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On Wisconsin

March 29, 2009 11:04 AM

helsadilla and I got to play host to her sister and her sister's boyfriend this weekend, and it was a lot of fun. It was cool to see things that I take for granted from the perspective of someone who had never been here before. And it was also cool to realize just how much I love Madison and Wisconsin generally.

It's easy to reduce Wisconsin to a few stereotypical things: beer, cheese, the Packers. But while those stereotypes are certainly warranted, there's so much more going on here. Whether you're having a meat and cheese platter at the Weary Traveler, staring up at the ceiling in the capitol rotunda, or walking around the UW campus, it's hard not to conclude that this state and the people who live here are pretty fucking awesome.

We were walking around the capitol square, and chelsadilla and I were explaining about the farmer's market. It was perhaps the first time that I realized how awesome the farmer's market is: hundreds of people come and sell food--some of it award-winning--that they grew or made themselves. Some of this food literally goes from the farm to the dinner table in less than a day--how fucking awesome is that? And how lucky am I to live in a state that has such ridiculous agricultural capabilities?

We were walking inside the capitol building, and it's just breathtaking. It took hundreds of workers eleven years to build the capitol, and anyone who's ever been inside of it might reasonably wonder how they were able to accomplish something so awesome in such a shot period of time. The building is just astoundingly beautiful, and especially so in the late afternoon when the sun streams through the skylights in the perfect manner. And you can just walk up the stems and go right in. If the senate is in session, you can sit there and watch them. You can watch the justices of the supreme court listen to oral arguments. You can walk up to the door of the governor's office and touch the badger's nose for good luck. The gears of our government are right there for you to observe, and in a building that glorifies the state government and the people from which it draws its authority.

We were standing at the Terrace and I couldn't help but think about what a beautiful outdoor space it is. The whole University is just so massively impressive, it's hard to understand, really. Everything about this school--the buildings, the students, the history--is impressive. And I graduated from here! I'm really proud that I can say that, especially when I'm driving down Observatory Dr. past vine-covered towers and awesomely maintained gardens.

I'm not a Wisconsin native, but I've got this to say to those of you who are: You've got a good thing going here.



1 Comments


The Reeg said:

WORD. I was born here, took a bit of an international detour, and then lived in Madison since I was seven, and I'm SO thankful for the opportunity. All of the places you mentioned--particularly the capitol, UW campus, and farmer's market--have incredible sentimental value for me. Thanks for this post--it brought back a lot of really awesome childhood memories. I'm glad you had a good weekend.

March 31, 2009 11:15 AM



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