Let the healing begin: The 50 states of Don.

As most of you know, Don's Basement, does not as rule take political stands. But the current budget stalemate and political warfare are not good for business. At least my business which is selling products to retail customers who then sell them to consumers (or as I like to call them, ' the people') would be thrown off by a default on the nation's credit limit. Frankly, it sets a bad precedent for those retailers if the government decides it's ok that they don't pay their bills. Everyone should pay their bills.

Sorry for the outburst. Now for the healing. The United States is made up of 50 states. And as a friend of mine likes to remind me, "it's the United States of America and not the United People of America." Many of us are unfamiliar with the other states or have stereotypical, shallow views of them.

I am of the latter category. The main reason I think about other states is the college football season. In the fall, Alabama, Georgia, Nebraska, and Kansas State are top of mind. The rest of the year, not as much.

So, I am embarking (or should I say we?) on a tour of the United States from Don's Basement.

WYOMING

There is an Evanston, Wyoming. I stopped there on bus sometime in the early 70s.

It was a very cold day. How cold was it? (insert joke here because I've got nothing).
Trust me, very cold. I live in Chicago and have for over 50 years. That is 50 winters. I still remember how cold it was in Evanston, Wyoming just outside the bus terminal. And frankly, I haven't been back since.

As a kid, we went to Jackson Hole. Now it is a big deal. For skiing and hiking.

It looks pretty nice but here is how I remember it.

Dick Cheney is from Wyoming.

Dick Ellsworth, a pitcher for the Cubs, is also from Wyoming. (Which I just learned from Wikipedia, I knew he was a lefty and that he lost 20 games in one season and then turned around and won 20.. Okay, I only remembered that he lost the 20 games. Who am I kidding here?)

Won 115
Lost 137
ERA 3.72

Liz Cheney is Dick Cheney's daughter.

There are 576,412 people living in Wyoming.
There are over 2.5 million people who live in Brooklyn.