Wisconsonian

Any arbitrary turn along the way and I would be elsewhere, I would be different.
-Frances (played by Diane Lane) in "Under the Tuscan Sun"


I live in Wisconsin.

Don't worry -- I'm fully aware that this is old news. Every once in awhile, though, it catches me a bit off guard.

Like this evening. I was driving back from Minneapolis having just dropped my sister off at her temporary residence. As I crossed into Wisconsin, I had that same strange feeling of being back in "my" state that I always got when we were headed home from soccer tournaments in Minnesota or concerts in Denver. For the first time, I even thought to myself, "I'm from Wisconsin now."

And ... it's true. I grew up in South Dakota and deep down I'll always be a South Dakota girl. But when people ask me where I'm from? The answer is Wausau.

Life is strange. A year ago I was cooking meals for large groups of kids and families, wondering what the heck was in store for the next several months. Now I'm hanging out in a different state, wondering how the newest process engineer ended up being asked to do a little presentation during the annual training/refresher course for customers (that she's actually required to attend as a "student" because she's just that new).

And I wonder why my brain keeps me awake at night.