Public Enemy #2356

All the talk about the imposition of a blanket ban on some groups seeking entry into the USA brings to mind some experiences I had with the US Immigration Service a few years back.

I had been travelling to the US for the better part of a decade on a visa, which gave me multiple entries for business purposes for an indefinite period. My entry points varied and I became very familiar with airports at Boston, JFK, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Charlotte. I must have passed through US Immigration dozens of times without any problems. That is, until, beguiled by Richard Branson's Virgin's promises, I took a flight into Newark, New Jersey for an onward connection to Raleigh Durham in North Carolina. My entry went along these lines.

* I walk up to Immigration counter with the expectation of the usual off-hand stamping of my passport (what charm school did they use for the officials?) and then through to baggage reclaim.
* Immigration officer types my details into his computer, does a double take and then calls his supervisor over. They go into a huddle for a while and then I'm asked to step out of line and follow the supervisor.
* I'm taken to a windowless office/cubicle and, with no explanation given, told to wait.
* After what seemed ages, two men in suits came in and starting asking me questions about who I was, what my background was and where I was going. They could not or would not tell me why they were asking the questions, just that some 'irregularities' had been noticed.
* At this point I was quite sanguine and was confident that it would all be sorted out quickly. A minor bureaucratic glitch, that's all.
* They left the room and, again after a long wait, two different men in different suits came in and asked me exactly the same questions as the first two. Again no explanation was given and, when I raised the question of my fast approaching connecting flight, I was told that I would be with them until the 'irregularities' has been solved and, anyway, my suitcase had already been taken off the 'plane. They left the room.

* At this point I remember beginning to feel decidedly uneasy and the thought of being refused entry crossed my mind.
* After another long wait, yet another pair of besuited gentlemen came in and, guess what, asked me the same questions. Again no explanations but they did say that they needed to check a few details with 'someone' before they had finished with me. They left the room.
* At this point deportation seemed to be a real option facing me and I was wondering how I was going to explain that to the company I was working for.
* Then a single officer, with something approaching empathy, came in and took me through where things stood. They were not happy with some entries about me on their system, but couldn't tell me what the issues were. If I could get someone in authority in my company to vouch for me, they would let me enter 'this once' and I'd have to report to the US Embassy in London as soon as I got back to the UK after my visit. I only had one US contact number with me (this was before the days of mobile phones) and was allowed to give him a call. He took the message and said he'd speak with someone higher up in the organisation and get back as soon as he could. This happened pretty quickly and, after a conversation between Immigration and the company representative, I was allowed through.
* As luck would have it, getting another flight to Raleigh Durham was straightforward and I got there some ten hours after I should have, tired but relieved.
* My US hosts were gracious and apologetic for the 'Newark Incident' but, as I could tell them nothing of the reasons why I was questioned, we moved on with whatever I was over there for. I can't remember it ever being mentioned again.

Back in the UK I dutifully went to the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square to see if I could sort things out. Eventually I was granted an interview with a consulate official who was not that helpful and cancelled my visa with a hint of satisfaction. Same charm school as the immigration people? The 'without prejudice' reference on the stamp meant that whatever the issue underlying the problem, if it were resolved, I could still gain entry to the USA if I applied.

For the next few years, every time I needed to travel to the US I had to go to the Embassy to be interviewed personally and get formal permission. It was inconvenient but not a disaster. Eventually, after around 3 years, I found out, by sneaking a glance at a computer screen when I shouldn't have, that the root of my problems lay with some student political activities I engaged in during my undergraduate time (1966 to 1969) in Aberystwyth University. Yes, I was involved in a number of leftish groups but, good grief, this was Aberystwyth not Oxford or Cambridge. The downfall of the Western World was certainly not going to start in Aberystwyth but, having said that, I've always thought that our sit-in protest at the Post Office hastened the end of the Vietnam War. So, maybe, I shouldn't underestimate the threat we were perceived as posing. Notwithstanding this fantasy, no-one could or would explain to me why it took 20 years, from 1969 until 1987, for my murky past to catch up with me. And then, out of the blue, after almost three years, someone somewhere decided that I was not a potential enemy of the state and I got my multiple entry visa back. And after that, absolutely no problems with getting into the USA.



There are a few things about this whole affair that have always puzzled me: who collected and passed on the information about me from Aberystwyth? And how was the connection made between D Parsons Student in Aberystwyth and D Parsons Scientist in Kent? Was this information gathered by the US or passed to them by the UK? Maybe I ought to try a Freedom of Information request to find out. Maybe one day I will.

And does the above give me any special insight into the way that immigrants might be treated by the Trump regime? I'd be fooling myself if I thought that.

