#Midwest-Great Lakes Area

[ramblingeekette]

One thing that seems uniquely Wiscosin is how hyped everyone gets in the spring when the sturgeon spawning run starts. Like everyone flocks to specific points along the main rivers to watch these funky lake dinosaurs get it on.

[radioactive-earthshine]

The top options are places Metropolis has been in various media, or is frequently mistaken to be in in fan spaces.

[smolerthanthediagram]

Swimming pools

This is from a project I'm currently working on. Basically Troy and Abed go for a road trip in the Midwest towards the great lakes area in an attempt of running away from pretty big dilemmas, Troy from Britta asking her out, Abed from the possibility of losing Troy in a relationship.

Kissing or hugging in the water has uncertainty to it, as it's often portrayed on romance movies that end pretty badly are are never meant to last (Romeo + Juliet, the Notebook, Dirty Dancing).

This is the summer before their fourth year at Greendale, they are far away from everyone and everything. Will this last ? Abed asks himself. Troy is not sure about everything, but in this very moment, they feel good and this is what matters.

[fandomtrumpshate]

Fan Labor Offerings

We've had 67 offers for fan labor so far - everything from SPag and cheerleading, to translations in 5 languages, to sensitivity reading for head injuries, to specialist knowledge of camp counseling and US law, to offers for custom AO3 skins and podfic editing - and LOADS more.

Under the cut you'll find the full list, but just as a preview we've got:

Translation in five different languages

Specialists offering their unique knowledge on 15 professions, 15 hobbies, and a variety of medical conditions and subcultures

Sensitivity readers on ten different topics, mainly medical issues and LGBTIA+ topics

Cultural knowledge of eight areas of the US plus seven other countries and two religions

Editing a variety of mediums

Read on for the full list - and stay until the end for some of the more unique offers!

Specialist knowledge offers:

Professional- Academia (US) American legal system/bar exam/practicing law Camp counselor Civil engineering Drafting legislation for local government (American) Employment in movie theaters Forensic science/crime scene investigation/autopsy Funeral services/embalming Medical field expertise: operating room nurse, inpatient/outpatient, emergency and wards Public libraries Small business/environmental/real estate/contracts/and general business law (American) Social media and TV/Film production work Theatre Theme/amusement park (there is a difference!) operations

Medical issues including: Ehler Danlos, surgery, escoliosis, partial disability, poor eyesight, migraines, diabetes, stroke, intellectual disabilities, physical disabilities, and experience with hospitalization

Educational info on charter schools, language immersion education, and US public education

Hobbies- Camping/hiking Chess Choir Classical music, specifically opera Film Geocaching Historical literature Horse care & general equestrian activities Music Musical instruments (guitar, ukulele, handbells) Pet ownership of multiple species/breeds Sewing, tailoring, alterations, fashion history and flat pattern-making Sports culture (US) Textile crafts (esp knitting and mending) Voice and vocal technique

Subcultures including BDSM and leather/kink, Goth, and j-fashion.

Sensitivity reading offers:

ADHD Aromanticism Asexuality Autism Blindness including: accessibility, Braille education, experience with ablism and activism, experience with assistive devices, guide dog use, rehabilitation services, navigating with or without white cane Butch/femme (esp. stone) Genderqueer Head injuries LGBTQ+ Transmasc/non-binary gender identities and/or social/medical/legal gender transitions

Cultural knowledge offers:

Australian American Chinese diaspora British culture/history Catholicism China Columbian culture/Latine culture German culture Judaism Mexican culture United States (Baltimore, Maryland; Illinois; southern California/greater Los Angeles; Great Lakes region; Pacific Nortwest; Upper Midwest; small town/rural college) Taiwan

Translation offers:

Catalan/English French/Catalan French/English German/English Spanish/Catalan Spanish/English Spanish/French Spanish (Latin-American)/English Limited English/Classical Latin

Other fan labor offers:

Typesetting a fic for printing/binding Commenting! Podfic editing Historical research assistance/developing research methodology Book review Custom AO3 workskin Basic AO3 coding Podfic mentoring/tutoring/coaching using Audacity

You guys know So Much. We're so lucky you're all so willing to share!

Want to join us? Sign ups are open until Sunday Feb 2!

