Storm's A Brewin'!!

Well, Spring is officially here. It's detectable through the early morning sunshine, the ever-chirping birds and by the masses of yellow pollen that decorate every car on the block (and possibly the inside of my lungs, by the feel of it).

Here in East Tennessee, this wonderful season change, with all it's joy, hope and firm promises of a stellar sun tan, is usually accompanied by some fairly ferocious storms. Now, granted, Kansas we ain't, but pretty much every year we get a few 'good un's' that shake the walls of our little house and force myself and the family mutts to take refuge in the bathroom (no windows, a bathtub that get's packed with cushions... well, I'm sure you know the drill).

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It's around this time of year that my husband and I always roll around to the same conversation, mostly centered around how our next home choice will be somewhat guided by ownership of a sturdy basement and possibly even brick walls (our little home shakes like a box of matches when the winds really pick up)... yet come July we've totally forgotten the weather threats of April, and we can only sigh in deep appreciation of living near to a nature reserve that fills our days and our nights with the soothing sounds of the local wildlife. We are nothing if not fickle.

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Anyway, here's to hoping that this tornado/severe weather season passes us all with minimal devastation. As frightening as they can be, in areas such as ours where we tend to get just the edge of the worse storms, those fantastical colors light the sky in ways that small town UK folks like me have never seen before. Well, it's something else let me tell you. Breathtaking hardly seem to convey my reaction when the skies illuminate and all of nature seem to go quiet at once. Eery and unforgettable to say the least, but it's something I will also look forward to each Spring time, in my own simple way.

Gotta love those April showers, folks.

Facing the Fire: One Yorkshire Lass’ Take on the US Gun Culture

Since moving to the US, one aspect of the culture (especially here in the South!) that I’m still having to work to adjust to, is the use of and apparent comfort most people have with, guns. Even my own husband wouldn’t dare to spend a night in a room that didn’t have a personal-use handgun close by “just in case”. Coming from a country that doesn’t permit or rely on personal weaponry outside of farming and organized hunting (even in Yorkshire where the pheasants should, quite frankly, be running for their lives), learning to accept and even to rely on, this new symbol of security and defense has been challenging to say the least.

While I’m still at the stage where I don’t really want to know which drawer our household weapon is in (for fear that I will accidentally sleepwalk and faff with it to my husbands detriment - yes, seriously), I’ve found that the ultimate fighting force against this discomfort is knowledge. The more I’ve committed to undergoing structured, sensible teaching sessions from the hubby and from gun range professionals, the less I’m seeing them as a familial danger. Slowly, my point of view is shifting towards the way guns were intended to be used here (despite how that may differ in reality); as a method of protection, for use only in the most dire of circumstances. Whether it be home invasion or personal defense against a sudden attacker, I can comprehend why people look to guns for comfort. 

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Yet, the other side of that coin is the constant presence of guns in everyday life wherever you might be, and the subtle threat that that can pose. From the grocery store to the bank, and even at the dog park, I’ve noticed holsters are quietly present. You don’t need me to leap into the details of recent gun centered events in the US, and I would hope that we’re all capable of gathering the facts and making up our own minds about where we stand on these issues. But from the perspective of someone who is essentially alien to guns and their everyday presence, the sight of them hanging out on the hips of the general public whilst they go about their ordinary lives, is both frightening and, admittedly, on occasion reassuring. I suppose in my firearm novice mind, it all depends on who can be trusted. And since this factor isn’t something that I’ve (we’ve) really worked out how to discern yet, discomfort mostly rules my perception.

There’s an element of personal security and responsibility that I strongly appreciate and in many ways can relate to here in the US, despite my being new to it’s mindsets. Coming from an island where even pepper spray was illegal to carry, the sense of easier access to individual defense here does ease my mind some. 

Perhaps it all boils down to my lack of understanding on the subject of gun ownership, and how this plays into the American way of life as a whole. I certainly won’t be turning my back on this aspect of the culture - after all, with something so prevalent I can’t see the point in rejecting the opportunity to at least understand what all the fuss is about!

The Yard Sale Jungle - And then a fight broke out...!

I think I had the experience of my lifetime last Sunday. There I was, innocently browsing away on craigslist (a sort of nationwide, online classifieds over here) and I came across a section entitled 'free'. "Well, I like free stuff", I said to myself. Eyeing the details it looked like a local lady was clearing out her basement and wanted to essentially spread the contents across her yard (think yard sale without the price tags) and let strangers come and pick it clean. Fair enough. I have to say, I wasn't entirely convinced that this was the real deal. Surely anything worth scrounging for would have been designated for some sort of sale on her part - people don't just give good stuff away for free after all.

Well, I was wrong. Although there was a bit of trash here and there to paw through, there was also a lot worth making the trip for. I got; 2 pairs of American Eagle jeans in great condition, 4 never been used solar powered garden lights, several books that took my fancy and a whole host of Aeropostale and American Eagle sweaters and summer tops... score! What a nice lady to essentially donate her old belongings to anyone who fancied a browse, rather than throwing it away or going through a full on yard sale process - faith in humanity restored, bless her.

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However, the excitement did not end there. When my husband and I arrived (yes, I dragged him along for moral support and with the promise of a chicken biscuit at some point in his near future), we'd already been beaten there by a good 10 other people, despite it being early morning. "How fun!" I thought. Well I got chatting to a few nice couples who were more than willing to share the bounty as it emerged from the garage/basement one box at a time - really pleasant folks. And then there were the others. Circling the basement entrance like vultures, these lone few would strip the boxes and their contents from each other in a matter of seconds, at times dragging off the entire plastic containers and their mysterious contents, whilst uttering the words 'Mine... Mine...' under their breath. I am dead serious right now. "Okay", I thought to myself, "they're serious bargain hunters (slash hoarders, lets be honest), I can respect that, I'll just hang back and take a look at the leftovers" (I'm very passive aggressive shopper, don't you know).

It was then that the fight broke out. Two women, both with rigid faces and unbridled determination began to scream, over an empty black plastic box. One women had her hand on it so technically had already laid claim to it, yet the second woman was insistently shouting that that was a 'Bulls**t claim!' and didn't mean a thing. The cussing grew, as did the volume and the body language, whilst myself and the other folks in the yard slowly began to back away from the ridiculously volatile scene. That was the point when I called it a day at the 'free stuff, free for all'. As I pulled away in my car, who do I see but woman number two (who never had a finger on that box!) carrying it away with a smirk of victory. I guess she got what she wanted and managed to prove that if you cause enough of a stink and make it awkward enough, people will inevitably think you're bats**t crazy enough to let you win. Words to live by people.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204261704574274200783855602.html

Although I met some fab people who were really kind and really grateful for the giveaway, there were also a lot of people seeking something for nothing, not through need or appreciation of the gift of donation this lovely woman was giving us, but through sheer entitlement and at times, plain old 'I want it' fury. The sad part is, the woman who was giving away her belongings for free actually told us someone had offered to help her earlier that morning moving boxes and actually used the opportunity to steal from inside her house. Faith in humanity slightly reduced again. Gah.

Would I try my hand at a free for all like this again? Maybe. Although, I'd probably take some pepper spray along next time though to ward off the crazies... those plastic boxes are valuable, you know.