Monday, December 15, 2008

MORE things about the Midwest I didn't know - 1 grit

1. Do NOT pour water on your windshield if it's covered in ice. Yes, I know that this works in GA. Here, if it's hot water, it will crack the windshield. If it's cold water, it will just refreeze. Stop the Insanity! Here's a trick - put cardboard over your windshield the night before. Unless it will be snow mixed with rain. Then you will just end up with a box/ice/windshield sandwich.

2. People think it's OK to run red lights. And the cars coming from the other way EXPECT it. They wait for those extra 3 people to run it. So if you're new here, get used to it. Or at least get insurance.

3. There are a ton of parks here! We've been to tiny towns in Wisconsin that had a park right in the middle of town. The bigger "cities" have them too. You can even walk to them, since there are sidewalks everywhere. It's awesome! The South could definitely learn something about this. C'mon GA, pull it together.

4. Wisconsin is beautiful. There is glacial country that makes me glad to be a live. The lakes are beautiful. Along the river is beautiful. There are also lots of caves. We took the kids camping near a cave where they do boat rides through. It was great. Our kids love caves. We try to take them through at least one a year. We've been through 3 this year. I know that isn't a lot, but hopefully it's fostering a love they can cultivate later on their own. I've heard the east side of WI isn't as nice, but I probably won't make it over there anyway. And WI is one of the leading states for organic farms. Yeah, I didn't know that either. OK, that's my plug for WI. I don't want to take too much time talking about it since I'm not getting paid or anything.

That's all I can think of right now. I'm sure I'll add a few things as I go...

4 comments:

sarah said...

Does it really crack the windshield? We were at a friend's home last night and it was raining when we got there and thick ice when we went to leave. Our friend went and got some hot water for our windshield. It worked. But we already have a cracked windshield, so I didn't know it was bad.

Olivia Meikle said...

I have in fact lost a windshield that way. I do not recommend it.

And yeah, the lack of sidewalks in the south is something that could be improved. But I have to say, on almost every other level, I have to give the win to the South. Except maybe lawn-greenness. But who cares about lawn-greenness?

And wait, red means stop?

Becky said...

Another thing to try is a blanket or large towel, it will be big and stiff when you pull it off, but my sis does it often! I may try it tonight or tomorrow night, when the ice/rain/death is supposed to start again!
And I totally get what you are saying about the drivers.

M.Howerton said...

This is a very helpful post - while we were here last January, this still seems foreign to me. My awesome hubby discovered that staying away from Brady street hill in bad weather is also a good idea.