[ominousvibez]

Okay I'm still thinking about the Amity Park in Ohio thing so here's my proposal for this idea:

Reasons That Amity Park Should Be in Ohio (By Someone Who's Lived In Ohio For 2+ Years)

#1 It's Definitely A Great Lake State

Amity Park has never been stated to be officially in one specific state, just vaguely central United States, possibly somewhere around the Great Lakes area. That specific area is often referenced by other characters in the show. Urban Jungle shows Undergrowth's roots stretching out from this general area, and the Lake Eerie mentioned in the show might just literally be Lake Erie.

Of course it's kinda cartoony and I honestly have no idea if those mountains in the bottom right corner are meant to be the Appalachia area or not but it vaugely looks like the Great Lakes area

Because of this screenshot, I think most of the fandom headcanons Amity Park to be somewhere in Illinois, possibly close to Chicago, but we can basically point at any Great Lakes state and say "yeah that fits".

For my non-American friends, it's this general area of America (specifically Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio)

But I'd also like to say that cartoons do have a tendency to fudge some details about geography (or completely change the states a la Steven Universe) so the map might not be 100% accurate. But with the map, it could technically be any Great Lakes State, so why not OHIO?

Which btw I'm going to be counting as a Midwest state for this analysis. Some people can argue it isn't, but from my experience living here in Ohio there are a lot of Midwestern tendencies. It's more like Ohio is the border state between the Eastern states and the Midwest, so it gets a mix of both.

B*tch H*rtman (as much as we don't like to talk about him) was also born in Michigan, which is a state in the Midwest, so some of Amity Park could be based (consciously or not) on the towns he grew up in there. But because of him I'm ruling out Michigan the state as a whole and Wisconsin for states Amity Park could be in.

#2 It Takes Four Days To Get To Wisconsin, Apparently?

In Season 1, Episode 7, when they travel to Vlad's mansion in Wisconsin, Jazz says it will take "four days" to get from Amity Park to Vlad's Mansion (Somewhere in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin, basically). The geography is a little off for every midwestern/Great Lakes state except maybe New York if you're gonna count that but Amity Park does not feel like it'd be in New York state.

Ohio is the furthest Midwest Great Lakes state from Wisconsin. Case closed there. Of course, it doesn't take four days to get from Ohio to Wisconsin. It can roughly vary from 10 to 15 hours, depending on route options (such as avoiding highways and stuff), but still.

It's a road trip, so it makes more sense that they'd take longer to get there-- plus realistically people don't tend to drive 10 hours on a road trip, they probably stopped through the trip and spent the night in their RV.

#3 They Got Beaches?

Amity Park does exist near a body of water. It isn't clear if it's a lake, river, or ocean in the show. It could be a lake. There's also the area in Frightmare, where Nocturne literally takes up space in some sort of port building/factory that gives the audience the assumption that it's on a pier/port. So they're really next to a body of water.

There is also the summer camp that Danny and his friends attend in Claw of the Wild which is said to be on Lake "Eerie". Which could easily just be Lake Erie, the lake that Ohio is on.

Also Camp Skull and Crossbones?? What an iconic camp name. You could say the name is pretty,,,,,, camp (ba dum tss).

#4 Ohio's Just Like... Very Haunted

Ohio has kinda become a meme recently. Not just one specific part of Ohio, but the entire state. The memes are mostly good fun-- like how the state is mostly just corn -- but I think some of the ~vibes~ of Ohio just fit right.

Like, there's no definite way to say which U.S. State is the most haunted (I think either the New England area or maybe Louisiana could take the #1 spot) but Ohio is definitely something else. Of course, we have the baby bridges and the haunted penitentiaries like Ohio State Penitentiary, but there are some interesting places that could be played with, too.

For one, there's an entire abandoned town called Helltown, Ohio, where rumors are cultists perform Satantic rituals, mutant creatures roaming the city created by an oil spill, and even a giant snake? There's also a place literally called the Gateway to Hell, too, which is right behind a Tim Horton's (oddly fitting).

Bobby Mackey's is also in Ohio! If you've ever seen Buzzfeed Unsolved, you know what I'm talking about.

There are also less hell-related spooky things in Ohio. Like, Lake Erie has its own Monster! We call her Bessie. Danny could definitely befriend Bessie!!!

#5 It'd Be Funny

It'd be funny for Amity Park to be in Ohio. The Most Haunted Place in America to be in Ohio is just kinda funny. With how "cursed" of a reputation Ohio seems to have in a larger cultural context, doesn't it kinda just fit?

TLDR:

Ohio is a very cursed state, has a lot of supernatural lore to it, and I think Amity Park would fit in both thematically and almost geographically. Of course, other Midwestern States like Illinois do fit the bill, too, in this argument. But I am a firm "Amity Park is in Ohio" supporter.

