ohio, the buckeye state

David from the Adventures of Travel Penguin has visited all 50 states in the US and this year his Saturday blog posts are about his experiences each state. Yesterday's post was about my state, Ohio. A lot of jokes float around about Ohio and David's Ohio review was very complimentary and yes, the winters are cold and gray and cold.

This article, even though it pokes a little fun at Ohio, explains our work hard, play hard mentality. Ohio was a blue collar, industrial state that got hit with hard times and is coming back with the technology industry noticing the state.

12 Reasons Why People in Ohio are Built Different Than the Rest of the Country

Written by Leo Heit

Ohio is the land of surprise weather, relentless sports heartbreak, and cities with very strong opinions about chili. It’s where folks can parallel park in a snowstorm, name-drop three astronauts before breakfast, and still pretend not to care that their state is the punchline of every internet joke. But deep down? Ohioans know the truth: they’re not just surviving the Buckeye State—they’re built different because of it.

(My three astronaut name-drops: Neil Armstrong, first man to walk on the moon. John Glenn, first man to orbit the earth, Judith Resnik, who died in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster)

1. They Treat Weather Forecasts Like a Choose-Your-Own Adventure Book

Sunny and 75? Blizzards tomorrow? Tornado watch at midnight? Just grab a hoodie—you’ll be fine. (Not as drastic as it sounds but our weather is fickle, especially during the change of seasons. Tornado watches at midnight and in the wee hours of the morning are scary.)

2. They’ll Casually Mention They Invented Flight, Then Dare You to Argue

Don’t bring up North Carolina. Ohio has receipts—and the Wright brothers’ bicycles to prove it. (YES, we're the Birthplace of Aviation. One of our license plates says so.)

3. They Know That Skyline Chili Isn’t Just Food—It’s a Personality Test

Pasta + chili + cheese = “What in the Midwest madness?” But to an Ohioan? It’s home. (Skyline Chili originated in Cincinnati. I don't care for it but I do mail cans of it to my Chicago daughters)

4. They’ll Keep Watching the Browns, Bengals, or Reds No Matter How Bad It Hurts

Loyalty is stronger than logic. Every season starts with cautious optimism and ends with character development. (All the men in my family are die-hard Cleveland Browns fans and they have developed very strong characters)

5. They Can Name Every Interchange on I-71 Like It’s a Family Tree

Cincinnati to Cleveland? It’s not a road trip—it’s a rite of passage. (That passage is 250 miles long/402.33 km)

6. They Say “Ope” While Squeezing Past You, and That’s Basically a Hug

It’s “excuse me,” “sorry,” and “I acknowledge your space” all rolled into one beautiful syllable. (Kind of like "oops!")

7. They’ll Shovel a Foot of Snow, Show Up on Time, and Still Say “It’s Not That Bad Out”

It builds resilience. And leg strength. And lower back problems. (I love my chiropractor, especially in the winter)

8. They’ve Turned Football Into a Second Religion

Saturdays are for Buckeyes. Sundays are for heartbreak. Tailgates are for therapy. (Saturday was the opening game for THE Ohio State Buckeyes and OSU defeated #1 ranked Texas 14-7. Parties for this game started Thursday in Columbus and since it's a holiday weekend they'll continue into Monday. We do love our Buckeyes. Next Sunday is the opening game for the Cleveland Browns and it's the Battle of Ohio, the Browns vs. the Cincinnati Bengals. Always high hopes for a great season that get dashed about five games in. My son and his friends throw a great tailgate party!)

9. They Can’t Escape Orange Barrels—And Honestly, They’ve Stopped Trying

Ohio has two seasons: winter and construction. And both last way too long. (I swear, I-75 through Dayton should just put up permanent orange barrels)

10. They Know That “The Lake” Means Lake Erie, and They’ll Defend It With Their Life

Yes, it’s a little brown. Yes, there are fish with opinions. But it’s our lake. (Volume wise, Lake Erie is the smallest of the five Great Lakes. Do you remember the mnemonic device HOMES to recall the names of the Great Lakes? H - Huron; O - Ontario; M - Michigan; E - Erie; S - Superior)

11. They Will Absolutely Give You Directions Using Cornfields and Long-Gone Landmarks

“Turn left where the Kmart used to be, then head straight past the third soybean field. Can’t miss it.” (This is true.)

12. They’ve Got Thick Skin, Big Hearts, and Zero Tolerance for People Who Can’t Handle Snow, Slander, or Skyline (Big hearts - yes. Depends on who you talk to about snow, slander, or Skyline)

If you can’t laugh at Ohio… you probably don’t deserve Ohio.