You are old, Father William, the young man said

(Thoughts prompted by a snippet in the Guardian today and written in an idle moment in the waiting room of the Royal Eye Infirmary in Plymouth).

I am approaching 69 (unbelievable, eh? Thank you, I know I look a lot younger. And I've still got all my own teeth and hair) and I retired from full-time work some 10 years ago. I do not miss work. I do not want to work. Indeed, to be completely honest, I know I no longer have the energy to hold down a 'proper' job. I know that, although I'm functioning at an adequate sort-of-good-for-my-age level, I'm no longer at the top of my game.

Think about what's happening on the other side of the Atlantic. Donald Trump will soon be 70. Hillary Clinton will soon be 69. Bernie Sanders is 74. Ted Cruz, now ex-candidate Cruz, was younger but seemed like to me that he was born sometime during the American Civil War. The question I have is: why do these people want to be President of the United States?

Why do people who are at an age when their peers grow more and more tired want to take on the most difficult job in the world? How are these people, who are at an age where others lose stamina, concentration, and strength, the only candidates for a job that requires more stamina, strength and concentration than probably any other job in the world? Why does anyone want this job? Why do senior citizens who have fame, money, and prestige want to suddenly take on the position of the most powerful person in the world?

It goes without saying that I would not want to be the most powerful person in the world. But I suppose that I/we must be glad there are some people who want the job, even if they are older than what I think the job demands. The President of the United States is a job that requires a person to be at the top of their game. No one, in my opinion, is at the top of their game at seventy. I don’t want a seventy year old drilling my teeth. I don’t want a seventy year old in the operating room. Yes, seventy year olds have experience. Yes, they offer great advice. Yes, they have a world of knowledge. But they are not at the top of their game.

If I were a voter in the USA (and I am ever so glad that I'm not), I would want a President who is at the top of his/her game; ideally someone with strength, stamina and concentration; someone in good health who can be expected to stay in good health for at least four years. I'm not sure that the three remaining in the race fit the bill. But what do I know?

Not a lot but I do know that I like this song by They Might Be Giants. It's called 'Older' and has a reassuring message for us all. And I'm older now than when I started composing this post. Singing 'Happy Birthday' will never be the same again.

Trumpty Dumpty

I am fascinated/dismayed/intrigued/appalled/repelled in almost equal measure by the Trump phenomenon. And here's a thread of thinking that went through my head as I attempted to clear our garage of 10 years of accumulated detritus. Lest you think that it was strange for me to be thinking of The Donald at the time, I should say that his latest wise words on racial harmony were featuring prominently on the Radio 4 news programmes as I rummaged amongst the old paint pots and odd bits of metal that I once thought "would come in handy one day" and never did.

Politicians generally walk on egg shells. Always weighing their words for fear of upsetting someone; always weighing their actions for fear of offending someone; always being someone they are probably not; never being spontaneous; always censoring their true opinions.

You don't believe me? Just look at any of our leaders and politicians in action. Their every word is measured. They speak slowly with ahs, ums and pauses while they filter their thoughts fearing any potentially offensive statement or word that will be tomorrow's headline. They never get to the point. They thrive on ambiguity.

 And this is where Donald Trump comes in. He just does not care. He does not walk on egg shells. Or, as he puts it himself "I. Don't. Care". 

Some might say that the disadvantage of this is he says things that upset people. He makes claims that are patently not true. He does not think things through when he is interviewed. The Donald does. not. care. He does not walk on egg shells.   

To his supporters, of which there are many and the numbers seems to be holding up, the advantage of The Donald not walking on egg shells is that they know where he stands. He is not wishy washy.  He does not take one position in one state and take another in the next. He does not waffle or double talk his way around his thoughts. He does not back down or apologise. When challenged he looks his inquisitor in the eye and says:

“Are you kidding me? That is not what I said; I would never say that, you must be a sick person or un-American to interpret those words that way!”

Sometimes his denials are only tentatively related to the truth, if at all, but his supporters are finding it refreshing to hear someone actually standing by what he says. How often in interviews of people attending one of his rabble-rousing, bile-spewing meetings have you heard them say something like: "You may not like what he says.  You may disagree with what he says. But you do know what he says. You know who he is. You know what you are getting. It is just refreshing to know what a politician supports".

In the race to the bottom, Trump seems to be uniquely placed. His xenophobic tirades seem to have done little to harm his status amongst the Republican faithful. Will he get his party's nomination? I still think that that's unlikely but, if he does, he won't be the first political figure to go from ridiculous to dangerous. Beyond that, his legacy may be what he is doing to American political life. Discrimination has entered the public discourse and that is causing alarming divisions and insecurities in a cosmopolitan and sometimes unpredictable country. 

