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Henry's First Message
I am quite elderly really I suppose (72 to be exact) and have recently emigrated to Pennsylvania and got married in June this year. I shall be sending "Letters from America" from time to time (in memory of Alistair Cooke), but we have been having a nice summer and fall and I have not got into the rhythm of sitting at the computer and writing. I joined Shorelink in the summer of '03 and write both prose and poetry, I started on my first novel in January 2000 but all I have written is the prologue and first paragraph of chapter one! So I doubt if it will ever get completed. My interests are railways together with most forms of transportation, digital photography and video making (no not that sort Missus!!). Since coming to America I have become a volunteer at our local library giving lessons in computer basics, digital photography and video.
Henry's "LETTER FROM AMERICA"
#32
August 8th
Today has been the day of the Great Pottsville Cruise when the street outside is filled with strange, ancient and downright curious cars and vans. It is the culmination of a week’s events and competitions for awards in car building and restoration.
Having said that and as I mentioned in the last letter, there is not much old stuff around here and as for British exports, the husband of the chief librarian has restored a ‘63 Triumph Spitfire. I think I caught an MG as well but sadly failed to photo either one. Those are the only UK cars I have seen in these parts. The cruise lasted from four until six so the usual (relatively) Sunday quiet of West Market Street was shattered by car horns, straight through exhausts and loud in-car sound systems mostly blasting out Rock and Roll. The weather was perfect for the event, better than last year when it had to be shortened due to heavy thunderstorms.
We found out that the house was first built in 1857 but there is no evidence of Victorian décor. I imagine it underwent a complete makeover sometime about when it was fifty years old. All the mouldings and other surviving décor come from the early twentieth century, around 1910 I would imagine. The garage was not built until the mid sixties. I am trying to find out if any stables stood on the garage site.
August 9th
I just had a brainstorm and realised why it is so late in the autumn that the clocks go back. This to allow the Halloween celebrations to take place in daylight. Clever eh? But the mornings are very dark at that time.
August 15th
It’s a wet Sunday today so I thought why not do a little more writing?
American cars are not what they used to be. There are American versions of such models as Ford Focus and Vauxhall Cavalier. Gone are the huge cars with masses of chrome and rear fins, these have been replaced by much smaller, more economic versions. Having said that, the most popular engine size is two litres as opposed to 1.5 in the UK. Automatic transmissions are more widely used here although it is possible to get most cars with manual gearboxes on special order. Pretty well all the Asiatic manufacturers are represented with many having US factories. The “Big Three” (General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford) are all doing well while the German models (VW, Audi and Mercedes) have a market share despite being somewhat expensive. Strangely enough there are no French or Italian models available here although Fiat are supposed to be joining with GM to produce a new small car. Volvo had a manufacturing plant here under the auspices of GM but this has now been dropped. Some of the minority luxury models, such as Buick, Cadillac and Lexus are still available but some “badge Engineered” marques such as Pontiac, Mercury, and Saturn have been discontinued.
I have already covered many aspects of driving and owning a car here in previous letters so shan’t repeat myself. I feel it is a pity the concept of advanced driving together with a qualifying test is completely unknown here, I find this shows as the standard of driving is lower here than in the UK. Speed limits are mostly ignored, especially on the Interstates and almost every day there is a report of a serious accident very often involving only one vehicle. Still that is enough of my banging on something about which I can do nothing so I shall continue to keep my eyes open as usual.
September 3rd
The heat wave ends today (Friday). We have had temperatures in the 90’s since Monday, today it is cloudy (but still very warm) with the clouds from Hurricane Earl which evidently is causing mayhem all along the east coast but here there is not even a breeze (so far).
September 4th
This is Labour Day Weekend, the unofficial end of summer. The temperature this evening as I write is 62f - a very noticeable drop from the 90’s! However it will be back in the 80’s on Monday which of course is a holiday so summer hasn’t quite given up on us yet. The schools have all gone back after their three month summer break so the ubiquitous yellow ‘buses are back in the afternoons. After this long hot summer some of the trees are already changing colour. But it hasn’t been so long and hot for some folk, there have been floods and tornadoes in many parts of the country and now there is a string of potential hurricanes lining up across the Atlantic. We have just had a near miss with Earl which has now gone north to the Canadian coast. I never imagined that these storms could affect so far north but there is always the possibility that it could reach the British Isles after it gets to Newfoundland!
Joan is recovering from the replacement knee operation she had on August 20th so our lives are on hold until the recovery is complete.
I believe I have mentioned the mid term elections this coming November. We have to put up with two months of commercials from various politicians slagging off their opponents. It seems that the ones with the most money for advertising usually win. But, after all, this is America! One thing I find hard to understand is why we are watching commercials concerning the BP cleanup fund for the Gulf Coast. I would have thought the money would have been better spent on those suffering as a result of the oil spill rather than on commercials in Pennsylvania almost a thousand miles distant!
The row over immigration continues, but this has been going on for quite a number of years. The first illegal immigrants were called “White Men” by the Indians!!
Until next time.
BFN
H
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