What's so bad about Ohio?

I read The Patriot Witch by C.C. Finlay (it was pretty fun and based on an interesting idea: that all those unexplained bits of the Revolutionary War were because of the battle fought between Patriot and Redcoat witches). 

Finlay's author's note mentions that he was born some place exciting and then exiled to Ohio.  In the book, when the main character is given the chance to go lay low in Ohio or stay close by and risk getting killed, he quickly and enthusiastically agrees to risk getting killed, er, to help his country because, "Anything's better than going to Ohio."

I like Ohio.  Some really great authors I like were born or live there (Lois McMaster Bujold, John Scalzi), so it isn't exactly a sucking dungeon of anti-creativity.  In fact, Bujold's most recent works were partially inspired by the Ohio River.  So there.

Anyway, I'm gearing myself up to submit a longish collection of short pieces that center around one of my favorite places in Ohio as a child: The Ditch in my closest friend's back yard.  I also talk about how my part of Ohio was so flat we had to have an artificial sledding hill created from all the dirt when they were building the county hospital in the next plot of land.  (Quite convenient, if you think about it.)  I also talk about its former status as The Great Black Swamp and friendship and trees and ditch creatures and some other stuff that is neat.

Yeah, you think, how interesting can a ditch be?  You may even think ditches are gross.  Well, I'll show you; I promise to let you know if it gets published.

And now I think you are laughing because it seems a tad odd to say "Where I come from is cool because of ditches!"  Some day you'll see . . .


What landscapes did you own in your childhood that you miss and would like to recreate?  Have you ever tried writing about them?