I go to Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas twice a year to visit relatives. Some of them live in the country and I refuse to get off cement. Lol. In June I actually found my first tick on me. Freaked me out!
I live in rural Missouri. I work outdoors. You are needlessly restricting yourself from enjoying many things the Midwest has to offer.
Snowflakes melt pretty fast around here.
This is way overblown.