"Amaizing" Illinois

If I were to describe Central Illinois in one word, it would be: flat. It’s pretty boring in terms of geography, and it contains mostly small towns. There are fields everywhere; when I’m in the car I almost always see vast expanses of corn or soybeans flying by my window. However, that doesn’t mean everyone who lives in Central Illinois is a farmer. I am most definitely not a farmer. It also doesn’t mean there’s nothing to do. 

The area’s climate is interesting. In the summer, it can get pretty hot and humid, but if you prefer warmer temperatures, like me, it’s fine. The winter, though, is where the weather gets really weird. Here in Champaign, it started snowing on Halloween. That wasn’t very good for the trick-or-treaters -- though I still had a couple of determined trick-or-treaters come to my house. Last winter was really, really cold. The thing about winter here is that it is both cold and windy. This makes walking to Kenney Gym a real issue -- you have to trek through the snow while the icy wind whips at your face. It’s essential to have a good winter jacket if you plan on going to Champaign in the winter. 

Central Illinois, geographically, is made up of wide flat areas of farmland and prairie. There are also various lakes and rivers; Illinois contains part of Lake Michigan, one of the Great Lakes. There are various national parks to visit, though, to explore the other kinds of nature there is to offer in Illinois. In those parks, there are the few hills Illinois does have. 

One experience I had that was very midwest-related was a camp I went to where we learned all about pollen. For one of the days of the camp, we spent the day in a cornfield. The tall green stalks of corn seemed to engulf me and everyone around me. The sun was beating down, which wasn’t helping. There wasn’t a building anywhere in sight. It was like a corn maze, but we were in an actual field of corn, not a maze. We learned about the different parts of corn, as well as pollination. It would have been really interesting if it weren’t for the punishing heat. There are other activities to do in Central Illinois besides going to fields. For example, there’s the Illinois State Fair, where lots of people head to for entertainment and food. Illinois also has places to go to for seeing nature, like Kickapoo State Park.