UK Life

The Lockdown Library

~ Elizabeth Hurd ~ 5 Comments

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” ~ Marcus Tullius CiceroIMG_1707

“From this evening I must give the British people a very simple instruction – you must stay home.”

On the 23rd of March 2020, Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave a speech telling the nation it was time to pull together, do the right thing, and stay home. That is exactly what the majority did, working from home and only leaving for essentials or for a once-a-day outdoor exercise break. Society contracted in an unprecedented way and our lives suddenly revolved around our homes.

In the weeks before lockdown British people began stockpiling, and it was not just jumbo packets of toilet rolls flying off the shelves. People were buying books. Continue reading →

Hoeing Thistles

~ Elizabeth Hurd ~ 6 Comments

“Die when I may, I want it said by those who knew me best that I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow.”                               ~ Abraham Lincoln           

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Katherine with her granddaughter in the 1960’s

The Homesteading Act of 1862 is sometimes cited as the most important piece of legislation in the history of the United States of America. Under this act homesteaders could file an application and lay claim to a surveyed plot of government land. If the homesteaders were able to build a dwelling, make improvements to the land and produce crops for a five year period they could then file paperwork to have the land deeded to them free and clear. By 1934 over 1.6 million homestead applications had been processed and more than 270 million acres of land had passed into the hands of individuals.

Those Americans who were enticed west by the lure of free land faced a difficult journey across the plains and mountains to reach their destination. Those who made it all the way along the Oregon Trail to the fertile Willamette Valley found…my family already there. Yes, I am the daughter of pioneers who in the late 1840’s decided the East was growing too populated and struck out from Independence, Missouri in a covered wagon to a land where one could get some peace and quiet. Continue reading →

Giving Thanks

~ Elizabeth Hurd ~ Leave a comment

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“Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold rather a large amount of Gratitude.” ~ A.A. Milne

My favourite American holiday has always been Thanksgiving. When I was a child I looked forward to the dining table groaning with roast turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy and pumpkin pie, as well as the fact that my birthday sometimes coincided with the fourth Thursday of November. When I became an adult and entered the workforce the four day weekend shone as a beacon in the midst of the short, dreary days of driving to and from work in the darkness of late autumn. As time marched on and I experienced my share of the griefs and joys that make up a life, the actual meaning of the day began to take on greater significance. It may be hokey, but I actually do like to take time to think about all I have to be thankful for on this day. Continue reading →

Driving Miss Lizzie – Part II: Back in the Saddle Again

~ Elizabeth Hurd ~ 4 Comments

 

“Whoopi-ty-aye-yay

I go my way

Back in the saddle again”

DSC06945Last summer I gained some insight into the psyche of the British driver. I was standing on the main road that runs through our village waiting to catch the bus.  As I watched, a large articulated lorry (a semi, for my American readers) passed the bus stop, executed a U-turn at a mini-roundabout, returned to the bus stop – only now going the opposite direction – and proceeded to back into the narrow alley between the small grocery store and a stone house that sits flush with the pavement. With just inches to spare thanks to a Mercedes that was parked where it should not have been, the driver of the lorry had to reverse, then straighten out and go forward, then reverse some more as he tried to squeeze into the narrow space without causing any damage to Merc, store or house. I was impressed by the skill of the driver and his nerves of steel as a queue of cars formed in both directions, waiting for him to get out of the way and stop blocking traffic.

While all of this was going on my fellow bus shelter companions, two elderly gentlemen leaning on canes, had their heads together cracking jokes which were apparently too hilarious not to share, for when the man next to me caught my eye he leaned my direction. His eyes were twinkling and he could barely suppress his laughter, but then he hesitated for a moment and looked more closely at me.

“You’re not from Bulgaria, are you?” he asked. Continue reading →

Driving Miss Lizzie – Part I

~ Elizabeth Hurd ~ Leave a comment

Driving Miss Lizzie, Part I

***

“Why has the car stopped?” 

“Ah!” I said with manly frankness that became me well. “There you have me.” 

You see, I’m one of those birds who drive a lot but don’t know the first thing about the works. The policy I pursue is to get aboard, prod the self-starter, and leave the rest to Nature.” ~ P.G. Wodehouse, Very Good, Jeeves!