[rotzaprachim]

some smaller bookstores, presses, and museum shops to browse and know about! Most support smaller presses, diverse authors and authors in translation, or fund museums and arts research)

(disclaimer: the only three I’ve personally used are the Yiddish book center, native books, and izzun books! Reccomend all three. Also roughly *U.S. centric & anglophone if people have others from around the world please feel free to add on

birchbark books - Louise Erdrich’s book shop, many indigenous and First Nations books of a wide variety of genres including children’s books, literature, nonfiction, sustainability and foodways, language revitalization, Great Lakes area focus (https://birchbarkbooks.com/)

American Swedish institute museum store - range of Scandinavian and Scandinavian-American/midwestern literature, including modern literature in translation, historical documents, knitters guides, cookbooks, children’s books https://shop.asimn.org/collections/books-1

Native books - Hawai’i based bookstore with a focus on native Hawaiian literature, scholarly works about Hawai’i, the pacific, and decolonial theory, ‘ōlelo Hawai’i, and children’s books Collections | Native Books (nativebookshawaii.org)

the Yiddish book center - sales arm of the national Yiddish book center, books on Yiddish learning, books translated from Yiddish, as well as broader selection of books on Jewish history, literature, culture, and coooking https://shop.yiddishbookcenter.org/

ayin press - independent press with a small but growing selection of modern judaica https://shop.ayinpress.org/collections/all?_gl=1kkj2oo_gaMTk4NDI3Mzc1Mi4xNzE1Mzk5ODk3_ga_VSERRBBT6X*MTcxNTM5OTg5Ny4xLjEuMTcxNTM5OTk0NC4wLjAuMA..

Izzun books - printers of modern progressive AND masorti/trad-egal leaning siddurim including a gorgeous egalitarian Sephardic siddur with full Hebrew, English translation, and transliteration

tenement center museum -https://shop.tenement.org/product-category/books/page/11/ range of books on a dizzying range of subjects mostly united by New York City, including the history literature cookbooks and cultures of Black, Jewish, Italian, Puerto Rican, First Nations, and Irish communities

restless books - nonprofit, independent small press focused on books on translation, inter and multicultural exchange, and books by immigrant writers from around the world. Particularly excellent range of translated Latin American literature https://restlessbooks.org/

olniansky press - modern Yiddish language press based in Sweden, translators and publishers esp of modern Yiddish children’s literature https://www.etsy.com/shop/OlnianskyBooks

https://yiddishchildrensbooks.com/ - kinder lokshen, Yiddish children’s books (not so many at the moment but a very cute one about a puffin from faroese!)

inhabit books - Inuit-owned publishing company in Nunavut with an “aim to preserve and promote the stories, knowledge, and talent of Inuit and Northern Canada.” Particularly gorgeous range of children’s books, many available in Inuktitut, English, French, or bilingual editions https://inhabitbooks.com/collections/inhabit-media-books-1

rust belt books - for your Midwest and rust belt bookish needs! Leaning towards academic and progressive political tomes but there are some cookbooks devoted to the art of the Midwest cookie table as well https://beltpublishing.com/

[wiisagi-maiingan]

It's snowed twice here. Twice. I live in the midwest, right next to the Great Lakes. We should be BURIED in snow right now and my area has just gotten light dustings and one snowfall heavy enough to create a tiny snowman that was melted by the next day.

It's January and there's barely visible frost on the ground. What the fuck.

[clove-pinks]

I will never find this stupid tumblr post again: but I swear there was a post discussing at what latitude in United States do you perceive a Southern accent, and OP called it the "banjos line" in a nod to the Mason-Dixon line.

I have lived in the Great Lakes region for the past 11 years, and you will absolutely encounter this transition from the Midwest to the Upper South at a point perhaps further north than you expect—coming from New England, I was very startled by the Southern accents of people from Illinois and Indiana. Unlike the Mason-Dixon line, the Banjos Line is highly subjective and depends on the native accent of the person perceiving it.

I listen to some of my Ohioan coworkers, and at this point I'm drawing the Banjos Line north of Dayton. (HOW do you people speak like this in Toledo??) Most people in this area speak with normal i.e. Northern accents—but I am definitely hearing some things from the more rural outlying areas.

[dimity-lawn]

I don't know how to best arrange this poll, because once you get past the 5 basic regions of the 48 contiguous states that everyone can agree on, it seems that everyone wants to draw different boundaries and set different criteria to classify the different regions.

