Bruce:  As a native of New Jersey, I can relate to your experience of the
Midwest.  Educated on the east coast (colleges in CT and NY), I moved to
Oregon -- culture shock! -- and then on to Missouri and finally Ohio.
I've learned to love it.  What was initially a relentlessly flat landscape
is now an organic, verdant Mother Earth -- with the arrival of summer, the
space of the plains is transformed by corn and soybean.  A sorta seasonal
topography, alternately embracing and liberating.  Little livestock in
this area of NW Ohio, just occasional lamas (wooly, not dalai).

I was reminded of the contrast between lake state and coastal living
during a 2-week vacation to parts east earlier this month.  The welcome to
a NJ place of business was PUSH HARD; the directions on an OH garbage can
were WASTE PLEASE.  That truly said it all.

Of course, we're all of us united by good music.

Maura Johnson, Field Services Coordinator
Ohio Historic Preservation Office
BGSU, Jerome Library, 5th Floor
Bowling Green, OH  43403
Phone:  419-372-6935   Fax:  419-372-0155