Ohioans are humble, hearty, and built like a steel mill with a heart of gold. They’ve endured lake-effect snow, generational sports trauma, and at least one relative who calls it “pop.” So yeah, make all the jokes you want—but just remember: people from Ohio don’t flinch, don’t fold, and don’t forget. Because in the Buckeye State, they’re not just living—they’re built Ohio strong. (Spoken like a loyal Buckeye. What's a buckeye, you ask? It's a tree, native to North America, specifically Ohio. It's our state tree. A buckeye is also a nut, so that could explain a lot, too 🙂)

13. I'm surprised that this article didn't mention Ohio is the birthplace of Rock 'n Roll. We have a historical marker to prove it.

 

happy birthday, lauren

Happy Birthday to my daughter, Lauren! From the shy, sweet little girl who stuck to me like glue, she has grown into a force in her business world. A few years ago, her sister lived in New York and she lived in Cincinnati. My daughters were both in a place in their lives where they wanted a change so they put their heads together and moved to Chicago. Fast forward a few years to 2024, Lauren became a mom. Shortly after the birth of her son, she learned that he was born with a hole in his heart and two months later her little guy had open heart surgery. What a way to start new motherhood but she handled it like a fierce warrior. It's has been a joy to watch her grow. My little girl with a big, big heart who fills the world with so much happiness. 

 

the friday feed: chopping

A couple weeks before the Coldwater Lake weekend, the Lake Girls text chain got chatty with meal planning and who was going to bring what. The first night we go out to dinner but then we need food for two days of breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Sunday morning breakfast is full of leftovers. The girls know I love vegetables so I am tasked with bringing a couple salads. This is my third year for being the "Salad Girl." For the summer-in-a-bowl salad I walk around the farmer's market and put a bunch of veggies in my basket: tomatoes, peppers, green beans, a couple ears of corn, an onion, zucchini, cucumber, and then add lettuce, carrots, and celery from my vegetable bin. Since there was a half head of cabbage in the refrigerator, a small bowl of cole slaw would round out the salad component.

I laid out the beautiful array of vegetables and thought, "Wow. That's a lot of chopping." But for me chopping is relaxing and calming. After I chopped each vegetable, it went into its own small plastic bag and then the salad veggies went into a large plastic bag and the slaw ingredients went into their own. All the prep was done and it was easy to throw the salads together when it was time.

Chop, chop, chop, chop, chop,

chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop,

chop, chop, chop, chop.......Done.

sunset

A sunset on the lake is nature's way of saying goodnight. 

As the day comes to an end, the sun bathes the sky in an array of breath-taking colors ranging from warm hues of yellow and orange to the tranquil blues and purples. The changing light creates a dynamic visual experience and the lake reflects the sun's final breath, gold, then orange, the darkness. It's a mirror for endings and a canvas for a new day.

 

wednesday's words and wanderings and wonderings

Last Tuesday was National Aviation Day, a United States national observation that celebrates the development of aviation. In 1939 Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued a presidential proclamation establishing Orville Wright's birthday (August 19) as National Aviation Day.

Aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright's first flight inspired key design features at the Schuster Performing Arts Center in downtown Dayton. Its ceiling, The Starfield, is a replica of the night sky on the eve of Orville and Wilbur's first powered flight, and  more than 2000 fiber optic lights. The width of the center ring matches the original wingspan of the Wright Flyer, the Wright Brothers' first powered plane. The Wright Brothers grew up in Dayton, just across the river from what is downtown.

Photo: facedayton

My panicle hydrangea tree's flowers are transforming from white to pink, signaling the coming of fall. Eventually the flowers will be brown. Each stage brings its own beauty.

We were in Michigan last weekend. Adult use of recreational marijuana has been legal in Michigan since 2018 and as drivers approach the state line advertisements line the interstate to entice visitors to live the high life.

Our friends' neighbors at Coldwater Lake expanded their patio and after pouring the concrete patio around the tree, the tree died. They had the branches cut off but left the trunk. Tina, who lives there, is an artist and this tree became her canvas. What do you think? I love the whimsy!

Yesterday was National Dog Day. We had dogs for 22 years and have been without a furry friend since 2021. When our last dog crossed the rainbow bridge, I told Todd that we were going to wait a year. Our daughter was getting married in 2022, we would be traveling to Chicago frequently, and not having to think about what to do with the dog was one less stressor. Here we are, four years later and as much as I loved all our pups, we're not going to get another one. We're not home as much as we used to be and now with grandchildren in the picture, I don't want to have to worry about how the dog would react when the the little balls of energy come to visit. I loved being a dog owner and do miss the companionship and comfort and joy they brought to my life.

monday's mulling: first cup of coffee

The first cup of morning coffee always tastes so good, especially after a long weekend.

