Is This Heaven… It’s Iowa
The movie “Field of Dreams” had a huge impact on me. My dad was a huge baseball fan and there were many nights when I would ask him to play catch with me in the front yard of our home in Napa, CA. He always obliged, and my friend from around the corner would come over and we would play pickle in the yard until my mom called us in for dinner.
Later in my teens my dad and I had our run-ins, and there were long periods when we wouldn’t even talk to one another. Then I went off to school and then off to the horizon and we never got the chance to reconnect properly. I had a career to pursue and nothing was going to get in my way.
Then by chance, I took a business trip to Akron Ohio in 1989. I can’t even remember what the trip was for. In one of our meetings after the first night, a colleague asked me if I had seen the movie Field of Dreams. I had no idea what she was talking about. She said “it’s a great movie, and it’s on Spectravision in the hotel”.
Well, ironically I called my dad that night because the Oakland A’s (his team) and the San Francisco Giants (my team) were about to play in the World Series. You know, the one with the earthquake. We had a great chat and both bragged about our teams and who would beat who (of course the A’s swept the Giants). After I hung up the phone I decided to watch the movie.
Good Lord… By the end of that movie I was a sobbing mess in a puddle of tears. It touched me to my core. I think many guys like me felt the same way.
Today, Terri and I visited the movie site in Dyersville, Iowa. When we planned this trip and knew we would be traversing Iowa, it was one of the first stops I put on our plan. It was everything I hoped it would be. There were dozens of families playing catch on the field. The grass was green, the corn stalks were tall.
One of the most dramatic scenes in the movie is when the character played by James Earl Jones makes his impassioned speech about how “People will come…”. The spirit of this speech was evident as we drove in, and handed over our $20 donation.
They’ll arrive at your door, as innocent as children, longing for the past. “Of course, we won’t mind if you look around,” you’ll say, “It’s only twenty dollars per person.” And they’ll pass over the money without even thinking about it, for it is money they have and peace they lack… Oh people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come.
We spent less than an hour at the site. We took pictures. We talked to other visitors. We bought souvenirs in the gift shop. I mentioned to the gift shop cashier, “you must love your job, because everyone here is happy”. It is a magical place.
