Americana

I must admit that my sea-to-shining-sea homeland has its charms.  Sometimes you have to look for them and it's always a little easier to see them when you go away and live in a place that's a little bit urban, raucous and fast-paced.

The greater metro-Detroit area isn't many of those adjectives.  But on my last day in Rochester, MI I rediscovered some things to be joyful about. Silly things, really.  Like free popcorn and friendly employees at Home Depot where I went to pick up craft supplies instead of DIY house-fixing goods.  And a 1970s era coffee pot that still works. And flags--absolutely everywhere.

And more of the little things came flooding back.  Like no matter how perfunctory it is, when you walk into a shop, someone will greet you.  And how two stores can be right next to each other but people will still walk to their car, drive it to a parking space next door and walk back the same way they started.  And if you decide to walk, people might stop and ask you if you're okay, if your car's broken and if you need a lift. I know people hate these things about America(ns).  I know I normally would.  But after living in Europe, which is often perfunctorily polite, it's nice to see a little bit of enthusiasm. 

Little things make me smile:  

And maybe not always so little things provoked a nostalgic sense of the america of my youth, a feeling you cannot wholly understand unless you're born and raised in a place.  No disrespect to anywhere else--there are elements of British culture I will never know or understanding, daytime gameshows and revered culture icons of the 80s/early 90s, for example.  And that makes me an outsider to some extent.   

So, if only for a few days, it's been nice to remember and revere my cultural past.  I'll be back to my cynical city-dwelling self soon enough.

America, worth the hype.