Life in an illiterate state

According to a news report and a survey, the most literate U.S. cities are Minneapolis and Seattle. I wonder why?

Could it be that Seattle and Minneapolis have a high literacy rate because both cities are on the geographic edge of nowhere, blessed with forgettable weather, so residents there have nothing better to do than sit inside, sip coffee, and read?

That’s my guess.

That theory makes Hawaii look like an illiterate state, which may not be far from the truth. Take the best possible late spring day in either Seattle or Minneapolis– warm breeze, blue skies, temperature around 80-degrees– and compare it to Hawaii.

We have about 330 such days every year. By that standard, Hawaii is an illiterate state.

Instead of sitting around sipping Starbucks and listening to the rain fall and towels mold, as they do in Seattle, or instead of sitting around the fireplace in Minneapolis trying to figure out the season (hint– three of them have the word ‘snow’ in the definition), people in Hawaii almost live outside.

Outside means parks and playgrounds, beach and surf, hiking, sports, walks, runs and all those things that seem to prevent literacy.