Land of Lincoln

I'm falling in love ... with Illinois. I know, I know, this is against every natural instinct and personal conviction that I have. I mean, Illinois has frigid cold weather, which isn't something this Arizona-raised girl typically applauds. And people here use lots of public transportation, which is something that the germ-phobe in me isn't particularly fond of. Not to mention that beyond the gritty, violent city streets on the south-side and the posh, sterile burbs lining the shore are lots and lots of farms, which means there are farmers, which means that half of Illinois at any given time could be wearing overalls, which is frightening. And the sun doesn't even shine all that often, which is just a waste of a very, very big (and hot) star.

But there's something kind of cool about Illinois' mixture of urban, suburban and rural areas. Just yesterday, I managed to drive from Evanston (a city suburb) through Skokie (a real suburb) to Streamwood (a rural suburb) to Bloomingdale (a real suburb) to Chicago (a real city) and back home to Evanston (still a city suburb) ... in about two hours. The sites were incredible. There were forest preserves, historic buildings, huge homes, tall skyscrapers and more. It was like a cultural collage. There's so much too look at that it's no wonder people opt for the train or drive like maniacs. It's hard to focus on the road when so much is going on around you. It's exciting and I like it.


So here's to you Illinois. Whether this budding crush will blossom into a full-blown romance remains to be seen, but even if our relationship is brief, it's sure to be filled with happy memories and lots of sightseeing.