state by state speak your mind about...illinois

[davsand]

35. There are things about Illinois that you can appreciate.

There are also things that you can (and should) make jokes about.

There is Chicago. I am a downstater, and I will admit freely that there is a lot to admire about that city. Ain't nothing like the lakeshore anyplace. Lake Shore Drive (LSD to a lot of people) is a thing of beauty. Grant Part and the museum campus is something not to be missed. The museum of Science and Industry is like nothing you will find anyplace else, and, frankly, the Art Istitute is a gift to us all. (I saw my first O'keefe there...) Something about Chicago that a lot of people don't spot is "the attitude." New Yorkers have it too, but in Chicago it is elevated to a fine art. In New Tork they say, "Fuck you." In Chicago they'll likely say, "Fuck you AND your mother" then they proceed to tell you why your mother needs to be included in this activity. Chicago is nothing, if not showy. The entire history of the city is larger than life, and that attitude is rife in everything they do. You have got to admire it. Chicago was home to a couple of the pivotal events in the history of Labor. Look up the Haymarket Riots and the Pullman Strike. Eugene Debs ended up in prison after it was over, and the entire national railroad system had been crippled as a result of the Pullman walkout.

The middle part of the state is agriculture. Period. Flat like a table, with some of the richest soils to be found anyplace on the planet, the farmers here can (and do) produce amazing amounts of grain. Mostly it is corn and soybeans--but there are still the occasional plots of wheat and oats. What visitors need to see in Central Illinois is the green. I'm not talking the green of lawns or golf courses, but the endless shades of green that are here. In spring and early summer you can see every shade of green ever thought of, plus about a dozen more. In some ways, that profusion of green makes the winters that much harder to take--Illinois gets RFC (Really F***ing Cold) but it also goes dormant, and that brown and gray is just oppressive after living with the endlessly verdant springs and summers.

Downstate is rolling and wooded. Shawnee National Forest is down there, along with some of the most amazing hiking areas you'll ever see-- in parks called "Garden of the Gods" and "Giant City." Something a lot of people do not realize about Southern Illinois, is the history that is present there. Mother Jones is buried there. The coal industry was huge down there at one time. Even further back, the civil war was fought within families. Southern sympathizers were called "Copperheads" and there was an awful lot of local violence there in those times. The south end of Illinois is still more southern than most people realize, and you will hear the accents of the south there. River Pirates played a role at Cave in Rock in Hardin County, and there is an acceptance of the fact that the area was mostly settled by outlaws and "hoss thieves."

Illinois is not a place for everyone. It could be--but a lot of people can't deal with the weather extremes, and our politics here are pretty ugly when you get right down to it. We averge an incarcarted or convicted Governor every few years, and shoeboxes full of cash have turned up in the closets of dead pols. I will tell you all from direct personal experience that the corruption in this state is not only recognized, but is almost the thing of jokes in legal circles. Voters in Illinois are jaded, and even at the low level of public office I hold, I have been offered a bribe on more than one occasion. It is what it is, however, and if you are tough enough to survive Illinois politics, you can probably thrive damn near anyplace.

YMMV, but I'm from here and I see both the good and the bad in this state.



Laura