Mental Meanderings

With a facial wrap on that needs to stay in place for an hour, I offer you my mental musings since coming to England. I promise to digress, a lot and this is stream of consciousness. I'll edit sometimes but...you get the point.

It was the 28th of May when we arrived here in Whittlesford, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England.  There are a lot of other words I could stick in there but honestly it's complicated and not one really seems to have the exact truth of it. That's what happens when a country has been around as long as this with lots of records and lots of lands changing hands. Anyway, it's a small village of how many I do not know. We live in Maynards which is a planned housing development which I'd guess has been here for 25-30 years. Whittlesford has a framing shop with a boutique, a shopette where you can buy last minute items marked up well in addition to containing the post office. There is a large lawn with a playground, tennis courts where people are usually playing cricket. (That's probably not the correct spelling.) There are small but slightly larger villages and towns nearby where we can buy local meat at a butcher and shop for groceries. Morgan tells me there is a garden center which we plan to check out today. It's pretty here. They seem to construct building that are pleasing to look at. Ugly buildings probably exist but not in the public places, they are elsewhere. I've noted one drive to (read drive-thru), there is a McDonalds a few miles away. One. If you want fast food, that really your choice otherwise restaurants are often in building that look like old farm house and are pubs or free houses. Whittlesford has two of these. One is very close, always full and rather pricey. They other a mile further, not as pricey and never crowded. We've not eaten at either.
The day we arrived it was raining and it continued for many days. I was not amused by this. I wanted out and my choices were walking in the rain or driving in the rain on the opposite side of the road in a car that was new to me. The first week was tough. We had with us only what came in our suitcases or what Morgan could borrow from the military base. Some pillows, an air mattress our clothing and a smattering of kitchen items to cut meals. The pans were non-stick, yuck.

When the sun came out it was glorious but colder than I had thought it would be. We shivered, a lot. Soon the boys were meeting the neighborhood children and I their parents and things looked up.  We have gone to at least one interesting place most weekends to get out and see the country or once went into Cambridge it's self by park and ride bus and had a look around. Visited the shopping mall which closes at 6, and sometimes 4pm. It's really, really super crowded and there are not really any discount stores. I'll be shopping online for Christmas, there's is NO WAY I'm braving holiday crowds. Cambridge is pretty though, lots of interesting buildings and history to check out. Gorgeous churches.

Jeff, if you were reading, skip the next paragraph.
Have you ever watched a butterfly flit from flower to flower, plant to plant? That's how my mind works. Perhaps one day I'll train it to not chase rabbit holes but sadly my friend, today in not that day.

Often it seems like little has changed then I hear the neighbors calling out to one another or their children and well, it's definitely not American they are speaking. I look outside and I have no herbs and few flowers growing in the back garden (read yard.) Our next door neighbor has 2 boys that are each about one year younger than Ben and Sam. Sam has started to say a few words with this nearly 5 year old friend's accent and Ben has adopted some of the phrases of his 7 1/2 year old friends speech. He'll say it isn't true but I'd guess it's a subconscious effort to fit in and be one of them. There is also a boy Ben plays a lot with that is 3 weeks younger than Ben. He seems to come from a poorer family than in our section of the development. He often eats dinner with us. Somedays two meals but is very polite and patient. Oh, and he's a ginger (read redhead.)

I'll leave this for now and write more later. Cheers!