On Wisconsin!

Tonight, UW takes on Duke - a fact not lost on me as a co-worker showed up in her office best of a UW red skirt emblazoned with the Badgers all over it. Yes, this is Wisconsin and we take this seriously here. Tonight, win or lose, will be an epic night - even if you don't like basketball.

Wisconsin is like that. We are fiercely proud of our sports teams. Hell, we are just fiercely proud of all things Wisconsin. And there are many things uniquely Wisconsin. Let's see...there are these for example:

1. Bubblers. These are those wonderful things you can stop and get a cold drink of water from in almost any park in Wisconsin. Out of staters call them "drinking fountains"! HA! A fountain is the thing that spurts decoratively and lights up at night. A bubbler is the refreshing drink choice of parched play ground kids every where!

2. Cheese curds. We eat them two ways here - fresh or fried. If they are fresh, they better squeak when you bite them! Either way they are the most delicious snack ever created and go very well with any one of the many icy cold Wisconsin brewed beers.

3.House on the Rock. Think about someone building a house, on a cliff, with a serious over hang, and then filling it with as many chotchkes as he could possibly find AND even putting in a full size carousel with life size scary mannequins. Yup, it's frightening and unique and right here in Wisconsin.

4. Brandy. Louis Black says we drink more brandy in Wisconsin at Christmas than the rest of the US does all year long and he's right. We love our brandy. Ask for a brandy old fashion somewhere else in the US and you get a blank stare like you have suddenly grown a second head. But introduce someone to the Mile High Brandy Old Fashion at Gerhard's and they will know. Oh yes, they will know and be forever converted.

5. Fish fries. And fish boils. Depending on where in Wisconsin you are. If you are in the Southern region you go out on Fridays to find a good fish fry which consists of hand battered fish, either cod, wall eye or perch served with French fries, cole slaw and rye bread. If you are in the Northern region it's the fish boil you crave - a large steaming vat of fish, potatoes, and other veg all boiled over an open fire. I'm a fry girl myself.

6. Bratwursts are not glorified hot dogs. If you think they are, you're doing it wrong! First you boil them in beer and then cook them on the grill to get them crisp on the outside. Slap them on a bun with some sauer kraut...oh my yes!!

7. Anyone still wearing a jacket when the temperature reaches 45 degrees is clearly from out of state. Anyone still wearing socks when the temps are in the 50's must be from Florida.

8. Snowy days just means slowing down a bit, not staying home. Closing school is almost unheard of unless the wind chill factor dips below 20 degrees. Otherwise, bundle up kiddo - school is open!

9. Going to Noah's Ark, at least once in your life, is a right of passage for everyone.

And finally...

10. Getting called a Cheesehead never hurts our feelings! We are so proud to be Cheeseheads it's unreal! We are proud Packer Backers, Bucky Lovers, Brew Crew, UW Cheer Leaders that nothing...absolutely NOTHING...could make us feel bad about being called a Cheesehead!

So, let's go Wisconsin! Take on Duke!!