A Southern Wisconsin Day

                             I did promise you that I would show you something about Gratiot. Here it is.

                             Sorry that it is so underwhelming and anti-climactic but that’s about it. There are two bars, one gas station, and a collection of other older domiciles. We waved at Bill, one of the bar owners as Danny drove us through ‘town’.  We know his name is Bill because Danny knows him, I did not make it up! I deliberately did not take any photos for several reasons, one was that it was kind of embarrassing to jump out of the truck and snap pics like were on a ride at Disneyland and second, there wasn’t anything remarkable about the bars, gas station or domiciles.

                             But…. have no fear! We did travel a few miles to visit the little town of New Glarus. This is opposed to (Old) Glarus, which is still in Europe, namely in Switzerland.

                             It’s fun to come across these little hamlets in the countryside that still embrace their folkloric beginnings from back in the day. You will find most of them are out in the country, miles from nowhere, making them somewhat isolated. That’s what makes them a little unique and special. These oases of ethnicity surround themselves with all the trappings of the Old World. They keep, or replicate, as much of the architecture and signage as they can, and most of the time you will find that a lot of the business still cling to their family roots that were sunk in years ago. If not, then at least the next generation of entrepreneurs are smart enough to know which side of their Brown Bread to put the old-world butter on and realize that this cultural respite is why people flock to their town for the day.

                                       We did!

                             New Glarus is a tiny slab of Switzerland  (minus the Alps) that was plopped here back in the 1800’s when immigrants liked its dairy land features and with that of course comes everyone’s favorite dairy product, Cheese! We are in the German-influenced regions of Switzerland. As independent as Switzerland is, it is also fairly small and a lot of its culture and all of its languages come from its larger neighbors namely Italy, France, and Germany. So that means that the language du jour is based on where you are located in the Homeland!

                             Ja! Und ve hadden ze bestest fooden en de Glarner Stube, a nice little place with on-draft Root Beer(!) and many other delicacies such as schnitzels, bratwursts, and fondues.

After that we stopped in at the Chalet Cheese which is a dairy cooperative established back in 1885 by five dairy families. It is still here, now with thirteen families in shared ownership. Their products are all Swiss specialties, especially (obviously) Swiss, in its many forms, Limburger, with its many aromas (?) and they are re-kindling interests in some older recipes such as Liederkranz. These thirteen family farms generate over 100,000 pounds of milk per day and have numerous cheese (not cheesy!) awards not only in Wisconsin, but in World Competition also.

Maybe the best part of this area is just that. The area. The effects of long-ago glaciers leaving rolling hills, and sweeping vistas behind as they exited, gives this region a very pleasant feel to it. The undulating sightlines of rows and rows of corn,  interspaced with acres upon acres carpeted with soybean plants are quite satisfying! The farmers here also have a nice tradition (?) of keeping their producing fields surrounded by precisely mowed perimeters, especially along the roadways. There may be a practical reason for this, but I’m going to go with the natural neatness and tidiness that the Swiss are noted for!

I often wondered where all of the oils needed to make the fryer shortening for the Chatterbox came from. The main ingredient is vegetable oil and the main vegetable used for this is the soybean plant. Just how much oil can you possibly squeeze out of some teeny-weeny bean? It can be only a teeny-weeny amount! We went through thousands and thousands of gallons of this stuff, and we were just one place! The collective amount of needed oils is a staggering figure to grasp.

          I can now see how this is all possible.

          As large an area as it is, these fields are just a teeny-tiny part of the vastness that is the Mid-West. That section of our country that feeds all of us and allows us to have French Fries to our hearts content!

          So, the Lesson of the Day is  (as you can now see) lots of teeny-tiny bits of anything makes lots and lots of stuff!

          That ends our combined Geography, Economics, and Cultural class for today. There may be a similar one in the future, but only if I get Internet Access!