Saturday, October 13, 2007

The Interesting People You Meet





Yesterday we ventured northwest from Portland (Maine not Oregon) toward Windham, ME and another quilt shop – totally unremarkable in its excellence . . . as has been every other shop we've stopped at.

Sebago Lake State Park is a delightful place to spend a few days, camped within full view of the lake and thirty steps of the beach.

Just before noon, Clara was sitting on the beach reading an Agatha Christie mystery when a couple stopped by to chat with her. He was Welsh, she English, and a delightful conversation ensued. When I innocently wandered by and was brought into it, the conversation was covering the idea that UK'ers knew so much about the US while statesiders knew virtually nothing about the UK, and that UK news regularly included stories about the US but not the reverse. We in the US do have to concede that we are very self-centered (as a country) and very incurious about the rest of the world. Patrick and Morey have traveled extensively, both in the U.S. and Europe.

Somehow the topic moved over to immigrants and Patrick related the problems that the UK is facing, in that persons from India and Pakistan can freely and legally come to the UK, and have done so, in considerable numbers. The result is many little "foreign enclaves" of immigrants who apparently have little interest in the local culture but want to live there – the resulting conflict is entirely predictable. The feelings there are virtually the same as here in the US with regard to Muslims living here, or Mexicans (legal or illegal) – it's quite a problem. Morey expressed the uncomfortable feelings they had about the disconnect between hospitality and welcome for the needy and resentment toward their religious expressions.

It was not a large step over to religion and Patrick opined that he did not care at all what religion his neighbor had, provided he (the neighbor) did not push it on him – rather the same as our First Amendment provides.

We felt quite at ease with them and found ourselves in strong agreement with them on most topics – except for Patrick's dislike of the English (note the distinction between UK and English) and his love of rugby and soccer. He told the story of a bar fight in which one patron decked another; when asked why, he said the other had called him a drunken Englishman. Well, the questioner said, you were drunk, weren't you? Yes, but I am NOT English!

I find it quite interesting how similar people are all over the world – these folks could just as well have been from Oregon or California as from Wales.

These pictures were taken last Saturday at this campground – the sailboat was so colorful. The campfire and sunset pictures were taken within minutes of each other from about the same spot – just turn in a different direction.

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