Each state of the union is unique by design, state song, bird, flower, food, beverage, etc. Most people are somewhat familiar with their own home state but rarely venture into knowing much about neighboring or other states across the nation. Trivia that are considered nothing more than just that - trivial facts - carry very little weight when it comes to learning for most are not taught in school or reflected in textbooks.
Take food for example: iconic dishes/local flavor. Each of us is probably fairly familiar with Texas and its
Texas brisket, the King of Texas BBQ, and the
Philly cheese steak that has its roots in Philadelphia, PA. The mouth-watering Texas BBQ is smoked for nine hours and rarely will one find brisket slathered in sauce at a Texas roadhouse! What about the Philly cheese steak? Are you familiar with the debate ongoing between rival restaurants whether to use sliced real cheese or canned Cheese Whiz?
Ever heard of Mississippi mud? PIE, that is! Rich, dense chocolate filling — dark as the banks of the Mississippi river — sitting atop a crumbly cookie crust carries the name
Mississippi Mud Pie. YUM! Then, of course, there are the specialties of Vermont and South Carolina, which should never be confused. Sweet tart apples meet sharp cheddar on a classic favorite fall pie (
Cheddar Cheese Apple Pie), while thick ground corn grits form a nice warm bed for fresh-from-the-sea shrimp (
Shrimp and Grits). Um-m-m-m-m? Now which is local to which state? Just kidding!
OOPS! I digressed, sorry! Let's get to the meat of this matter...not meat as in food but meat as in the heart (is that a food, too?), maybe soul (not sole!) of the states and famous brands. Some are fairly commonplace,
GM for Michigan, Hershey's for Pennsylvania, Tabasco for Louisiana, Coca-Cola for Georgia, others surprising.
Note: A few of the states are hard to make out. New Jersey is Campbell's, New
Hampshire is Timberland, Vermont is Ben & Jerry's, Rhode Island is
Hasbro, Delaware is DuPont, and Hawaii is Hawaiian Airlines.
There may be some room for argument here. So, think about your home state and its most famous brand. Do you agree/disagree with its label above? Of course, the real test here is knowing which is your home state. Now, that knowledge definitely needs to remain as a topic to be taught in our schools! Can you name them all?
Related Article:
Across the Country: 50 State Food Dishes
Life is filled with schedules and deadlines. Most mornings begin abruptly with the harsh, annoying sounds of an alarm and first words of the day are often "Hurry, hurry, you [we] will be late!" Routines govern every minute of every hour and life in the moment is lost within chaos. 
STOP! In order to maintain sanity, RELAX! Throw aside senseless thoughts of "I will never get caught up!" Because you probably never will. The only true form of 'catch-up' is red, comes in a bottle and is labeled Ketchup! You will get done what you can get done, nothing more (perhaps less if you procrastinate)! The 24 hours, 1440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds (however you look at the course of a day) will pass regardless. You cannot add to it...that is all there is! So...slow down, chill, loosen-up, unwind, RELAX! Blue seeks peace and tranquility above everything else, promoting both physical and mental relaxation. It reduces stress, creating a sense of calmness, relaxation and order - we certainly feel a sense of calm if we lie on our backs and look into a bright blue cloudless sky. It slows the metabolism. The paler the blue the more freedom we feel.