***

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The type of road I learned to drive on.

 

“I bought a car.”

I didn’t know it at the time, but with those four little words my world tipped on its axis. It was just over a month until our wedding, and Mr. H was calling from England to let me know that after weeks of searching he had finally found a car he liked. After a decade of relying primarily on public transport he had once again taken the plunge into the expensive realm of car ownership. Since there would soon be two of us it was finally more cost-effective to own a car, and oh, such fun places we would travel to together. I could hardly wait. Continue reading →

We Went to the Wilds

~ Elizabeth Hurd ~ 2 Comments

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“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

During my first winter here in the UK I had an interesting encounter with someone who had just returned after living in the United States for five years. She was having some difficulty readjusting to life in her native England, and a wistful expression clouded her features when she spoke of all the camping trips she and her husband had taken from their home base in Ohio, which had allowed them to experience up close many of the natural wonders in the US.

I felt a stirring of pride at hearing my homeland praised so highly, and in an effort to reciprocate and express my love for the UK I told her that my husband was planning to take me camping in the Lake District in August.

The woman’s wistful expression vanished in an instant to be replaced by one of disdain, and she shook her head in a sad, condoling manner. As gently as she could she leaned forward and confided,

“It isn’t the same.” Continue reading →

It’s a Dog’s Life

~ Elizabeth Hurd ~ 9 Comments

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“If you eliminate smoking and gambling, you will be amazed to find that almost all an Englishman’s pleasures can be, and mostly are, shared by his dog.” ~ George Bernard Shaw

From time to time my friends and acquaintances have emailed me to ask questions about some of the differences I have found between life in the UK and life in the US. Since much of my blog-writing time is often spent dithering around trying to choose a topic to write about, I’ve decided to make life easier this time and address one of those questions, one which is near and dear to my heart.

Are there any differences in how pets are treated, and what species are treated as pets? Continue reading →

Your Face Will Freeze Like That

~ Elizabeth Hurd ~ 4 Comments
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The back lanes of the Cotswolds.

When we were children we used to clamour for my grandmother to tell us tales of her childhood growing up in “the olden days” on the farm in Oklahoma. We were fascinated by a life so different from ours, in a time which seemed like something out of a history book rather than real life. My grandmother would oblige with stories about riding in Model T’s down irrigation ditches and sneaking watermelons by moonlight.  She also told us tales of that very peculiar creature known as the hoop snake. Continue reading →

Are We There Yet?

~ Elizabeth Hurd ~ 3 Comments

99 bottles of beer on the wall

99 bottles of beer

Take one down

Pass it around

98 bottles of beer on the wall

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Road trips in the US are as much de rigueur today as they were when my grandparents loaded everything they owned onto their car and drove all the way from Oklahoma to Oregon to escape the Dust Bowl. They fell out of fashion during the heyday of the cheap airline ticket in the 80’s and 90’s, but since the days of heightened airport security and airlines charging extra for just about everything the road trip has come back into its own. You haven’t lived until you’ve been confined to the backseat of the family car for a few days with your siblings and actually sung “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” all the way to the last bottle.

When it comes to road trips it is my firm belief that people fall into one of two categories: conquerors and explorers. Continue reading →

Lest We Forget

~ Elizabeth Hurd ~ 3 Comments

High on a barren, windswept bluff overlooking the majestic Columbia River Gorge in southern Washington State sits a strange concrete structure of pillars and columns encircling a large stone slab alter. Most motorists speeding along the interstate highway which hugs the great river below do not even know it is there, and only those who are actively looking for it can pick it out from among the other rocky outcroppings and cliffs. In the summer it is blistering hot and brush fires frequently sweep through the area. In the winter the bitter wind is funnelled up the steep gorge, howling fiercely and driving rain and ice sideways before it.

This is the Maryhill Stonehenge.

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Commissioned in the early 20th century by eccentric businessman Sam Hill, it was the first US memorial dedicated to soldiers who fought and died in WWI. Mr. Hill, a Quaker, believed that the original Stonehenge in Wiltshire had been used by the Druids as a sacrificial site and he wanted his replica to be a reminder that mankind is still being sacrificed to the gods of war. Inscribed with the names of those men who served and died in the war are these words: Continue reading →