Wisconsin will always be my home. It doesn't matter that I don't live there anymore. Any time that I return, I am welcomed by the familiarity of the landscape, the people, the food, the weather, the sights, the smells... It feels like I never left.
I see the same regulars playing trivia at my favorite local bar, while I sip on a brandy old fashioned sour with olives, followed by a brandy old fashioned sweet with cherries for dessert. I treat myself to a vegetarian sandwich from my favorite sandwich shop (even though I stopped being a vegetarian ten years ago). I marvel at the size of the cheese aisle in any grocery store, and reminisce about the days when my life was filled with that much cheesy joy. I visit the people I love, and wish that I didn't live 2,000 miles away.
Instead of pining away for my past life in Wisconsin, I am heading back there soon to make my first feature film. Freedom, WI is a love letter to everyone I know, everywhere I've been, and all of the experiences I had when I lived in Wisconsin.
Once a Cheesehead, always a Cheesehead.