For the sake of staying on the same page, please refer to the map below before answering.

As always, feel free to elaborate and/or answer at any time in the notes*, even if you’ve missed the poll.

If any of you feel like including your state or other area, you can include that in the notes*, but I don’t expect anyone to actually do so.

*Or, I suppose you could message me if you don’t want everyone to know , or send an anonymous ask if for some reason you want to do that but don’t want to say who you are, but I’m guessing that at that point you simply wouldn’t bother.

[legofemme]

Zoology/enviro internships are like heres everything you need. We are 100000 miles away. No we will not pay you.

Finds an internship willing to accept me. Fulfills all the boxes i need for my career. 30-40 hour work weeks... i live 2 hours away. Unpaid. Hell on earth

[raaorqtpbpdy]

Love the Fur, Hate the Fuzz (1)

Tucker takes his boyfriend Wulf on a date to the one place where a ghostly wolf-man won't raise any eyebrows: A furry convention. At first, it goes better than perfect, but on day two, it's just one problem after another.

For the prompts: Write a Tucker POV/Center another prompt around Tucker {from Akela}, Tucker goes to a furry convention and finds Kwan there. {from @sailor-toni}, Use the color "Green" in your story. {from Warvik}, and "Question one: why did you think punching it would work? Question two: why did punching it work?" {from Mel}

Read also on AO3 | Chapter 2 on Tumblr

Chapter 1: Day One of the Con

Truth be told, Tucker had always hated Chicago. It wasn't called "The Windy City" for nothing—it was always terrible hat weather, which was a serious mark against it for Tucker, who always sported his signature red beret. The buildings in the metropolitan area of the city were so tall you could barely see the sky they were scraping, the El train was loud as all get-out, and the people tended to be on the ruder side of what Tucker considered acceptable.

The city did have one thing going for it, though: Great Lakes Furry Con, the biggest annual gathering of furries in the Midwest. Tucker had only had the opportunity to go once before, last year, and even though his mom had insisted on going with him, he still managed to enjoy himself immensely and was excited to go again. Especially since his mom agreed she didn't have to be there this year (she had not enjoyed it as much as Tucker had), so instead, he was bringing his boyfriend along.

When the idea had come to him, Tucker had been absolutely ecstatic. As much as he liked the Ghost Zone and obscure locations with no cell service, the idea of taking Wulf on a date somewhere in the human realm where the wolf-man wouldn't seem the slightest bit out of place had made him so excited he couldn't even sleep until he'd pitched it to Wulf directly. Even though Wulf had no idea what a furry convention was, he'd immediately agreed with a fond look on his face, clearly just endeared by Tucker's enthusiasm. Not that Tucker minded.

He'd been looking forward to this ever since, and today was finally the day. Last time he'd gone, he'd had to wake up at 5am to avoid commuter traffic on the drive there with his mom. But this time, the commute was a matter of seconds thanks to Wulf's ghost portal powers, and they got there just after the doors opened at eight. Tucker's boyfriend was both cool and convenient.

They did still have to wait in line to check in at the registration desk, but it went a lot faster than Tucker was expecting. When he and Wulf got to the front, the receptionist's eyes immediately widened upon seeing the wolf-man.

"Holy shit that fursuit is freaking incredible, dude!" She said. "It even looks like it's breathing, it must be engineered to hell. Did you make it yourself? Mad respect man."

Wulf looked to Tucker for translation, and the nerd conveyed in Esperanto that the woman thought he looked cool.

"Dankon," Wulf thanked, nodding a little awkwardly.

"He says thanks," Tucker told her. "We'll both be under Foley, Tucker and Wulf, with a 'U' instead of an 'O'. And yes, that is his actual name. Lucky, huh?"

"No kidding," the receptionist agreed, flipping through the name badges with surprising deftness considering her cat paw gloves. "Here you go, guys. Enjoy the con!" She handed over two attendee badges and two tote bags full of swag and promotional material.

Tucker took them and he and Wulf stepped to a wall inside to put the lanyards on and sift through the bags for the map and schedule. While they did that, Tucker also took a moment to take stock of the other people around them, both in line, and milling about the hotel lobby.

Just as he'd suspected, Wulf fit right in. Neither his size nor form were the slightest bit out of place next to the 6'3" hot pink jaguar in platform club heels, and the ogling looks he was getting were a far cry from the looks of fear and alarm he was accustomed to getting. Tucker might've been jealous if Wulf didn't look so cute when he was embarrassed.

