Dear Mr. Keillor,
I currently attend Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida; however I am Minnesota born and raised. My friends down here do not understand why I am so proud of my state. I like to tell them how great it is to live and be from Minnesota. My question for you is whether it is normal to be so proud of being from Minnesota? I have met some other Minnesotans here and they feel the same way.
Matt Fussy
Daytona Beach, FL and St. Paul, MN
Matt, I feel exactly the same way, though of course I don't talk about it. I try to blend in and pretend to be interested in other states and their people and hardly ever mention Minnesota, but when I come across a fellow Minnesotan ---- and we have our distinguishing characteristics, and our handshake, our little trademarks, our loon call, etc. ---- I just feel better, that's all. Like the stream that bends to sea, like the pine that seeks the blue, Minnesota still for thee, thy sons and daughters true. That's how I see it anyway.