seemed to be the theme. A broken down house was being reinsulated and there was heavy machinery in the torn up front yard. Another guy was on a ladder fixing his roof. One house had several busted looking ponies in the front yard and half a dozen dogs who ran up to my car, tails wagging when I pulled over to take pictures. I wanted to learn more about the history of the town, but I was too afraid to knock on doors, but I do like the idea of a little town being too tough to die, too tough to be subsumed by Madrid.