Sharing Birhdays

My dog has my birthday. The vet was sure to remind me by sending her an elaborate E-card. I also share my birthday with Halloween. (It's a pretty good holiday to have a birthday on.)

But I also share my birthday with the state of Nevada.

I read somewhere that out here they celebrate their state day more than any other state... which isn't really saying much. But there's still a parade in Carson City, and pretty much everyone gets the last Friday of the month off work.

Thanks to elementary school, I spent a lot of Januaries learning about Kansas-y things like bison, sunflowers, and tiger salamanders, but I felt pretty ignorant about Nevada, so I thought I'd do a little learnin' today, and share the more interesting things. (since it is the acceptable day to celebrate)

Nevada became a state exactly 125 years before I was born. That was during the civil war, so a ribbon on the emblem of their flag reads: "Battle Born."

The state flower is sagebrush, which is really pretty for the desert, but around this time of year, it starts to smell a little like feet.

This is the driest state in the USA. Average rainfall: seven inches. (Which is why my hair doesn't curl anymore.)

We have the Comstock Lode, which is the nation's largest silver deposit. And because of that, we also have Virginia City. In its time, its population was 20,000, but now it's just a touristy ghost down of about 800.

We also have Area 51 and the Hoover Dam... Both pretty exciting!

And last, contrary to popular belief, they're called Nevadans, not Nevadicans.