The Lovely Lydia's Blog for July 2020

Lydia, what's your impression of America?

Native-born Americans often ask me this once they hear my accent and realise I'm not "from here"! I reckoned that July would be a good time to answer the question.

A bit about our family history is in order. My sister and I are both dual U.K./U.S. citizens. We were raised in Scotland, but we had a family connection to the USA, as our American-born mum was the child of an American father and an English mother. Grandpa Radcliffe was an American on holiday in London and met our grandma when an accident landed him in hospital. She was his nurse, and, well, it was love at first sight. They were married in London, but Grandpa eventually persuaded her to move to America with him. There, on the Radcliffe family ranch that Grandpa inherited when his parents passed, they started a family -- including our mum. 

My grandma likewise inherited her parents' estate, which included a modest little house outside of London. That became the place where Grandma and Grandpa summered, when the Arizona heat simply proved too oppressive for my grandma. I've heard through the family grapevine that Grandma was also terribly homesick after agreeing to leave England for America. For her, being able to summer in England was like coming home. 

Turns out our mum wasn't terribly fond of the Arizona summers either, and as a girl she looked forward to summertime abroad. She ended up leaving America when she was 18, moving in to the London house permanently. She became a nurse, just like her mum before her, and just like my sister later did. The profession runs in our family! 

My dad, in contrast, was Scottish through and through. He grew up in the Highlands and settled down in Glasgow after university to embark on a business career. Like Grandpa Radcliffe, he met his love whilst on holiday in London. Fortunately, in my dad's case, it wasn't an accident that brought them together! They happened to meet in a city park, whilst both of them were out on a leisurely stroll. Dad was smitten, and within a year they were married, my mum following my dad north to Glasgow. They eventually had my sister, and 18 years later, I very unexpectedly came along!

The same year I was born, my sister left for the USA to live with Grandma and Grandpa Radcliffe on the ranch whilst she attended nursing school. She's lived in America ever since. 

I've been here for around seven years now. But I wasn't new to America when I arrived. Mum and Dad took me to the ranch every winter for at least a couple of weeks when I was growing up, and we'd also spend some time visiting an uncle over in New Mexico. Staying at the ranch was one of the few opportunities I ever got growing up to spend time with my sister -- most of the time, she was just a voice on the other end of the phone. 

We took in a lot of terrific sights during those holidays. I have particularly fond memories of visiting the Grand Canyon and Disneyland. On one occasion we ventured down to Tombstone, Arizona, where I began a lifelong love affair with the cowboy culture of the Old West. Being raised by a pacifist father, I can't say I ever dreamt of being a cowgirl gunslinger like Annie Oakley -- but I could certainly see myself on horseback, riding the range under a big blue sky. My sister and I inherited the family ranch, so you never know! In reality, it will probably never happen, because we don't know the first thing about running a ranch -- which is the entire reason the property is leased out to those who do. But a girl can dream!

As to Americans, I have to say that foreigners tend to find them an unusual sort. Americans have a reputation for being loud and brash and not knowing much about the world outside their borders. But they're also big-idea people who like to do things their way and don't take no for an answer. I tend to gravitate towards Americans with those qualities, and I've met many of them in my time here. For the most part, I've found Americans to be quite welcoming and friendly -- but then I've never been to places like New York and New Jersey, where I hear things are quite different and people can be quite rude! 

My ex-wife grew up in Michigan; the folks there were of the typical Midwestern stock you hear about. Decent, hard-working types. Salt of the earth. Fiercely loyal, traditional, and good-hearted folk who'll do anything for family and trusted friends. 

My current girlfriend grew up in New Orleans. I'd been there before I moved to America and always loved the French influence, the food, the music, the overall good cheer, and of course Mardi Gras!

As far as sport goes in America, I find women's soccer enjoyable. Though it's not my favourite game, I've been following and supporting OL Reign, formerly Seattle Reign, from the beginning. There was a Scottish lass on the club for a few years, Kim Little, and I always enjoyed coming out to cheer her on. Rachel Corsie was here for a season as well, I believe.

I find American football peculiar, having grown up with rugby. The American version seems like a kind of rugby league with forward passes, where the union game is far more to my liking. We have had the recent addition of the Seattle Seawolves rugby club here, which has been a treat. I've gone out for a few matches. But my heart still belongs to the Scottish national teams, men's and women's alike!

I'm also looking forward to the arrival of ice hockey here in Seattle. I developed a fondness for the game when I lived in Vancouver many years ago. My girlfriend at the time was quite the fan, and we went out to see several games in person. 

I quite like the weather here in the Pacific Northwest. It reminds me in some ways of the damp weather back home. But the people tend to be hard to warm up to. I've run into more than my share of passive-aggressive types around here. And whilst I'll never talk politics publicly, I have to say I'm not terribly fond of what feels like a growing intolerance of diverse viewpoints. 

I'm also not a fan of the U.S. tax system, and like most foreigners I utterly fail to understand the resistance to a universal healthcare system. 

But these are small quibbles. I deeply admire the values of liberty and independence that America's founders built their nation upon. Having read most of the Federalist Papers -- and the Anti-Federalist as well! -- I believe I have a solid understanding of why the Americans broke away from Britain and what they intended to establish here in contrast. I believe many of those founding values are sadly being lost. They ought to be cherished and are certainly worth fighting for. 

If I had an ideal vision of America, it would be laid out in the wonderful old tune "This Land Is Your Land." To me, it does a perfect job of evoking moving images of America, its everyday people, and its natural beauty. That particular tune has inspired me to want to visit all the states one day, and to see the gorgeous diversity of its landscapes, climates, and people. Perhaps my lady and I will make a road trip of it.

Most of all, I think I'm attracted to the individualists and all-round oddballs that have given America so much colour. Thoreau and Whitman in particular have always resonated. Whitman especially seemed to understand the push and pull between the unlimited potential of the American mind and the promise of democratic progress and reforms.

One's-Self I sing, a simple separate person,
Yet utter the word Democratic, the word En-Masse.

That's America summed up in two lines of poetry, if you ask me.