Snow is Here

It is our first snowfall of the season. KELO reports:

An area of light snow showers has been working its way from cold air in North Dakota down through eastern South Dakota. No accumulation is expected, however.

We have accumulated a dusting, which should be gone tomorrow. But what better way to celebrate South Dakota Winter Awareness day than with snow! Weather.gov wants everyone to "prepare your home, vehicle, and your family for the onset of winter weather" with various tips and reminders, from stocking up to checking weather reports before you leave home.

Welcome winter!

Alternative Tourist Stops

Business Insider has posted "10 overrated tourist attractions in the US — and where to go instead." For South Dakota, Badlands National Park is recommended over Mount Rushmore. This is correct. A drive through the Badlands (or possibly even Spearfish Canyon) is more scenic than Mount Rushmore (which I did not visit until my 14th-or-so trip to South Dakota). It also has its own gift shop and the chance to visit world-renowned Wall Drug on the way in or out of the park.

For Washington DC, they recommend Smithsonian museums over a non-tour visit to the White House. An extra benefit of the Smithsonian museums is that they are free. You can leave and go to another without wasting an admission fee. Two specific recommendations for Washington DC:

1. The National Museum of American History has a broad collection, including First Ladies' gowns, the original 15-star Star Spangled Banner, and Kermit the Frog (and once displayed the "puffy shirt" from Seinfeld). It's also about a block from the Ellipse view of the White House, so you can take any necessary pictures from there.


2. Out by Dulles Airport is the much larger Air & Space Museum: the Udvar-Hazy Center which basically has all the aircraft that were too big to fit downtown.

South Dakota and New Jersey, Neighbors at Last

South Dakota was recently rated the 6th best state for Money-Savviness. #7? New Jersey. How did these two very different states end up ranked next to each other? Arbitrary methodology.

The survey from GoBankingRates.com considered "use of banking services, strong saving and investing behavior, and strong financial education policies." Without the third element, South Dakota would have been higher and New Jersey would have been lower:

With stronger financial education policies than most states, New Jersey requires high school students to take both an economics and a personal finance course.

South Dakota's financial education requirements are average, requiring only that both economics and personal finance courses be offered in the state's high schools but not requiring students to take them and not requiring testing.

If simply requiring a course made a notable difference, it eventually show up in the better financial statistics: fewer bankruptcies, better spending, and better use of banking services. Merely requiring a course does not guarantee learning, and may have originated from residents' financial problems.

Approaching Sunset, Friday

The view to the west, Friday evening.

We Grow Beef, Acres and Acres of Beef

I had to pass this along, because it is so very true. We have a vegetable garden, but the fenced part (to keep the dog and deer out) is smaller than the garage.

From The Cow Docs:

"We Grow Beef Because We Can't Grow Vegetables Here"

...Our climate dictates that only certain thing[s] do well here. For example, vegetables are a poor crop choice for most of the state. Yes, my wife’s garden looks phenomenal, but only because she uses a few thousand gallons of water on it each year. If we tried to raise water-intensive crops out here like that on a statewide scale, we’d make California look damp in no time.

...By putting cattle on land that is unsuitable for crops, we can use it to make a nutrient-dense food source. And, if we want the best of both worlds (which we always do in agriculture), we can graze cattle for most of their lives and feed them corn for the last few months so they reach slaughter size more efficiently (meaning, same size but using fewer resources).

For more explanation of cattle on grasslands, read the rest here.