It was a weekend full of fun and reminiscing and laughter and lots of food. For the third year we went to Coldwater Lake for a mini college friends' reunion. All the guys are fraternity brothers. Three of the wives went to the same university. This circle of friendship has lasted almost 50 years, from our university days to getting our first jobs to getting married to becoming parents to taking care of our parents to becoming grandparents to now talking about some health issues and aches and pains. Golden friendships.

Last night all the planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune, aligned in a cosmic parade. The best time to see them was after twilight and I missed that window. With my Night Sky app, I found Neptune and Pluto at 10:30 pm (22:30) and then early this morning around 6:30 (06:30) I went outside and found Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus with the Night Sky app. Jupiter was visible to the naked eye. A couple morning walkers were taking their stroll in the early morning peace and a couple cars passed by on their way to their Monday morning destinations. 

When we left for the lake my bird feeders still had some food on them. This morning, while looking out the window as the coffee brewed, I saw that they had polished off the last remnants. The birds are now in their molting season, replacing their old feathers with new ones. It happens after their breeding season and before migration and is energetically demanding. As I put water in the bird bath and new seed on the feeders, a cardinal chirped, "It's about time!"

critters at the farm

"Nature is the dream, and I am her wanderer." ~ Angie Weiland Crosby

At the farm we share the space with lots of little creatures. Living in harmony with nature...it's one of the beauties of life. Magic can be found in the simplest of things, both large and small—clouds sailing, a blade of sunlit grass, a flower budding, birds chirping, and even pesky raccoons. And we are wanderers amid the enchantment.

Little barn swallow gathers a sprig of grass for its nest.

Raccoon says, "High five!"

Some kind of a moth...it's pretty!

The pesky raccoons sure do enjoy snacking on the cantaloupes!

Hello, little grasshopper.

 Red Spotted Purple butterfly

Mockingbird. There are two nests in the trees and we've been feeding them blueberries. I love listening to their always-changing song.

oh...ok...or...

"O" the little things that catch my eye...I notice license plates. It stems from the days of family vacations when my parents gave their four children the challenge to see who could find the most license plates from the 50 states as we drove along the interstates.

As I drove around town last week I saw Oregon and Oklahoma license plates. Fun! Three states start with the letter O so why not make a collage?

Ohio plates are everywhere. Oklahoma and Oregon are the oddities - those cars are far from their homes.

the friday feed: onions

My parents had a vegetable garden at every house we lived in. They always grew green bell peppers, tomatoes, green beans, and onions - those were the staples. My dad loved his onions. He would plant them to border three sides of the garden. He especially loved the little green onions. What a thrill to go to the garden, gently pull a few from the dirt, and see that little white bulb at the end of the green stem. That's where the thrill ended. Dad took them into the kitchen, washed them off, cut off the little hairy end, sprinkled them with salt, and ate it. Ew. As a little kid, onions were icky.

My parents also grew yellow onions for cooking and to slice for hamburgers and other sandwiches. My dad liked a butter and onion sandwich. I remember chopping onions for soups and chili and all at once my eyes watering, sometimes to the point of crying if it was a really strong onion. Amazing how something that looks so innocent can bring about a such a teary reaction.

At the farm we sell candy onions. These are a hybrid of the common onion and a sweet onion. They're a great option for those who want something between a sweet and more sulfuric classic onion. At the end of the season, one of our customers orders a big bag of candy onions to take him through the winter. He just loves these. I love them for their flavor and for the fact that they don't cause eyes to water.

Chopping onions: stem

on one end, hairy on the

other, tears inside.

 

original art

Right before my high school reunion a friend who is a very talented  artist and who also went to high school with me posted a pair of earrings that she made. She lives in Aiken, South Carolina so I messaged her to ask if she would bring them with her and that I would love to wear them to the reunion. Well, she was already in town visiting her sister but she said her husband would mail them. While we were in Cleveland, a notice from the USPS came through that a package had been delivered. It's always fun to come home to something other than a pile of junk mail in the postbox.

Look at that little cloth bag the earrings were packaged in. Such a nice touch and fun to take out the earrings to see them for the first time.

Kim is multi-talented. First, she is an oil and watercolor artist; making jewelry is another outlet for her creativity. What a treat to have an original pair of earrings!