Tucker himself did not have a fursuit because he had neither the money nor the skills to acquire one as of yet, but he was sporting a wolf tail clipped to the back of his belt as well as a t-shirt with a shirtless anthro-wolf on it, pictured with a full moon overhead and the caption "AWOOOO-GA!" 

Once he had the map in front of him, he pulled up the schedule for the weekend on his PDA. They were registered for Friday and Saturday—he would have signed them up for Sunday too, but he was already missing a day of school for this because the session he was most excited for was Friday and his parents insisted that he have all his classwork done by Monday or they wouldn't let him come back next year. Still, two days having fun with his boyfriend was worth it.

"I signed us up for the Fursuit Engineering session when I bought the tickets because I was really interested in that one," Tucker said in Esperanto. "And I signed us up for the Dog Park Hour because it seemed like it would be fun to do together, and the Disney's Robin Hood viewing party tonight because you've never seen it and that's a crime because that movie was formative for me."

"I don't know what any of that is except the movie," Wulf replied. "I don't think half those words were even Esperanto."

"You'll just see when we do them. I think you'll pick it up pretty quick," Tuck assured. "Tomorrow is the fursuit parade which I hope you'll participate in, because I wanna show off how cool my boyfriend is. There's also the dance party, and the Furries in Tech panel which I also signed us up for. We should have plenty of time to socialize and check out the Dealer's Den and stuff like that in-between. I know this is your first time, so I tried not to over-schedule us. We have an hour before our first session if you want to check out some booths now."

"I think I would prefer to get the lay of the land first."

"Sounds good to me!"

At Wulf's suggestion, the pair of them explored all the parts of the hotel where the convention was being held. It was a pretty nice place, and a lot of people stopped them to compliment Wulf's "fursuit" and ask for a picture. Tucker happily translated every compliment, from "Those glowing eyes look fire" to "Would it be too much if I asked you to step on me? Hahaha!" and watched Wulf get increasingly flustered by the positive attention.

When it was about time for their session to start, they had pretty much gotten their bearings and made their way over to the classroom in time for Tucker to get a good seat. The front row was already full, but fourth row wasn't too bad. Wulf opted to sit on the floor so as not to obscure the view of whatever poor sap got stuck behind him, so Tuck took the seat at the end right next to him and pulled out his PDA to take notes. 

This session was, as one may have guessed, all about incorporating engineering into fursuits, techniques and equipment to make the mouth open and close, the eyes blink, or light up, or to make them easily replaceable to allow for quick color changes. Tucker eagerly drank up all the information. He'd been wanting to make his own fursuit for a while, but there was no way he was going to do it halfway—especially not when the materials cost almost as much as commissioning someone else to make one for him.

Not long after the session ended was the dog park hour, which took place in the hotel's beautiful outdoor courtyard. It was aimed primarily at those with dog fursonas but open to all, and was basically a semi-organized outdoor playtime. A bit like recess. There were conference staff leading various ice-breaker games, some people milling about just socializing, and a pretty intense game of Frisbee, which Wulf immediately joined in on, making everyone laugh—both amused and visibly impressed—when he repeatedly caught the Frisbee in his mouth. 

Wulf was the center of attention in the best way, which was well-deserved in Tucker's expert opinion. He was pleased to see other people as enamored by Wulf as he was, and glad that none of them seemed put off by his inability to speak English, or Tucker's translating. He'd never had so many opportunities to say: "Sorry, but this fine specimen is all mine," and he was loving it.

So, yeah. Overall, the first day of the convention went even better than Tucker could have hoped. He did have to make up some quick lies about Wulf "fursuit" but he'd been prepared for that. They spent most of the afternoon wandering Artist Alley and the Dealer's Den, where Tucker found a super-sized, customizable TY tag at a table selling fursuit accessories and insisted on buying it for Wulf, writing his name, a silly little poem about him, and their anniversary as his birthday, since neither of them knew what his actual birthday was.

Wulf didn't really get the joke, but he liked that it made Tucker happy, so he tied it around his neck and wore it the rest of the day.

After the movie (which Wulf enjoyed, though he didn't understand what part of it had been "formative" for Tucker—Tucker was too embarrassed to explain), Wulf opened a portal to take Tucker home. Then he insisted against staying over, much to the boy's dismay.

