Pride of Place

I was born in Illinois.  It's not like I had a choice.  My parents married there and had me and my four siblings, and for forty-nine of my fifty-two years, I lived in the state, mostly around Chicago.  I went to grad school at the University of Iowa in Iowa City and spent a very enjoyable year in Spain.  Otherwise, it was always in Illinois that I resided.

While I lived in Illinois, I never felt much pride of being from there.  Being a Chicagoan, by extension (although I did live in the city for eleven years), gave me some pride when it came to sports teams, but other than its architecture and the relative cleanliness of the city, I can't say that my chest was puffed with pride. When it came to the state, though, the only pride I took was in being a graduate of the flagship school of the state.

Even so, I watched other states puffing their chests out in pride.  Texas, notoriously, has so much pride that it swaggers.  I have never met a Texan who didn't love his state.  Of course, given that it's a sovereign state, that's almost to be expected.  But ask any Texan which state is the best in the Union, and invariably the answer will be Texas.

New Yorkers have great pride, but it's more rooted in the Big Apple than anywhere else in the state, which is a shame because I've heard the northern portion of the state is gorgeous.  Californians are so proud of their state they continue to write songs about the place.  As one of the bigger states, it has a geographic diversity that is to be envied.  Not even Texas can rival what California has to offer with its topography.

Virginia is the Old Dominion, Tennessee is the Volunteer State and Missouri is the Show Me state.  Illinois is the Land of Lincoln only because Abe's father couldn't support his family well in Kentucky.  Speaking of Kentucky, it has bourbon, horses and fast women -- or so it says.

Michigan is a beautiful state.  It touts its auto industry, which is to be expected, together with its natural beauty and the variety of its coastlines.  Made in Michigan is said with pride.  Even being down is looked at as an opportunity to improve, not as something in which to wallow.

Illinois has none of that.  Sure, we had Michael Jordan, but that was due to an accident (thank you Portland) and he's from North Carolina anyway.  Al Capone?  Now there's something in which to take pride.

Carl Sandburg wrote about Chicago being the City of Big Shoulders.  He wrote a biography of Abraham Lincoln.  Despite being born in Illinois, however, I don't recall him writing an homage about the state.  Only Dan Fogelberg wrote a song about Illinois, and that's little known outside Fogelberg devotees.

Growing up, the only preoccupation I had about the state was whether to attend college somewhere in it for in-state tuition.  I never took pride in much that was purely about Illinois.  Beside its agriculture, much of what it does is pretty pedestrian.  Galena is beautiful, and I've heard that the southern portion of the state has some locations to recommend it, but it has none of the natural beauty of Michigan, none of the unique locations like California or Alaska, no on-going industry like Michigan.  For all the things associated with Illinois -- Presidents (Lincoln, Reagan, Grant and Obama), Michael Jordan, hog-butcher of the world -- it's no better than Nebraska when one gets right down to it.

But places like Texas, California and Michigan are bursting at the seams with pride of place.  I can only imagine what it would have been like to grow up in one of those states.

Then again, I shouldn't complain too much.  I am a citizen of the best country in the world.  That more than makes up for my humble roots.

(c) 2013 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles