The Badger State is just the funnest and here's the proof
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Whelp, we're well into Wisconsin's summer season of fun, the time of year where we forget just how miserable we were 20 weeks ago.
There's no way to measure it, but I would argue (loudly and passionately, especially after three beers) that Wisconsin is the funnest state in the country. And I'm talking all kinds of fun, Types I, II and III.
I've just recently learned more than I needed to know about fun "Types." In a nutshell, according to some deep research (I typed "Type II" fun into the internet), I found the "Fun Scale" was developed, maybe, probably, in 1985, by a geology professor at the University of Alaska.
It goes like this. Type I fun is fun fun. Think going to a movie that you thoroughly enjoy, attending a Packers game when they win and getting jiggy with it (Look at me all edgy, appealing to readers who were young in 1997.)
Type II fun is fun that comes with effort, something that might not be fun at the time, but later, when it's over, you feel good and relaxed and maybe enjoying that special kind of lightness of spirit that comes with the release of endorphins. Think a good run or bike ride, appreciating a clean garage after a Sunday afternoon of sweeping and organizing or knitting that Nordic sweater.
Type III fun isn't really fun at all. Farming when milk prices are low. Being forced to watch the Minnesota Vikings at a family gathering. Falling off a cliff.
We'll be focusing on Type II here, because it seems to be the season for it. Check out all these go-getters going and getting, or turning themselves inside out trying.
► Wind. Lightning. Goose attacks. Why it's hard to break a Wisconsin River paddling record. (Subscribers only)
► Solo marathon swimmer from Delafield piles up the miles in the pool and on area lakes
► Ice Age Trail thru-hiker hopes to become first woman to hike all 11 national scenic trails
And then there's this. I'm not sure exactly how we should classify an obsession with "joggling." It needs its own category, I think:
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There's plenty of Type I fun, too
► Wisconsin summer things to do guide: concerts, festivals, beer gardens, state parks, camping
►Here's the Summerfest 2022 lineup by date, time and stage for the Milwaukee music festival
►Hidden gems, best sellers and other pro tips to enhance your yum and fun at 4 Door County roadside markets (Subscribers only)
And a special kind of A-Rod fun
► Aaron Rodgers has a cute encounter with a little girl while grocery shopping Can't quite picture Tom Brady doing this.
Didja know? A Wisconsin fact drop
Didja know that Gen. Douglas MacArthur's grandfather, Arthur MacArthur, was Wisconsin's fourth governor for four days in early spring of 1856? It has to be one of the state's most bizarre political episodes, even though aspects of it will feel eerily familiar to American citizens today.
In the fall election MacArthur ran for lieutenant governor as a Democrat, alongside the incumbent Democrat Gov. William A. Barstow. The election was a tight. Early vote tallies had Barstow winning the election over Republican Coles Bashford by just 157 votes.
Bashford claimed fraud and the governorship, and both Bashford and Barstow were sworn in as governor in separate ceremonies (Wait, what?). You can imagine the mess that caused, and the state's attorney general and the Wisconsin Supreme Court got involved. While the controversy was being sorted out by the court, Barstow resigned and MacArthur, who had won the election for lieutenant governor, took the seat as acting governor.
Four days later, the Wisconsin Supreme Court unanimously ruled that results from several precincts in northern Wisconsin were indeed fraudulent and Bashford was declared the winner. MacArthur served the rest of his term as lieutenant governor.
Source: National Governor's Association, Wisconsin Historical Society, and Wikipedia
Contact Keith Uhlig at 715-845-0651 or kuhlig@gannett.com. Follow him at @UhligK on Twitter and Instagram or on Facebook.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Embracing Type II fun in Wisconsin
