kattitudes

Yeah, for a few years. This was our tube station. It was when Kattitudes went dark (long predating the kattitudes blog era). Things outside the computer were, obviously, extremely busy, as I was determined to get the absolutely most out of living overseas. I wandered the streets of that town like one of the lost, literally. It was indescribable, even for a part time word smith.

After London, we moved to Germany. Also wonderful. And even more unique for me, in that I did not speak German beyond my secondary education first year German class. Fortunately the Germans were such a lovely people, and usually wanted to practice their American English so much that I was never at a loss for conversation partners, wherever I went. I learned enough to muddle through some crazy conversations (with lots of appropriate arm waving), but never enough to carry on long term conversations.

London, however, captured my heart in a way no other city will ever manage again (I know I am only echoing the sentiments of so many other travelers). I have just been thinking a lot about the fair city lately as the Mister and I are starting to discuss our South and the cultural footprint here.

We are both Southerners. Born elsewhere, we were both transplanted to different southern states at a young age, basing our childhood cultural references in the American southern cultural melting pot. So this is our home. We both moved from, and came back for more.

But our South is not providing what we need it to provide. Our South is very automotive based. If you don’t have a car in Atlanta Georgia, you are just plain ol’ out of luck. People do not walk here. A geographical based village concept around where we are seems unknown (unless you luck upon one of the smaller towns still available off the beaten track in Georgia). We have strip malls and fenced enclaves and gated subdivisions and mega places and warehouses. We drive there and we drive back.

And in our South, your cultural touchstone is your church. It is your social group, where you meet to organize events and casual dinner dates. We find that not every regular attendee of church events is a hard fast Christian soldier, but they are savvy enough to figure out that church is where you go to move and shake down this way. Church is the Chamber of Commerce and the corner market of the American south.

What we miss is our villages of London. We miss a well organized and well patronized mass transit system. And we miss places where you can sit down in a chair on the sidewalk at the pub for a drink after work and chat with your neighbors. Or meet new neighbors as the case may be. We miss finding new friends in odd places. We miss being able to carry a backpack and finish all our days errands (grocery shopping, laundry, pets, gifts and more all) on the way too and from work. Without ever having to get in and out of the car once. We are looking for a new home, preferably in America this time around (for ease of employment visa issues) where neighborhoods still exists. Not suburbs, or track homes or single family homes. We want density and camaraderie. And art walks. With interesting museums. And open cathedrals available 24 hours a day.

And we want to do it on an average American salary.

There’s the rub.

We are in a scary place in America. We are working toward a presidential election, and we are a culture that likes to talk in black and white and all or nones. We pander to flash (not to say that there isn’t sometimes a reason and a need, don’t get me wrong). So we are working towards an election and we are going to start hearing more and more about how the sky is falling.

That wouldn’t be so bad, but America is also a nation stocked up on medication addressing issues of anxiety and depression.

So what does “the sky is falling” message have to do with us? Before long, whether it affects you personally or not, you are going to hear a lot of stories in the America media about how poor poor poor people are now.

What you make is what you get, and we need to live with what we get. And we feel a need to renew our appreciation for what we have. Between the autumn season deep housecleaning frenzy and working on our Family Organizational Notebooks, there is more *stuff* in this house than needed in this house. So we are also going to start working actively on reduction as part of our reduce/reuse/recycle kick. I’m not going to call it clutter (even though it is) because it is a part of your life, but there is just too much. It is time to just reduce everything for a while until things do not seem so….overgenerous.

Our skills come in when we focus on how much money we can save by making things ourselves. And when we concentrate on taking pride in a job done to the best of our personal ability. And in doing a job for ourselves that we might have once outsourced. And when we make something with our own two hands and the sweat of our brow.

There is a lot to be said for the benefits of what seems to come across as “old fashioned” hard work or sweat equity. There is a phrase we would like to see a lot more in the American media lately, and not coupled with words like “quaint notion of” or “avoid any suggestion of”. Sweat equity. Elbow grease. Grab a broom. Roll up your sleeves. .

What you make with your hands is valuable. Your gift is literally in the making of your present. The feelings in your heart and the fond thoughts you have about your friends are sometimes all the magic that holds together a shaky stitch or loose bead. However, if your friend smiles every time they touch your gift to put it on, use it, taste it, wear it, smell it, hold it and love it, how much more rich will you be for the making?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 4th, 2007 at 5:31 pm and is filed under My south, kat chat, politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.