That night, Tucker slept fitfully, too excited to do it all again the following morning.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Grist:

A new report by the Union of Concerned Scientists, or UCS, called “Wetlands in Peril,” argues that farmers can play a key role in protecting and restoring wetlands in the Upper Midwest, even as federal policy has paved the way for industrial agriculture to degrade and destroy wetlands in recent decades. 

Wetlands are critical to the health of the region and the planet. Along with providing critical habitat for many species, they help mitigate the impacts of floods and other extreme weather events, act as filters that improve water and soil quality, and store massive amounts of carbon dioxide. They’re important to Indigenous communities; in northern Michigan and other areas around the Great Lakes, for example, wetlands are necessary habitat for manomin, or wild rice. 

But they’re increasingly rare: Around half of wetlands in the continental United States have vanished since the 1780s, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the rate of loss has gone up in recent years. The expansion of large-scale agriculture is among the leading forces that have driven this decline, especially in places like the heavily agricultural Upper Midwest.

Stacy Woods, the author and research director for food and environment at UCS, decided to look into the intersection of agriculture and wetlands after the Supreme Court ruled last year in favor of an Idaho couple who were filling in wetlands on their property. The case, Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, narrowed the definition under which wetlands could be protected under the Clean Water Act and fundamentally changed their protections, even as risks posed by climate change means they’re more vital than ever. 

A key solution lies in the farm bill, Woods said — specifically, in strengthening policies that encourage farmers to take part in conservation, restoration, and sustainability efforts. The report says initiatives like the Farmable Wetlands Program, which pays farmers to restore wetlands on their property, and the Conservation Stewardship Program, which helps farmers expand on existing conservation practices like planting cover crops, help improve the environment and make it more resilient to climate-driven flooding. 

“Healthy soil acts like a sponge,” Woods said. “It sucks up and holds onto excess fertilizer and pesticides and manure and all of those things that can become pollution if it runs off of this agricultural land and into waterways.”

Conserving wetlands could have enormous financial benefits, saving the region between $323 billion and $754 billion in flood mitigation in the long term, the report says, “only a fraction of the total benefits that wetlands offer to the Upper Midwest — and what will be lost if they are destroyed.”

[dertaglichedan]

Polar vortex heading for US sending temperatures plunging and making January the coldest for a decade

A polar vortex headed for the US could bring cold winds and low temperatures this week, making January the coldest month in over a decade. 

According to the National Weather Service, the arctic blast will affect a large swathe of the country, arriving in the northern Rockies and expected to have spread to the East Coast by New Year's Day. 

'A significant pattern change is expected across much of the country as an Arctic Outbreak is forecast to spread form the Northern Plains to the south and east, leading to exceptionally high probabilities of below-normal temperatures expected across much of the East', the NWS said. 

The plunge will bring wind chills across the Midwest with temperatures dipping below zero in at least 30 states. 

'The coldest air of the season to date and dangerous wind chills chills are likely across many areas of the Southeast', the NWS warned. 

In some areas, temperatures are forecasted to reach an average of around 20 degrees, while freezing conditions in the Gulf coast and even Florida could be expected. 

Snowfall is also possible across parts of the Southern Plains and the Southeast with the potential for heavy snowfall expected in the Appalachians, Ohio Valley, the Great Lakes and the Northeast.  

A further drop in temperatures is expected next week, and below normal temperatures are predicted to affect central and eastern US during much of January. 

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Now that Kamala Harris is our de facto nominee, she still needs to pick a running mate to complete the ticket. I mentioned in my previous post that my endorsement for Harris’s running mate will be on this entry. Here are some of the picks under consideration: Roy Cooper, Andy Beshear, Mark Kelly, Gretchen Whitmer, Josh Shapiro, and Tim Walz. [...] My pick for Kamala Harris’s running mate will be… Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Why Walz? He is from Minnesota, a state that is Democratic-favored but not fully safe, and could help in the critical Upper Midwest/Great Lakes wall. Walz has signed multiple progressive bills into law in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, especially after the Dems got the trifecta. Prior to becoming Governor, Walz served as a Congressman in an area of the state that was trending away from the Democratic Party in most of that district, thus he can communicate to swingy and former Democratic areas well. Walz has a progressive outlook with a moderate temperament, which would be an asset. Whoever Harris’s VP pick is, let’s unite to elect her and her VP pick to the Presidency come this fall!

My latest in Substack: I unveil my preferred choice to be Kamala Harris's Vice President: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Read the full post on Substack.