 

wednesday's words and wanderings and wonderings

What a week. Does it seem like time is flying by? We've passed the midpoint of August and are in the dog days of summer but signs of fall are creeping in. The monarch butterfly migration is underway, the grocery stores are marketing corn chips that look like leaves and are in fall colors - gold, orange, purple - and at the farm the peaches are now coming in from Michigan instead of South Carolina and we now have some early season apples and butternut squash. 

Speaking of the farm, the sky doesn't look like it but a quick 20 minute downpour came through and gave the land a much-needed watering. Of course there were puddles in the parking lot and around the stand but what tickled me is that when customers came up to pay for their produce, they looked around and asked, "Oh, did you get some rain here?" 

We exchange dinner dates with a dear friend. She takes us to her country club and we take her to her favorite steak house. She loves dessert and even though we were full at the end of our lovely meals, she insisted on one of each. Twist my arm! (Top to bottom: lemon chiffon cake, peanut butter creme brulee, hot fudge nutball)

A drive up I-71 to Cleveland for the weekend to spend time with our son, daughter-in-law, and two of our precious littles. The only time our 3-year old grandson is not moving is when he's having his quiet time and gets to watch TV or when he's asleep. He is a clone of his dad. Exhausting but fills the heart with so much joy, just like his dad did (and still does). Our 5 month old granddaughter is on the move. She rolls over to her tummy but hasn't mastered rolling back to her back. She let us know when she wanted to be back on her back, and then only to repeat the whole process. 

"Our" shower in Cleveland is in the kids' bathroom. Shove all the toys to the back and scrub away. These two little people sure do keep the young-at-heart feeling alive.

This just made me laugh. Been there, done that. 

monday's mulling: writer's block

Back in the days of teaching Language Arts (Reading and Writing) one of the exercises I would have my students do is a free write. They could write about anything they wanted for 10 minutes, topic of their choice, their pen had to stay on the paper, and the pen had to keep moving. Blank stares and panic moments. "I don't what to write about. I can't write for 10 minutes straight." This was typically how we began our Mondays. I asked them about their weekends...what did they do, who did they see, any yummy foods or desserts, did they listen to any good music...to prompt some thoughts. To keep writing, to keep the pen moving when there was a writer's block, they made loops. This was a way of relaxing the brain and letting the thought energy flow. It took time and it worked and yes, a few of the little angels pushed this to the limit and we had chats.

I have writer's block right now so this later-in-the-day post is me typing away...keeping the fingers moving. This post will probably be all over the place but it's going to happen. While I was filling this page full of loops, lots of thoughts came to mind. It really does work.

Yesterday, my granddaughter was baptized. She wore her mother's baptismal gown and looked so sweet. The gospel reading was really weird...talking about the division of families due to differences in their views on faith. It didn't seem right for a baptismal celebration, welcoming a new member into the church, and what really irritated me, it mentioned a daughter-in-law turning against her mother-in-law. I guess mother-in-law jokes started back in biblical times. But whatever...it was a beautiful day for both sides of the family.

On our way home from Cleveland, my boss sent out this week's work schedule. We texted a bit and she mentioned that she was exhausted because her son who helps run the farm and the business is on vacation with his wife's family (the daughter-in-law/mother-in-law thing again 😁) and how much she appreciates all that he does. I have a bunch of veggies leftover from the salad I made for the lunch to celebrate the baptism so I've put together a salad to take to her. This morning Todd mentioned having chicken and salad for dinner tonight so I got out a package of chicken thighs and thawed them. He asked me why I was thawing chicken. "For dinner." "It's already taken care of." So now I'm making chicken and noodles to take to my boss. I don't have any wide egg noodles so I'm using the spaetzle that we bought in Frankenmuth, Michigan, last December that has been sitting in the pantry all this time. I'm a big proponent of "use what you got." This lady is such a kind person, hard worker, and does so much to help others. I just want to help her catch a breath.

David from The Adventures of Travel Penguin has traveled to all 50 states and since January has made a weekly post in alphabetical order about a state. In a couple weeks he is going to share his adventures in Ohio. I am looking forward to what he has to say about the Buckeye State.

And now I need to work on the rest of this week's posts. We're having a "Big Chill" weekend with college friends and there won't be time to write but there will be time to gather stories!

to hallie

Our granddaughter receives the sacrament of baptism today. Our wish for you, sweet Hallie, is to grow in grace, wisdom, and happiness. You've already made the world a better place.

 

just a matter of months

From May...

To August.

Beginning and ending.

Beauty in both of its blooms.

"Everything comes full circle. It’s the beauty of living." ~ author unknown