(834) America by Stephen Fry

When I first landed in the US, I started making a list of states I have walked on. Of course then I was sure I would stay for a long, long time. Reality is certainly a long way from wishes. Now the way things are it is most unlikely I would add many to the fourteen I have visited. It is no longer regrets looking back. I choose to be thankful for wherever I was privileged to have been, whatever I have done and whomever I have met.

When the above book came into my hands I have a whale of a time going through the fifty states that Stephen visited in making his television show. While he shared what struck him about one particular state, I relive what I like most about that state. We start with South Carolina. One of my college mates took me home the first spring break I had. All the way we drove to South Carolina, I saw an entire hill filled with the most beautiful trees in full blossom. Some pink but mostly white. They looked like brides lining up along the country road. They were peach blossoms. Had I visited South Carolina at any other time, I would not have been treated to such a beautiful and delicate sight.

Next I think of Texas, where I spent  a summer. What I like most was the arid hill country I drove through. While most people may not think it scenic, I really found the scene peaceful. Had I stayed on and married the nice young man who was courting me then, it would not be a far out idea to live on an acre or two among such hills. There I experienced dry heat which was much more bearable than humid heat. Yet it is ironic that I did come back and got back used to intense humid heat and daily hope for cooling rain.

Then I see in my mind's eye the blue, blue ocean of California. My "little sister" from college was driving me along the coastal highway while I feasted my eyes. My brother's landlord was right that the stretch just north of San Francisco was more than beautiful. I love the Californian weather. No matter how hot the sun was, one just have to step into some shade and it is rather cooling having the sea breeze blowing.

Although now I live in a very green country, nothing here can compare with the shiny dew drop green velvety grass on a mountaintop in Hawaii. Since I don't remember travelling on any boat while in Hawaii, it must have been on the same island as Honolulu. Since that day I have only seen the same intense green in the scenery of The Lord of the Ring -- New Zealand.

Now I don't feel quite so alone when listening to Star Spangle Banner brought tears to my eyes. Stephen Fry confessed to feeling the same way. Out of the huge, wide world, Stephen and I are two of a group of people who just happened to be partial to America.