The number was down. And I can't say I'm surprised.
The 25th annual “Great License Plate” count is over, and I've drawn a couple of inferences from it. As you recall, every week leading up to Art on the Rocks I see how many plates from different states and Canadian provinces I come across. Well, after going through all the chicken scratchings on the note pad I've been carrying around, I can officially report that the total number was lower than usual.
But as I mentioned, I'm not surprised.
I saw a total of 35 different states and provinces this year, down from a long-term average of 43 or so (25 years of doing this allows you a baseline, you see). 35 is in no way a bad number, although it IS one of the lower I've ever recorded. In fact, except for 2020 (Covid) and 2008 (the depths of the Great Recession), it might be the lowest. But when you consider that gas is $22 a gallon and the world is (literally) on fire, maybe we should be glad the number was a high as it is.
Right?
It's funny; while the state count was down, I think the overall count wasn't as bad. And that's because of the states I did see, I saw a LOT of them. In fact, I'm guessing half the population of Wisconsin, a third of Minnesota and Ohio, and (perhaps) a quarter of the people Texas (and I have no idea why) were visiting Marquette last week. So maybe that made up for people not visiting from New England, or the Deep South, or the Plains states. I also didn't see one from Hawai'i, but until they build a big bridge from that state to to the mainland, I think we'll give them a pass.
8-)
That's my report for this year. We'll see if the lower number of states I saw translates into some kind of economic predictor. I mean, I'm hoping not, but you never know.
*****
Speaking of my little count, I also dealt with it on TV last night--
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