Nevada Day

This was a 3-day weekend here in Nevada - Admissions Day is a state holiday commemorating the day Nevada entered into the Union. I don't know if other states do this. Is there a Michigan Day or a Wyoming Day? Growing up, all I knew was I got Halloween off while my cousins in California had to go to school.

Admissions Day is Nevada's way of being glad they're included. A "you really like us" sort of thing. Actually, back in 1864, statehood was our reward for coming down on the side of the free states in the Civil War. To separate us (and our huge production of silver) from those polygamist Mormon heathens in Utah territory, we were created.

Since then, we've enjoyed a nice give-and-take with the Federal Government.

Them: We'll give you Hoover Dam and Lake Mead PLUS 2% of the electricity. How does that sound?

Us: Hm. All these construction workers need something to do. How about legalizing gambling? And let's draw some residents with quickie divorces.

Them: Since we own 90% of your land, AND you've been naughty, we're sending the Nevada Test Site. AND Area 51, AND every strange and potentially life-threatening project we can think of.

Us: How about giving us something useful - like a supercollider/superconductor? Or some of that NASA business? Or research money for alternative energy sources?

Them: Fuck you. Here's Yucca Mountain instead. You're our petrie dish, and don't you forget it.

Us: No. Fuck YOU. We don't produce it, so we don't want to store it. See you in court.

I'm proud to live in such an odd, contrary place. When I was a kid, all I saw was brown ugly mountains. All I wanted was to live in a 'normal' state, where I wouldn't be asked stupid questions, like "do you go to school?" and "do you live in a hotel?" Now, looking back, I love our history. I've trekked to Rachel (gateway to Area 51), taken the government tour of the Nevada Test Site, walked through shells of old mining boomtowns, visited saloons in Virginia City and Genoa, taken the hard hat tour of Hoover Dam, and hiked rough canyons marked with petroglyphs from Anasazi Indians. I've wandered the Strip like a tourist and avoided it like the plague. I enjoy remembering Las Vegas when it was small and 'mobbed up.' Looking around, I see the odd schizophrenic beauty and behavior of this place. And I don't ever wish for 'normal.'

Happy 140th birthday, Nevada.