I could
not have said this better myself.
Ashley is a fellow ND blogger who has a way of describing the beautiful, and not-so-beautiful, parts of our state. I totally understand if you think we have funny accents but no running water? C'mon people... :)
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It's truly amazing what the world
doesn't know about North Dakota. I mean, I once had an entire camp's worth of people convinced that I didn't have electricity, running water, or a car. Might I add that the camp was in Michigan, of all places. Michigan. And they think that North Dakota is so desolate? I digress.
In honor of being featured on the blog of a fellow North Dakotan (who is also a former neighbor of mine...and by the way, sorry about the incident with all the water in the foyer in high school. Yes, it was me and my friend Sarah who decided to wake your brother and Winks up from a nap with squirt guns...oops.), I figured we should clear some things up.
First and foremost, I'd like to address the Canadian accents so
brilliantly portrayed as ND in the movie Fargo. I mean seriously.
Sure, we pronounce some words a little "funny" according to the rest of
the world (the most common being the pronunciation of both our state's
name and NDSU's mascot, and, of course, bag), but wasn't there some
study once that said the Midwest has the least apparent accent of
anyone? We'll run with it. And based off of that, we're right. But if
you think we're Canadians, obviously your perception is going to be
skewed.
Winter. It is long, and cold, and awful, but it's not the only
season and is no reason to completely avoid the state altogether. We do
have spring (also known on a semi-regular basis as flood season), fall
is gorgeous, and summer is prime time lake season with tons of options
for water recreation. Furthermore, winter really is only November
through March (most of the time), so the other seasons do make up more
of the year than the cold one, regardless of how marginal the victory
may be.
We may not have professional sports, but the college rivalries make
what we do have just as fun. The University of North Dakota's hockey
team is consistently a nationally-ranked squad, and it's worth
mentioning that the Ralph Engelstad Arena that they call home is
basically the Taj Mahal of hockey. Both professional and amateur. And
North Dakota State's football team are back-to-back national champs and
always a good time to watch. Plus tailgating, while it does not rival
the SEC, has all sorts of shenanigans to take part in.
The lack of electricity, cars, running water, heat...all
horrendously untrue, even in the most remote parts of the state. And
for the record, the city with the smallest population nationwide is
actually in Wyoming. Despite the fact that we have moved into 2014 with
the rest of the world, it is still relatively easy to convince people
that none of these things exist in North Dakota.
There is more here than corn. Like wheat, duh. But also lake and
badlands and oil fields. Not very many trees, but hey, ya win some ya
lose some.
There is also more to do here than drink, although it
does make winter pass a little faster. Aside from the Eastern half of
the state's relative flatness (and I probably don't even need to include
relative in that statement), it's an outdoorsman's paradise. Plenty of
hunting and fishing to do as well as hiking out west. Many people have
horses. And if you can manage to maintain your marathon training
program outdoors during the winter, you are most definitely a badass.
And most importantly North Dakota nice really is a thing...an almost
indescribable thing. One where mass amounts of people show up in your
neighborhood unasked to help throw millions of 40-lb sandbags to protect
your house from a river. One where people from out of the state who
take the plunge and visit actually enjoy coming back. One where people
don't take the last brownie from the pan because they don't want to be
the person who takes the last one and prevent someone else from having
it. One where rush hour does not equal thousands of honked horns,
middle fingers, and profanities. North Dakota nice makes it a beautiful
place and one that I will always call home.