[rabbitcruiser]

National Prairie Day

National Prairie Day, on June 3 this year, celebrates the beauty and ecological value of this often-overlooked ecosystem. Spanning more than a dozen American states and several Canadian provinces, the North American prairie is a vast grassland that offers more biodiversity and beauty than most people realize. With their endless, gently rolling plains and highly productive soils, prairies have been a valued location for farming and ranching for thousands of years. Today, only 1% of tallgrass prairie in the United States remains untouched by farming or development. National Prairie Day promotes the appreciation and conservation of America’s native prairies.

History of National Prairie Day

The United States is home to a dazzling array of geographies and environments. Some, like the towering redwoods of California or the majestic cascades of Niagara Falls, enjoy worldwide reputations as media darlings and tourist hotspots. Other ecosystems, like the humble prairie that covers much of the interior United States, receive fewer accolades but play crucially important roles in the development of the nation.

Defined as a flat grassland with a temperate climate and derived from the French for ‘meadow,’ ‘prairie’ has become almost synonymous with the expansion of the American frontier. Flanked by the Great Lakes and the grandiose Rocky Mountains, the North American prairie extends across 15% of the continent’s land area. Other examples of similar grasslands around the world include the pampas in Argentina, the Central Asian steppes, and the llanos of Venezuela.

There’s more to the prairie than meets the eye. In fact, tall grass prairies host the most biodiversity in the Midwest and provide a home for dozens of rare species of animals and plants, including bison, antelope, elk, wolves, and bears.

Native prairies face extinction as more and more land is converted to agricultural and ranching use. Due to its rich, fertile soil, prairie land is prized for agricultural use. Around the world, almost three-quarters of agricultural regions are located in grassland areas. With only 1% of tallgrass prairie in the U.S. remaining untouched, the American tallgrass prairie is now one of the most endangered ecosystems on the planet. The Missouri Prairie Foundation launched National Prairie Day in 2016 to raise awareness and appreciation for the nation’s grasslands. The organization seeks to protect and restore native grasslands by promoting responsible stewardship, supporting acquisition initiatives, and providing public education and outreach.

National Prairie Day timeline

6000 B.C. The Prairie Forms

The North American prairie forms roughly 8,000 years ago when receding glaciers give way to fertile sediment.

1800s The American Prairie Decimated

Throughout the 19th century, farmers and ranchers, excited about the rich potential of prairie soil, convert almost all of the American prairie to farmland and grazing land.

Early 1930s The Dust Bowl

The combination of years of mismanagement, the stock market crash, and drought conditions come to a head as thousands of families in Oklahoma, Texas, and other parts of the Midwest lose everything when their farms fail, driving them to California and elsewhere to seek work in more fertile fields.

2016 First National Prairie Day

The Missouri Prairie Foundation launches the National Prairie Day campaign to promote awareness and conservation of the vanishing ecosystem.

National Prairie Day FAQs

Why don't prairies have any trees?

The environment of the prairie, with its flat terrain, regular droughts, and frequent fires, is uniquely suited to grasses that don’t require a lot of rainfall or deep soil to thrive.

Why are prairies important?

The prairie provides an irreplaceable home for hundreds of plant and animal species, as well as exceedingly fertile soil for human agriculture and ranching. Prairie destruction has had catastrophic effects, like the Dust Bowl that decimated American farms in the 1930s. Prairies also contribute to the conservation of groundwater.

Why did the Dust Bowl happen?

The Dust Bowl disaster that swept the U.S. and Canada in the 1930s had several natural and man-made causes, including severe drought and a failure to properly manage farmland and conserve precious topsoil. A series of intense dust storms wiped out agriculture, eroded the soil, and left the land unable to produce crops.

National Prairie Day Activities

Learn about the prairie

Donate to a conservation group

Plan a visit to a famous prairie

Do a little research to learn about this important American ecosystem and the role it has played in the cultural and economic development of our country.

If you're concerned about the loss of the American prairie, donate to a grasslands conservation group to support their work.

Do you live near a prairie? Try finding the grassland nearest you and plan a visit.

5 Interesting Facts About Prairies

‘Prairie schooners’

Dogtown

Where the buffalo roam

Carbon hero

Rising from the ashes

During the 1800s, when Americans embarked on the long journey westward, their covered wagons were often referred to as ‘prairie schooners.’

Prairie dogs live in vast networks of underground burrows called ‘towns,’ which can cover hundreds of acres and house thousands of prairie dogs with complex social relationships.

