I am a born and raised Indiana girl, Hoosier if you will, and I wouldn't change it for a minute. I love the feel of grass on my bare feet, the sun on my face, the privacy a field of corn provides, bonfires, camo, pickup trucks, watching tractors in the fields, and the like. I live about an hour and a half outside of Chicago, and about 45 minutes from Michigan, and in the place I live, I have noticed some differences between me and other people. The people not from Indiana.
You might be from Indiana if...
one || You know what FFA and 4H stands for and you know that there wouldn't be a county fair without the 4H. This is number one out here folks. It's crazy how many people say that the county fair wouldn't be there with out the food, the rides, or the entertainment acts. But you know what... the projects in the 4H building, and the animals in the adjacent buildings... yeah those are the framework on which the fair has been built and with out them, there wouldn't be a fair.
two || Your idea of giving directions is "oh, past the second corn field on the left... yeah the one with the big rock... that's where you turn right, and it's about seven minutes down the road." It just happens. Apparently that's the easiest way to give directions, because half of the time you are takign the back roads and just don't bother to learn the road names. Plus they are all number and directions. So minutes are an acceptable measurement of distance.
three || The biggest rivalry you have ever encountered has been IU vs. Purdue. We Hoosiers are serious with our basketball. And the biggest decision of your HS career just happens to be which one you will be going to, not what your career will be. But just fyi, Purdue is more agricultural and IU is more medicine.
four || You giggle when you see a line of cars behind a tractor and curse that tractor when you happen to be one of those cars. Seriously one of the best things about the Midwest is seeing $100,000 combines going down the road pissing off city folk.
five || Your idea of going "down south" is literally going 1.5 hours south and going to town is going 10 minutes up the road. My parents do this, and they aren't the only ones- I know some people live in small towns, like there is one with like 500 people in it, but we live in an unincorporated area and we love it.
And I'm not the only one who lives in Indiana AND loves it...
I have the wonderful Faith from Life w/ Mrs. G and the Artist here with me!
Take it away Faith-
I love everything about Indiana .. from the crazy weather and the small town festivals to the theme parks and the movies we are known for. :) And of course the rivalries between sports teams!
Faith's 5 "You might be from Indiana if ....."
one // you can laugh when towns of 2000 people call themselves small towns...
I have lived in Indiana for most of my life. It is and always will be home to me. I grew up in a little town WAY at the bottom of the state and I always laugh when people talk about population and all that because ... trust me ... you don't get much smaller than the town I grew up in. I grew up in a little bitty town called Grandview, Indiana and the population as of 2013 was .... are you ready for this? 743! That is less than a 1000 people ya'll!! I know what a small town is. Everyone knows everyone AND their business! It's cray-cray ...
two // when you had a field trip every school year to Holiday World & family vacation in Gatlinburg TN....
Holiday world was THE place to go for a field trip growing up. Or if you were my family. It was a great place for your grandma to take you and your cousins every summer too. Score when you got to go twice in one year. You remember when it was only one park and not two. You remember what it was like BEFORE the 3 roller coasters were put in. And you have multiple pictures with your classmates and cousins in front of the santa at ALL times of the year!!! My family was a huge fan of holiday world AND Gatlinburg TN for vacation. We have so many pictures and memories from Gatlinburg with friends and family. My mom's whole family {grandma, mom and her brothers and sisters and their families} went a couple times for christmas..it was so much fun!
three // the rivalry between IU & KY is for REAL and HOOSIERS...
So if there is any doubt in your mind that there is a rivalry between Kentucky and Indiana then I will have to doubt your status as a Hoosier..ha! We lived right on the border of Kentucky and our church had many people from Kentucky in it so to say we knew about the rivalry was an understatement. We LIVED the rivalry every year through March Madness...it was crazy! And of course .. if we weren't watching a IU vs KY game we were made to watch "Hoosiers" at least a hundred times!
"Coach Norman Dale: I would hope you would support who we are. Not, who we are not. These six individuals have made a choice to work, a choice to sacrifice, to put themselves on the line 23 nights for the next 4 months, to represent you, this high school. That kind of commitment and effort deserves and demands your respect. This is your team."
four // cornfields and annual festivals...
I love that everywhere you go in Indiana there is cornfields! As far back as I can remember I remember corn. We lived near cornfields, we played in the cornfields, and picked corn from the cornfields. I love pictures of cornfields when they are ready for harvest..it always reminds me of home and growing up and all the good times. The hayrides and bonfires..it was so fun. And every little town has it's own little festival unique to them. I love those things. They are always in downtown on the square. Kokomo had Haynes Apperson festival, Martinsville had Fall Foliage, Carmel had Bach & Art and Film festivals and Grandview had Lazy Daze of Summer festival. Every little town I've lived in has these little festivals that celebrate different things and I love going to them because its the simple things in life that make it fun and enjoyable.
five // the weather
And we couldn't get away with talking about Indiana and NOT mention the craziness of the weather! Indiana is known for it's cray-cray weather. It can be sunny and 60 one day and 20 below and a blizzard the next! I like seasons ... don't get me wrong but mother nature can't seem to make up her mind which season it is in Indiana.
I love everything there is to love about Indiana and thankfully...I'm not alone. :)
What state do you live in? And what do you love about it?
Arkansas gal here! You might be from south Arkansas if the mention of winter weather has you running to the levee. Those Indiana points can really apply to Arkansas also. The weather is cray-cray, we give our directions by points of reference, and we have to "go to town" to get anything.
ReplyDeleteAs another Indiana girl, Bloomington born and raised, I LOVE this post! Hoosier loud and proud!
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