It was time to revisit the tundra, not Wisconsin's, but Minnesota's, across the river. I never thought I would end up in Minnesota, in old St. Paul. But when the University of Minnesota offered me that most precious gift, steady employment, I left graduate school at U.C. Berkeley for Minnesota and was there for more than two decades.
Competition between the Packers and Vikings, and the Badgers and the Gophers - "Golden" Gophers that is - not withstanding, Minnesota is a good place. Just as Nebraska and Kansas are often lumped together, and North and South Dakota lumped together, Minnesota and Wisconsin are often uttered in the same breath by people outside this region.
Indeed, the two states have a lot of similarities, though with some significant differences. Minnesota is an old Indian word meaning, "Land of sky-colored waters," and Wisconsin is supposedly an old Indian word meaning "Gathering of the waters." I harbor the suspicion that both are old Indian words meaning, "Land of lousy weather," although we do have some nice days now and then.
To pseudo sophisticates of the east and west coasts, Minnesota and Wisconsin occupy the northern edge of the Midwest, dismissed by know-nothings as "flyover country." Peoples of the south perceive this northland as frozen tundra with nothing between here and the North Pole but a three-strand barbed wire fence - and two of those are down. Sometimes it does seem that way.
Perceptions are not just the idiosyncrasies of somebody else. How many people around here realize that had the Pilgrims in 1620 been able to sail up the Rio Grande instead of landing at desolate Plymouth Rock, they could have stayed in a hotel in Santa Fe, founded in 1610?
Both Minnesota and Wisconsin are populated by interesting ethnic groups, but are dominated by people of German and Scandinavian origin. I recall visitors from New York commenting, "Wow - look at all the blondes around here." I looked around and didn't see all that many.
Then I took that position at New Mexico State University. When I returned to Minnesota a year later to visit, my first impression was, "Wow - look at all the blondes around here." It just shows that perceptions are relative.
A major feature of Minnesota distinguishing it from Wisconsin is the Twin Cities Metro area, the eleventh most populous metro area in the country. While rural and small town folks in Wisconsin might gripe about political domination by Milwaukee and Madison, it's nothing compared to domination of Minnesota by the Twin Cities.
When I arrived in Minnesota in 1967, the Foshay Tower was the tallest "skyscraper" in the cities. Today it is dwarfed by gleaming high-rise buildings in Minneapolis. And even downtown St. Paul, the oft neglected sister city, has experienced a renaissance.
Just as Oakland plays second fiddle to more glamorous San Francisco across the bay, and Ft. Worth plays second fiddle to Dallas, St. Paul plays second fiddle to Minneapolis.
The TV series, "Mary Tyler Moore" was set in Minneapolis - St. Paul not mentioned. Can you imagine a long-running TV show entitled "Ft. Worth," or Tony Bennett leaving his heart in Oakland? Relative obscurity is the fate of less glamorous sister cities.
Minneapolis was traditionally a milling town, of Scandinavian/Lutheran culture, now home to General Mills, retaining its grain milling tradition. St. Paul was a packing town, originally of German, Irish, and French Catholic culture. The cities are the core of the U.S. Census Bureau's MSP Metropolitan Statistical Area, composed of eleven counties, including two in Wisconsin, neighboring St. Croix and Pierce counties. The Census Bureau now includes Bloomington in the area name. Locals still see it as a Minneapolis suburb.
Through the Twin Cities Metropolitan Council the cities now cooperate, more or less anyway. It hasn't always been that way. Competition was exemplified by the cross-town rivalry of the Minneapolis Millers and the St. Paul Saints of the old American Association baseball league that hosted AAA farm clubs of the major leagues.
During that era, the Association's Milwaukee Brewers was the AAA farm club of the Boston Braves. The Minneapolis Millers was owned by the New York Giants and, later, by the Boston Red Sox. In 1957, to pave the way for the NY Giants to move to San Francisco, the Red Sox surrendered their top farm club, the Pacific Coast League's San Francisco Seals, receiving the Millers in exchange.
The St. Paul Saints were for years the AAA farm club of the Chicago White Sox and, later, the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers. When Clark Griffith and his Washington Senators moved to Minnesota in 1960, the Millers were disbanded and the Saints went to Omaha, becoming the Omaha Dodgers.
The Washington Senators became the Minnesota Twins, thus resolving the dilemma of which Minnesota city would carry the name. The NFL Vikings adopted the same strategy. It was a smart move.
Minnesota's culture is popularized by the self-proclaimed "English major who made good," Garrison Keilor. His portrayal of small towns is recognizable beyond Scandinavian/Lutheran culture, partly explaining Keilor's widespread appeal - in addition to his considerable talent, of course.
Then there is the image of "Minnesota nice," not entirely a figment of imagination. When driving on a crowded downtown Minneapolis or St. Paul Street, and you signal to change lanes, drivers behind you actually respect that signal and let you do it. At least that's the way it used to be.
And, there is the accent - prominently featured in the movie, "Fargo." Some Minnesotans were upset and insisted, "We don't talk like that up here."
Maybe not. But when in New Mexico, people occasionally told me that they could tell by my accent that I was from Minnesota. "I'm from Wisconsin," I replied. It didn't matter; outsiders lump the two states together.
