1. They KNOW Their Directions!
Easterners often joke about "those square states" in the West and Midwest of the United States. Nebraska basically fits into that category even though it has a "panhandle" like Florida and Oklahoma. These states are basically square because they're so flat, and it was easy and efficient to orient roads north and south and east and west when the pre-statehood territories were surveyed and mapped.
In the land rush of the 1860s, tracts of land were given away in large rectangular blocks, 80 acres in the more eastern, more fertile areas with greater moisture, and a whole section of 640 acres in the more western, more arid areas. Then when roads were added, they tended to follow a north-south or east-west axis. The result today is a highly predictable and regular grid of roads and a corresponding acute sense of direction in the local population. When giving directions in Kentucky, someone would say "It's outside of Louisville, on KY 146 toward LaGrange." Most people would have little sense of whether that was to the north, south, east, or west.
But in the square states, directions are given as in: "It's on Nebraska 136, north of the school." A sign on a Red Cloud store that has two street entrances says: "Use north door." No one in Kentucky would ever find their way into that store! But here, even little children speak of going west or east on a road, or north or south to a certain location. Everyone knows the compass orientation from where they are to any given point. It's amazing! I love it!
Map of the Red Cloud, Nebraska area
showing the right-angle roads
2. They LOVE Their Ducks!
Once I got out of the city of Lincoln and moved into the rural heart of the state, I started hearing about ducks and duck hunting. That seems to be one of the BIG interests for an awful lot of the male population, and maybe for some of the women, too. I have been learning much about shotguns and flyways and decoys and migration patterns and the duck season.
And when I went to Campbell to stay in the rectory there, the duck theme was again much in evidence, from the shotgun shells in the back of the pastor's pickup truck to the quilt on my bed with duck images to a cross stitching of a duck on the wall. And sitting on top of the dresser was a cassette tape titled: Long Honker Goose Call: Tips and Techniques on Calling Geese by Mick Lacy.
Bedspread with ducks on it Cross stitched duck on the wall
3. They NEED Water Softener!
The water here comes from underground aquifers and is really hard! The faucets and pipes that handle the untreated water are full of mineral deposits. Most of the rectories I have stayed in have water softeners, and the water is really soft! It takes me twice as long as usual to take a shower because it seems the soap is never going to rinse off. I was warned, too, about not using too much detergent in the washing machine with my clothes or else there'll be bubbles all over the floor.
4. They have DARK Skies!
The skies are dark in a lot of Nebraska. Nighttime satellite images show that central Nebraska is one of the darkest places to be found in the United States, and so it is a real haven for serious star-gazers. This year the 11th annual Nebraska Star Party attracted 350 amateur and serious atronomers from all over the United States and even a few from England who came to get away from pollutants in the air and the light pollution caused by radiated light from houses, cars, lighted signs, and cities. It's a week-long, family-oriented event with the nights devoted to the stars and the days to swimming and boating on nearby lakes. 90% of the participants camp out. (I've been thinking of trying the night skies for myself but it's been cloudy recently and the stars don't come out till late here where the last vestiges of sunlight don't fade until well after 10 P.M.)
5. They love their FIREWORKS!
Coming from Kentucky where basically all fireworks are illegal except sparklers and bottle rockets, I was dumbfounded by the interest and investment in fireworks in Nebraska! The weekend of the Fourth of July I went with Fr. Rob Tucker to his brother's family's house and saw a fireworks display of grand proportions, all set off in the street in front of their house. Families up and down the street would easily light $50-$100 worth of pyrotechnics of all kinds and sizes. And I mean BIG stuff, the stuff I am used to seeing in commercial and public fireworks displays. Although bottle rockets and the really big stuff are technically illegal, practically for a 48-hour period anything goes, and the sky was punctuated by huge colorful rocket bursts for 360º as neighbors on adjacent streets on all sides let go with everything they had! Little children would light the really big stuff while the families sat in lawn chairs in the driveways and oo-ed and ah-ed.
6. ABORTION is an important issue
Abortion is a topic much in evidence in Nebraska. It figures frequently in the public prayer of the Catholic parishes where I was speaking, and many anti-abortion signs appear along the highways in front of churches both Catholic and Protestant and also on private farms.