Dear readers,

Today I'll be telling you about Wisconsin. As you know, Wisconsin is the land of cheese and beer. But did you know that nearly all of the ginseng grown in the U.S. is produced in Marathon County, Wisconsin? That's nearly 10% of the world's supply! Wisconsin also produces 60% of the nation's cranberries, and the world's largest cranberry festival is held in the village of Warrens every year.

Other famous exports include world-renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright. His home in Spring Green, Wisconsin named the Taliesin now serves as a museum dedicated to his life and career. Famed guitarist and inventor of the solid-body electric guitar, Les Paul, grew up in Waukesha, Wisconsin. The Waukesha County Museum has a permanent exhibit called the Les Paul Experience, which includes a collection of his personal guitars, equipment, and awards.

The city of Wisconsin Dells proclaims itself as "The Waterpark Capital of the World," and for good reason. It has the nation's largest outdoor waterpark, Noah's Ark, and is home to more waterparks in one area than anywhere else in the world. My hometown of Milwaukee hosts the world's largest music festival every summer, aptly named Summerfest. It has earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.

You may have heard me say it is very cold in Wisconsin. The coldest recorded temperature occurred in 1996, in Sawyer County, Wisconsin. On a breezy day in February, it reached −55° Fahrenheit. That's −48° in Celsius! It's quite common to reach temperatures lower than 0° F (−18° C) in the winter, with the Polar Vortex in 2019 reaching temperatures of −30° F (−34° C). Wisconsin weather is also notorious for rapidly changing; one of my friends described a day this month as "sunny and 70 F (21 C) all day" before it started to hail and snow in the afternoon.

Now for some fun language facts. What is commonly referred to as a "water fountain" is usually called a "bubbler" within Wisconsin. This can lead to confusion when travelling, as almost nobody calls them that anywhere else! There is also the "TYME Machine" (pronounced 'time'), to refer to an ATM. Both of these regional words originate from specific brands that were very common throughout Wisconsin, and have taken on the meaning of the generic item.

I hope you enjoyed reading about Wisconsin! I looked up some more facts I didn't include in this blog, so feel free to ask me in the lobby if you'd like to know more!

Next week I'll be talking about previous job as a Software Engineer, so please look forward to it!