yesterday, as i was driving to a friend's wedding, i was thinking about all of the reasons why i love wisconsin. the wedding was about an hour outside of madison, so i had plenty of time to think of lots of reasons. here are a few:
it's beautiful. i was driving through lots of farmland and it was so green and pretty. trees and cows and corn and huge lots of green grass.
it has four seasons. fall is definitely my favorite. the leaves turn colors, the air is brisk, it's wonderful. winter is a tad too long, but it's still nice to experience four distinct seasons - something i learned about in elementary school but didn't experience until i moved here.
sooooo much less traffic than los angeles. the people here complain about the traffic, and i suppose, relatively, there is more traffic in madison than outlying areas, but try to drive in la folks, then i'll listen to your concerns.
people are nice here. there are some who aren't, of course, but for the most part, people are friendly and helpful and nice.
people return their shopping carts to the designated area. (my friend sandy pointed this out about where she moved to in virginia and i realized the same things happen here) rarely do you see a stray shopping cart in a parking lot. people go out of their way to return their carts. i've never pulled into a parking stall and had to idle the engine while i got out of my car, shoved three carts out of the way, and then finish parking.
the state has a football team. i don't love football, don't follow it, never watch it, but the packer fans here are awesome. it's fun to be in a state that shows so much pride in their sports teams.
people know their neighbors. they know their names, or at least, their faces. they wave to me when they drive by, we say hi as we pass on the street. i know who lives in my building and one day, one of the younger children was outside my door trying to see rally but i couldn't see his dad. so i stuck my head out the door and looked around to make sure he wasn't alone. there was his dad, talking to our neighbor across the fence. he waved at me to let me know he was there and saw me checking.
my mailman opens my door to deliver my mail. my mailbox is nailed to my door, and on nice days, i like to leave my door open (the storm door has a window to let air in). "it's steve!" he calls as he opens my storm door and drops my mail in my box. "thanks steve!" i call back.
so there you go. just a few reasons why i love wisconsin.
