Summer in Minnesota

Minnesota is not one of the most terribly exciting or happening places in the U.S. of A. And I mean it as a compliment :-)

When I first heard of Minnesota, I had to dust-off my old school atlas and look it up in the 'USA political map'. Had never heard of it. Had had no reason to, I suppose. The only thing connected (physically) to Minnesota that I had heard of was the Lake Superior.

After landing at the old Humphrey terminal, as I was being driven out to my apartment, the orneriness of sprawling suburbia struck me as out of place. Where were the modern, towering skyscrapers and glitzy glamorous malls that I had seen in Hollywood movies. Gradually it began to sink into me that this place must be the true backwaters of America. The real America of course being mostly like the Big Apple - New York and Los Angeles. I promised to myself that sooner than later I would leave this place for the REAL AMERICA!!
But that was then....

Having braved several hundred feet of snow, peppered with a few momentary interludes of sunlight and warmth I can safely claim that I love the place.

Some lesser known facts about Minnesota:

- The MN license plate claims that it's the land of 10,000 lakes. Actually there are 11,842 lakes (10 acres or larger). Just in case 10,000 didn't make you happy enough.

- The official state bird of Minnesota is NOT the mosquito, as any native will swear over his life, but actually the loon. Although, if visibility and ubiquitousness were considered as factors in deciding the symbol, the result might have been different.
A factoid related to the above-mentioned fact: A MN mosquitoe isn't really a bird, but seems almost as large.

- Dislike of cheese-curds is NOT officially a crime in the MN penal code, but don't get too vocal with your opinions. People take their cheese-curds seriously!!

- Minnesotans don't talk only about the weather. They also talk about fishing and football. Though weather is still the number one ice-breaker (no pun intended) among strangers - based on unofficial and unscientific surveys.

- Pick-up trucks DON'T outnumber people in Minnesota - It's an even match.

- Minnesota DOES have outdoor drive-in movie theaters that operate in summer and very often an entire movie can be seen without any snow (gasp!!) and sometimes you can even roll your windows down.

- Mall of America is MOST CERTAINLY NOT the only monument in the twin-cities. We now also have our very own IKEA store much closer to home than the one in Schaumburg IL.

contd..