When Europeans first arrived in North America, up to 60 million bison roamed the plains — by 1885, there were fewer than 600.

Prairies can help fight climate change — one acre of intact prairie can absorb about one ton of carbon each year.

On the prairie, wildfires can actually be a healthy thing — with more than 75% of their biomass underground, prairie plants are uniquely suited to surviving and thriving after a fire.

Why We Love National Prairie Day

The prairie often gets overlooked

Native grasslands are critically endangered

It reminds us of the diversity of America's ecosystems

It's not often we remember to celebrate grasslands, yet the prairie plays an important role in America's cultural past and environmental future.

With only 1% of America's native prairie remaining, it's more urgent than ever to conserve and protect this vital resource.

The United States has more environmental variety than almost any other country on earth. Celebrating each unique ecosystem reminds us to appreciate and protect all the beauty our country has to offer.

Source

[clove-pinks]

Is there anything about your new location (the terrain, the local culture, the physical sites, etc) that has given you a new perspective on regional events of the War of 1812?

This a wonderful ask, thank you! I have been mulling over how to answer it all day! This ended up getting so long I put it behind a cut (I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT THIS).

The Maumee River, as seen from Fort Meigs Historic Site.

One thing new in my life is a heightened awareness of important rivers facilitating the movement of trade, supplies, and settlement. Particularly in the Old Northwest/current Midwest of the USA: regions that I grew up perceiving as a land-locked "flyover country."

Like, to give one example, I had a vague idea that there was a city called Fort Wayne, Indiana, but I thought it was just in the middle of a cornfield for no reason(?). But actually it's at the confluence of the St. Joseph, St. Marys, and Maumee Rivers, leading to the Great Lakes! The strategically important location is why General Anthony Wayne—that guy again—built the original fortification in 1794. I am downriver of all of this, connected to many inland waterways.

I also have a keen sense of living in the Great Black Swamp, despite how dramatically the land has been transformed by deforestation and drainage. There are the terrifying drainage ditches everywhere (the locals seem less perturbed by them), and many other signs of the natural state of the terrain—the swamp is just barely at bay. My coworkers have said "Black Swamp" unprompted in our conversations; I've seen it mentioned in local Facebook groups talking about the need for back-up sump pumps. The idea that people of northwest Ohio have no sense of history and are unaware of the Great Black Swamp isn't true at all.

I look at the pools of water that form in every hollow and think of the words of Alfred Lorrain, marching to Fort Meigs:

We had frequently to pass through what was called, in the provincialism of the frontiers, "swales"—standing ponds—through which the troops and packhorses which had preceded us had made a trail of shattered ice. Those swales were often a quarter of a mile long. They were, moreover, very unequal in their soundings. In common they were not more than half-leg deep; but sometimes, at a moment when we were not expecting it, we suddenly sank down to our cartridge-boxes.

Swale is a new word in my vocabulary, and now I see them everywhere!

Culturally, I think there is a great appreciation of history here: a very positive difference from the Chicagoland area. Even if the average local is probably not deeply into it, they have a consciousness of major historical events that have shaped their region and take pride in it. It's a lot more like New England that way.

Because of my focus on the War of 1812, I notice the absence of Indigenous people and voices—absent from historical accounts and from the demographics of Perrysburg and its environs today. I can't single out Ohio as being a uniquely violent settler-colonial state when this is ALL of the United States; but it hits different when I have this much greater familiarity with who was forcibly removed from this land, and how. The same US military leaders who fought in the War of 1812 were behind the (very much related) campaign for the removal of Native Americans from newly acquired territories, including the infamous Trail of Tears.

Once again, it's probably hypocritical for me to notice this so much, when I literally grew up on Wampanoag land where King Philip's War was fought, but here I am. Suddenly aware of General Wayne's name on everything, etc.

General Wayne's spurs in the Fort Meigs Museum. Not pictured: the can of Maumee Bay Brewing Co. Fallen Timbers Ale that I am currently drinking.

I haven't had the chance to explore physical sites with historical significance beyond Fort Meigs and Fallen Timbers. I know I will get to the ruins of Fort Miamis soon, and I really want to explore a lot of wetlands in local parks and nature preserves (that will double as birdwatching excursions). I am always thinking about what this place looked like 200 years ago, and what I can see today that might still look familiar to a person from that time.

I had a great trip to the National Museum of the Great Lakes today, which is closer than I thought! Local maritime museums are also on my agenda, even if they're not specifically War of 1812-related.