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Archive for the 'OK in the USA' Category
We’re home again, home again! And it’s Thanksgiving, so of course none of you are reading this – you’re probably all far too busy peeling potatoes and stuffing turkeys. I, however, am sitting here quite negligently drinking my coffee in my pajamas still, having just dug out of my suitcases all the English goodies that we brought back for the kids. And I really feel that I need to post this quite quickly before I pull my act together and go dive into the great festivities in the kitchen.
Does anyone happen to recall the terrible travesty of the canned American Style Hot Dogs which I’ve had occasion to mention in the past? In case anyone missed this previously, here is a little visual aid for you.
Yes. I know. No American that I know of would dream of eating one of those . . . and yet the producers of this horrifying food-stuff have placed the stars and stripes upon it and, it seems to me, are willfully misleading a trusting British public. I did my patriotic best to explain to people while we were there that these are NOT in fact “American Style” – and the end result was that some dear friends of ours gave us a can for Christmas. Our present to them, incidentally, was a small ceramic Starbucks cup to hang on the Christmas tree. Each, in fact, giving the other a little something to remember them by.
The result was that, as we traveled home last night, we had buried in the depths of our luggage this can of American hot dogs. We had loads of other things too – mallow tea cakes, and chocolatines, and mince pies, and mincemeat filling, and wine, and jam, some Bucatini, some goose fat, some suet, and even a loaf of Tiger Bread which was the specific request of our 6 year old. The customs people noticed that we had listed food on our declaration form, and we got pulled out of the line for an agricultural exam. They scanned our luggage, and then made us open up one suitcase for them to inspect. And guess what got pulled out for a lengthy exam? Yes. The Stars and Stripes can of hot dogs. They said, and I quote, “What IS this thing?” They passed it around and had a consultation about it. They looked over the ingredients. They checked on where it was made.
And then they confiscated it.
Yes indeed. Not allowed into the country. And I was very proud. America will not be sullied by such things. Our standards remain high, and our borders secure.
Today after church we had all of our little crew in the car and were on a bit of a drive. The kids were all horsing around and doing their thing – playing word games and singing songs and whatnot – when suddenly out of the clear blue, five-year-old Judah piped up from the backseat.
“Hey!” he yelled.
“Guess what!”
“What?” we asked.
“I’m not too hot . . . I’m not too cold . . . I’m not hungry . . . I’m not thirsty . . . I don’t have to go to the bathroom . . . I’m not dying . . . My nose isn’t running . . . I’m . . . JUST . . . FINE!!!!!” and he threw his arms up in the air in a very triumphant gesture.
I merely bring this up because it’s just possible that in this season devoted to thankfulness, a few people might be coming up short when they try to count their blessings. So to them I would merely ask, “Do you have to go to the bathroom? Is your nose running? Are you dying?” Well then. You’re . . . just . . . FINE!!!!!
. . . and that is that you need to buy this book!
I mean, really. How festive is this?! It’s finally out and about and ready to order.
Ben wrote this biography of King Alfred last year (while he was also working on his Oxford dissertation, rowing for Christ Church, being a dad to five kids, and having chronic car trouble.) Impressive, yes? Of course, this also means that the book was written right dead spang in the middle of Alfred’s old stompin’ grounds, and that lends the book an especial aura of authenticity. Oxford is only about 30 minutes from Wantage – the birthplace of King Alfred . . . and the White Horse is right next door. It was definitely one of our favorite Saturday afternoon destination spots while we were there. Since you clearly don’t believe me, I’m going to proceed to post some photos to prove it.
Here are the kids – nestled right into the huge chalk carving and looking out over the Berkshire Downs. However, if you read Ben’s book, you’ll find out that they’re sitting precisely where Alfred fought a bloody battle with the Vikings and won his first victory.
About two miles off into the fields is an old castle mound known as “Alfred’s Castle.” This is most likely where Alfred camped with his men before the battle, while the Vikings had the higher ground at the White Horse (previous picture where the kids are sitting). We tromped out to see Alfred’s Castle one cold, drizzly day . . . and we took a picnic. We had to pick our way through a muddy forest, and climb over an awful tangly heap of branches to Continue reading ‘I have something to say’
Well this blog post is wickedly out of date. It’s something I meant to put up weeks and weeks ago, but what with one thing and another I’ve just not gotten around to it. And then, rummaging through my clogged up camera, I happened across these photos and figured that I might as well shove it up.
Several weeks ago we made the drive down to Boise. For those of you not familiar with our dear old state, the road from Moscow to Boise is 300 miles long, and it’s the only north / south highway that there is. In the course of that 300 miles, you go through two actual towns and a handful of seriously small little units. If we had a classification system like England this might be simpler. In England you are a village unless and until you have a cattle market . . . at which point you obtain to the official status of town. And you’re stuck indefinitely as a town until you get yourself a cathedral. Quite basic, and easy to keep a hang of really. Everyone knows if they live in a village or a town – and cities are easy enough to spot since they get their own bishop. Anyway, going by that unit of measurement there would be no cities whatsoever on Highway 95 from Moscow to Boise, and there would really be only two (maybe three) towns. The villages would rack up to about five I think.
Anyway – that is neither here nor there. I merely bring it up as a means of illustrating the fact that when you drive to Boise, you’re zooming along through the wilderness. There’s no cell phone coverage to speak of for the entire way, saving the brief moments in those two towns.
Here is a picture of a spot along the road. It looks much like every other spot along the road, but I bring it to your attention here for a particular reason.
Are you with me here? Pasture . . . barbed wire fence . . . mountains. Pretty much par for the course on this road. This shot is looking directly out of the east side of the car. And directly out of the west window, we see this amazing sight:
Yes. The Buffalo Gal. So far that would seem to be relatively un-astonishing. A buffalo gal truck stop near one of the villages is just what one would take right in stride. The thing that jumped out at me about it this time was first of all the question of whether or not the Buffalo Gal knew how to spell “Diner” or whether she actually meant dinner. “Dinner” of course would be an appropriate thing to put on the sign – it would save people the hassle of stopping for lunch, only to find out that the restaurant was closed. Maybe she meant Dinner in the truest sense of the word. But I can’t help wondering if perhaps she was endeavoring to communicate that this was in fact a Diner. But either way, this dinner-serving-diner offers not only World Cuisine, but also Sushi. What more could you ask? A lovely view . . . and some sushi . . . with World Cuisine thrown in! Served up by a Buffalo Gal.
One of these times we’ll have to stop in and find out what it’s like in there. I’m awfully curious. And there’s another one on the edge of the Hoo-Doo mountains which is called (applicably) “The Hoo Doo Cafe” and I’ve always wanted to check that one out as well. And of course there’s “Eddie’s Chinese” in Colfax. Now that I think about it, there’s a whole host of restaurants in our vicinity that are just begging to be tried!
OK ladies. Amoretti has a new blog up and going. And not only that, there is a giveaway to be signed up for . . . so truck along over there and do it! It’s right here.
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