By Bev Jackson, Freeborn County Historical Museum

I’ve lived in Minnesota all my life.

I love the bright, spring, yellow-green buds on my River Birch tree,

And the red and purple tulips in my neighbor’s yard,

And the energy and noise of the mallards as they begin their spring pursuit of new life.

I love the water &045;

The lakes where water skiers create waves upon waves upon waves,

And the small bays that meander in and around, creating havens for wildlife.

I love the rolling prairie,

And the fields that have provided food for generations of Minnesotans and people all around the world &045;

Fields worked by farmers who love and understand the land.

We may complain about the weather,

But we glory in the beauty of frosty pine boughs in the winter, warm spring days, summers at the lake, and the reds and oranges of fall leaves.

I love the architecture in my home town. Even as a small child, sitting in the back seat of my dad’s 1937 Buick,

I would look up at the second and third stories of the buildings on Broadway,

And feel a security and strength in the old brick and limestone.

I love the Mississippi River,

And the excitement of standing by one of the locks and watching a tug boat and its barges

lowered to the next level for their trip south.

I love small town parades &045;

Children riding ponies, local politicians handing out literature, and neighbor kids in the school band.

I’m proud to stand with my hand over my heart and thank God that I am an American.

What makes Minnesota smell so good?

At a workshop a few years ago, I was able to identify the dirt in a bucket as coming from the northern part of the state.

Was it the aroma of thousands of years of rotting pine needles?

And the opportunities that Minnesota provides &045; The universities, museums, theatres, the arenas and stadiums; And the capitol &045; Saint Paul with its old world charm harkening back to the days when the city was called Pig’s Eye.

I love Duluth with its international flavor, and New Ulm, just a generation away from German speaking waitresses. And Minnesota people: Pleasant, stubborn, hard-working, understanding, grumpy. We are all, almost all, “Minnesota Nice.”

I love to travel, experiencing new sights and sounds and smells, meeting new people and listening to their ideas about our world, experiencing first hand how others interpret living.

But I’m always happy to return to Minnesota, And I’m glad this is my home.

(Bev Jackson is executive director of the Freeborn County Historical Museum.)