Holly Shrine

   Early on an autumn morning I visited the site of the 1959 plane crash that took the life of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and pilot Roger Peterson.  The site is located in a cornfield near Clear Lake, Iowa.  You can park along the gravel road at the intersection of Gull and 315th and then walk the half mile path along the fence line to the permanent shrine that marks the spot.   There are a pair of giant black eyeglasses marking the trailhead.  Kind of goofy, but nice to know you are on the right path.
  For geocachers, this site is listed as a 'virtual geocache' called the "Holly Shrine"   The requirement to log this cache is a picture of yourself, including the shrine, so I packed my tripod and camera for the short hike.
   The shrine itself is made of stainless steel and marks the spot where the plane came to rest that night, crumpled up like a ball of paper, after rolling some 500 ft on impact.  The bodies of Holly and Valens had been found lying on the ground within 17 ft, and the Big Bopper's body was found across the fence in the field.  The pilot's body was encased in the plane wreckage.   It must have been a horrible sight for the law enforcement officers who discovered it.
  The ground around the shrine is covered with guitar picks and little trinkets that people have left there.  It's an eerie place, in spite of the fact that it's out in the open.
   On this October morning the corn was standing, ready for harvest, and there was a light frost on everything.  The sun had just come up and was shining at a hard angle, adding long shadows to the landscape.
   I set up my tripod, hit the timer and moved into the picture.  Just as the camera was about to go off I heard a loud rustling, saw movement off to one side and, a bit startled, looked to see what it was......   turned out to be birds in the cornfield, but it made for an interesting photo.  I think it captured the strange energy that was all about the place.