What does the US look like?

Posted on | August 29, 2008 |

This is of course an impossible question to answer, as I particularly realised last weekend when visiting a winery in nearby Sonoma Valley. Look at the photo: take out the American flag and anyone unacquainted with California would assume this was a homestead within the scorched heartland of Spain; perhaps Mexico; maybe Portugal at a push. Allow yourself to see the flag again and everything is in a rather different light. This is a good example not only of how the US is continually defying my assumptions and exceeding my expectations, but also of how it is often difficult to see it all definitively as one country. Its very strong Hispanic culture is not just in people - it’s in the landscape too. What I’m increasingly realising is that perhaps the USA’s greatest strength is the way in which it embraces so much - and of course this is as overwhelming as it is exhilirating. From choices of every type of food made by every type of brand in the grocery store, to almost every world culture and every possible sort of landscape, this is a country of totality.

Category: Everyday impressions
Tags: Landscape

Comments

3 Responses to “What does the US look like?”

Sam
August 30th, 2008 @ 9:20 am

A few years ago, my mom gave me a copy of Steinbeck’s “Travels with Charley: in search of America”, which (that?) chronicles his journey across America in a truck with his dog. I just read through the California section last night, and I think that you would really enjoy the book as a whole. Your comment about whether America is one country is one that he returns to again and again.
Zoomie
August 30th, 2008 @ 1:38 pm

You’ve seen two regions of the country - parts of MN and CA - just wait ’til you see the desert Southwest and the East coast, not to mention the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains! We have so much to show you! And, Sam’s right - “Travels with Charley” is a fun read for one who is trying to discover, or re-discover this country.
Naomi
August 30th, 2008 @ 3:36 pm

I know, Zoomie - it’s all very exciting! I’ve seen some of the East Coast too (NY, DC, Boston, Baltimore etc) but there’s so so much between here and there for me to explore! I also have very strong memories of a fantastic holiday in Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico when I was 11 years old or so…I very much want to return to that part of the country soon!

Thanks for the Steinbeck recommendation Sam! I’ve only read his fictional works thus far, so it will be interesting to read his own views on such a relevant topic.