I lied—I really thought I would be up this morning to write before I went to work, but the fact of the matter is, I’m a bad sleeper, and on the nights where I’m a really bad sleeper, I have a hard time getting up. Last night was one of those nights. I was up later than I should have been finishing a book and then kept having a crazy dream extension. When I was little, my cousin’s wife told me that if you try to go back to sleep in the EXACT same position, you would dream a continuation of the dream you were having before you woke up. Apparently that was the case last night, and while my dreams weren’t actually frightening, they were realistic and confusing and led to disorientation. Which leads to late wakeups.
But enough excuses, onto the where for the week. I’m going to focus not so much on where I literally write, but where we live: Nebraska. Don’t worry though—I’ll get to the house and my writing room eventually. And that will be a pictures post! I hope . . .
While I currently call Nebraska home, I was born in Colorado, and I have always been a mountain girl. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t camp, ski, hike, snowboard, or really do anything outdoorsy that you generally associate with mountains, though I have before. Rather, I like the way they look. I like seeing them at sunset, knowing which way is west, and just having them there. I appreciate the fact that my parents bought houses based on views rather than actual house conditions, because being able to see them right out a window there is almost comforting.
So how did I end up in Nebraska? This was a question that everyone asked me once I came here. It seems to be that people who live in Nebraska can’t fathom why anyone would come here willingly, and people who live anywhere else can’t fathom why anyone would want to come here.
Here’s how I would respond in college:
"I wanted to go somewhere out of state." This was true. While my schools were much larger than some of them here, particularly Nathan’s schools, I had gone to school with some of the same people since Kindergarten. Which isn’t a bad thing—it’s a great thing, in fact—but I was ready to branch out and not only get a new perspective, but be able to be who I was without people instantly putting me in a box that they had put me in back when we first met. Not like I had a bad reputation, quite the opposite in fact, but I wanted to learn who I was someplace new, rather than somewhere where people could still defer back to the Whitney they already knew.
"My parents are from here." Also true. My parents are originally from Western Nebraska and both graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where they met. (Note: However, because they are from Nebraska, it seems that they had something like two degrees of separation their entire lives. So it goes in this state—everyone knows everyone through one to three mutual acquaintances.) I am a sucker for tradition (aka routine), and I loved the idea of idea of attending a school that much of my family had. However, everyone assumed that my parents “made me” attend their alma mater. False. They were very supportive in my college hunt, and would have been proud no matter where I went.
"Valentino's Pizza." Partly true. I do love Val’s pizza. For those not familiar with it, Valentino’s is a restaurant that serves delicious pizza (and recently, I’ve discovered delicious spaghetti, too), and it’s really only a Nebraska thing, though they have branched out. It was always a special treat to have when we’d visit here, and during college on my way home, I’d stop in Ogallala to see my grandma and pick up half-baked pizzas to take home. Delicious.
But none of these were really my real reasons, and I don’t think I can ever really explain why I came here and why I love it, but I’ll try.
There’s a feeling of being here that’s hard to recreate. I’m not just talking about Husker game days, where you can feel pride and enthusiasm and unity in the air while you’re walking around or sitting in Memorial Stadium. That feeling lasts throughout the year and extends past our football team. I like that everyone seems to know everyone else and you can become friends with people you meet in everyday places. And yes, Nebraska can be conservative, but it’s also conservative in that it hasn’t lost values where you are generally nice to people, considerate and friendly, and people are willing to help you out if you need it.
I think that there is also a welcoming feeling. When I went on college visits, none of them felt as right as Nebraska did. I felt like anyone I talked to was glad I was here and wanted me here. While you can chalk that up to awesome recruiting efforts on UNL’s part, I don’t think I’ve lost that feeling as the years go by. And ultimately, this is why I chose to live in Nebraska, and I’m glad I did, even if I miss my Colorado people and the mountains.