Best to just reply, "Ya, we all talk funny like dat up der, you betcha."
- John Waelti's column appears every Friday in the Times. He can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net.
Competition between the Packers and Vikings, and the Badgers and the Gophers - "Golden" Gophers that is - not withstanding, Minnesota is a good place. Just as Nebraska and Kansas are often lumped together, and North and South Dakota lumped together, Minnesota and Wisconsin are often uttered in the same breath by people outside this region.
Indeed, the two states have a lot of similarities, though with some significant differences. Minnesota is an old Indian word meaning, "Land of sky-colored waters," and Wisconsin is supposedly an old Indian word meaning "Gathering of the waters." I harbor the suspicion that both are old Indian words meaning, "Land of lousy weather," although we do have some nice days now and then.
To pseudo sophisticates of the east and west coasts, Minnesota and Wisconsin occupy the northern edge of the Midwest, dismissed by know-nothings as "flyover country." Peoples of the south perceive this northland as frozen tundra with nothing between here and the North Pole but a three-strand barbed wire fence - and two of those are down. Sometimes it does seem that way.
Perceptions are not just the idiosyncrasies of somebody else. How many people around here realize that had the Pilgrims in 1620 been able to sail up the Rio Grande instead of landing at desolate Plymouth Rock, they could have stayed in a hotel in Santa Fe, founded in 1610?
Both Minnesota and Wisconsin are populated by interesting ethnic groups, but are dominated by people of German and Scandinavian origin. I recall visitors from New York commenting, "Wow - look at all the blondes around here." I looked around and didn't see all that many.
Then I took that position at New Mexico State University. When I returned to Minnesota a year later to visit, my first impression was, "Wow - look at all the blondes around here." It just shows that perceptions are relative.
A major feature of Minnesota distinguishing it from Wisconsin is the Twin Cities Metro area, the eleventh most populous metro area in the country. While rural and small town folks in Wisconsin might gripe about political domination by Milwaukee and Madison, it's nothing compared to domination of Minnesota by the Twin Cities.
When I arrived in Minnesota in 1967, the Foshay Tower was the tallest "skyscraper" in the cities. Today it is dwarfed by gleaming high-rise buildings in Minneapolis. And even downtown St. Paul, the oft neglected sister city, has experienced a renaissance.
Just as Oakland plays second fiddle to more glamorous San Francisco across the bay, and Ft. Worth plays second fiddle to Dallas, St. Paul plays second fiddle to Minneapolis.
The TV series, "Mary Tyler Moore" was set in Minneapolis - St. Paul not mentioned. Can you imagine a long-running TV show entitled "Ft. Worth," or Tony Bennett leaving his heart in Oakland? Relative obscurity is the fate of less glamorous sister cities.
Minneapolis was traditionally a milling town, of Scandinavian/Lutheran culture, now home to General Mills, retaining its grain milling tradition. St. Paul was a packing town, originally of German, Irish, and French Catholic culture. The cities are the core of the U.S. Census Bureau's MSP Metropolitan Statistical Area, composed of eleven counties, including two in Wisconsin, neighboring St. Croix and Pierce counties. The Census Bureau now includes Bloomington in the area name. Locals still see it as a Minneapolis suburb.
Through the Twin Cities Metropolitan Council the cities now cooperate, more or less anyway. It hasn't always been that way. Competition was exemplified by the cross-town rivalry of the Minneapolis Millers and the St. Paul Saints of the old American Association baseball league that hosted AAA farm clubs of the major leagues.
During that era, the Association's Milwaukee Brewers was the AAA farm club of the Boston Braves. The Minneapolis Millers was owned by the New York Giants and, later, by the Boston Red Sox. In 1957, to pave the way for the NY Giants to move to San Francisco, the Red Sox surrendered their top farm club, the Pacific Coast League's San Francisco Seals, receiving the Millers in exchange.
The St. Paul Saints were for years the AAA farm club of the Chicago White Sox and, later, the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers. When Clark Griffith and his Washington Senators moved to Minnesota in 1960, the Millers were disbanded and the Saints went to Omaha, becoming the Omaha Dodgers.
The Washington Senators became the Minnesota Twins, thus resolving the dilemma of which Minnesota city would carry the name. The NFL Vikings adopted the same strategy. It was a smart move.
Minnesota's culture is popularized by the self-proclaimed "English major who made good," Garrison Keilor. His portrayal of small towns is recognizable beyond Scandinavian/Lutheran culture, partly explaining Keilor's widespread appeal - in addition to his considerable talent, of course.
Then there is the image of "Minnesota nice," not entirely a figment of imagination. When driving on a crowded downtown Minneapolis or St. Paul Street, and you signal to change lanes, drivers behind you actually respect that signal and let you do it. At least that's the way it used to be.
And, there is the accent - prominently featured in the movie, "Fargo." Some Minnesotans were upset and insisted, "We don't talk like that up here."
Maybe not. But when in New Mexico, people occasionally told me that they could tell by my accent that I was from Minnesota. "I'm from Wisconsin," I replied. It didn't matter; outsiders lump the two states together.
Best to just reply, "Ya, we all talk funny like dat up der, you betcha."
- John Waelti's column appears every Friday in the Times. He can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net.
