What have we learned after the first two weeks?

Two weeks down and two and a half to go seems like a good time to reflect on our experiences at large.

First, let clear up a misunderstanding. We THOUGHT all these yellow fields were raised for mustard. In reality, it IS a member of the mustard family but it's raised to make rape seed oil! Who knew?

Now that we've cleared that up...

We've discovered the English (at least around here) are utterly charming and infinitely patient with strangers. We've had more delightful conversations with locals who've made us feel more than welcome and willingly shared their knowledge and laughed with us (rather than at us) in our misunderstandings about the proper way to do things in England.

Moreover, we've discovered that the English are infinitely patient about nearly everything, cheerfully queuing up as a part of daily life and patiently waiting time after time for oncoming traffic to clear parked cars on narrow village streets. In America you'd be hearing horns and seeing hand 'salutes' on a regular basis-- but not here.

We've learned that 'old' has an entirely different meaning here- and probably throughout most of the rest of the world. I guess that's why they called America a part of "The New World." Around here 'old' means something built before 1090 compared to Kansas City where 'old' is anything built before 1910!

We've learned that England (at least this area) is extremely environmentally conscious. EVERYTHING is in recyclable packing, everything is organic, green and free-range. There are recycling opportunities EVERYWHERE and even plastic bags and deposit stations on every village block to pick up and dispose of your dog's 'business.'

Dogs are everywhere here. About every third person you see walking has a dog on a lead. At least half the cars you see have a dog in them. Dogs are welcome in pubs and there are often 4 or 5 in the pub at the same time. And much of the clothing here is 'horsey' as one lady put it- jodhpurs and riding boots, 'wellies' and such. And layers of wool and cashmere are the order of the day it seems.

The stereotypical English school child is exactly as you've always imagined; bright rosy cheeks, curly hair (usually blonde) and dressed in corduroy trousers, wool 'jumper' (sweater) and wearing wellies it seems.

I mentioned in an earlier post that signage and advertising is nearly non-existent in the Cotswolds, and public transportation is readily available almost everywhere. There is a train station less than a mile from our cottage with trains running every hour or more in both directions. There are half a dozen bus stops within 3 blocks of our cottage and you can ride the bus and connect to other buses to go almost anywhere in Great Britain. A 70ish lady we visited with this evening told us that those over age 60 are called 'Twirlies' and ride the buses everywhere. Why are they called "Twirlies" you ask? Because if you buy a senior's bus pass you can ride absolutely anywhere for free- AFTER 9:00 AM! So at every bus stop by about 8:45 each morning there are seniors gathered and whenever a bus stops they always ask, "are we too early" (to ride for free). The bus drivers have nicknamed the seniors "tooearlies" or "twirlies". LOL!

We've learned that the English know a GREAT deal about lagers and ales and bitters as well as teas and cheeses and jams.

And we've learned that public rights have remained as important here as if the Magna Carta had only been signed earlier this year. With few exceptions, most farmer's fields and large wealthy estates have only a few designated areas where anyone can't walk without needing to obtain permission.

We've learned the nights are short at these northern latitudes. Not yet half way through May it's not really dark until 10PM and the sun is rising and the birds singing heartily by 4:15AM each morning. I suspect by June 21 the 'nights' are only 4-5 hours long.  On the other hand, I imagine days are short and nights are remarkably long by Christmas each year!

And we've learned that flowers and birds are abundant here; vibrant hedges, wildflowers and cultivated flowers abound and songbirds are absolutely as common as seagulls by the seashore here. You are continuously serenaded with every imaginable bird song from sunup until sundown- everywhere you go.

There's much more we've learned, but those are some of the first things to come to mind. We've much more to learn before the end of the month.