Actually it's just a bunch of empty corn fields, as winter is just now being beat back by spring. As a quick update, I'm up in Iowa, in my new house (closed Feb 10th, thank you) and settling in. Job is going well, my first robot project is about to switch to production work, house is awesome (three car garage, yeah!) and the bike trails are as vast and asphalt-y as anyone could wish for. Seriously there must be 80+ miles of interconnected, luxuriously paved trails going every which way up here. I've even seen a few cyclists out on the roads, so it may be a popular pastime here.
Life away from my family and friends in STL has been a bit lonely, but I keep in touch and travel back down from time to time. I'll adapt, I'm still new here.