And we should not be feeling smug. Trump's attraction is not too different from that of the Front National, Ukip or any of the range of far right parties making headway in Europe.

Will we all end up with egg on our faces? And now it's back to the paint pots and odd bits of wood.

Not only in America.....................

.................we've got our own right wing loonies as well. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you columnist Melanie Philips as an example of the best that the UK can come up with.

I have the feeling that she was not too enchanted at Obama's recent victory. Read how she vented her spleen in her blog posting on November 7th entitled 'America goes into the Darkness' It's a wonderfully off-the-wall intemperate rant. Here are a few of her phrases.

"The greatest satisfaction today over the re-election of Obama is not being felt in the Democratic Party............. (but) is surely being felt in Iran".

"Four years ago, America put into the White House a sulky narcissist with close links to people with a history of thuggish, far-left, black power, Jew-bashing, west-hating politics".

"Britain and the Europeans love Obama because they think he will end American exceptionalism and turn the US into a pale shadow of themselves. What they don’t realise is that, all but lobotomised by consumerist rights, state dependency, victim culture, sentimentality, post-religion, post-nationalism and post-Holocaust and Empire guilt, Britain and Europe are themselves fast going down the civilisational tubes".

"With the re-election of Obama, America now threatens to lead the west into a terrifying darkness".

Mmmmm. Methinks Ms Philips should take herself off to a darkened room and calm down.

He's been trumped by Obama!

The USA leads the world in many things, not least of which being the supply of foam-flecked right-wing bigots and outright loonies. Step forward into the spotlight, Donald Trump. He hates Obama with a passion and throughout the recent election poured scorn on the President's campaign. In the aftermath, and after Romney's dignified acceptance of his defeat, is Donald keeping quiet? Not a bit of it! His philosophy seems to be 'if you are in a hole, keep digging'. He's since been keeping the twitterati amused with a succession of concisely argued tweets (some of which he's since deleted and claimed that they were 'mistakes'). Here's a flavour of his thought processes.

*  The voting booth process was a total disaster—it could and should be much better and more efficient—tremendous room for error!

*  House of Representatives shouldn’t give anything to Obama unless he terminates Obamacare.

*  The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy.

*  This election is a total sham and a travesty. We are not a democracy!

*  Let's fight like hell and stop this great and disgusting injustice! The world is laughing at us.

*  We can’t let this happen. We should march on Washington and stop this travesty. Our nation is totally divided!

*  The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.

Let no-one call Donald a good loser - or a reasonable human being for that matter. And can somebody explain to me why on earth Alex Salmond and the SNP allowed this odious character to develop a pristine part of the Scottish coastline? And run roughshod over the rights of the local people, apparently with impunity and the collusion of the police and establishment? I smell a rat.

If I had the vote in the USA tomorrow........

Today marks the last full day of campaigning in the American presidential election, as Barack Obama and Mitt Romney embark on one final tour of the key states that will determine who occupies the White House. Both men, their running mates, and top surrogates are criss-crossing the country in search of vital electoral votes. Swing states are being blitzed once again as this closely fought election reaches its climax. What would I do tomorrow if I had to make a choice? A theoretical question, I know, with an answer that has absolutely no consequence. But I'm going to do it anyway!

I've always taken an interest in American politics and, since Obama's victory, I've watched events probably more closely than ever. Has he done enough to get my vote? My assessment is:

1.  He inherited a very difficult set of domestic and international issues, most of which were largely beyond his control.
2.  He came in with an impossible level of expectation.
3.  He has not been the agent of change that he was anticipated to be.
4.  I have been disappointed in many aspects of his foreign policy (increased use of drones, not closing Guantanemo, not making a bigger impact on the middle-Eastern debacle).
5.  I applaud his success over Obamacare and have been amazed at the vitriol directed towards him over this. To describe him as a socialist/communist because of this is laughable.
6.  He was faced with an unforgiving, obstructive and closet-racist opposition.
7.  His heart is in the right place but, more often than not, his analytical approach gives a false impression of distance.

And what of Mitt Romney?

1.  I can't forget that he's a product of the most odious opposition party I've ever seen. Tea Party anyone? The party that spawned Sarah Palin? Need I say more?
2.  I think he is an arch political opportunist and has been saying what it needs to win. Underneath he is an unreformed right-winger who is at the behest of a number of very unsavoury characters.
3.  I just can't believe the numbers he comes up with.
4. His choice of running mate. Paul Ryan, for heaven's sake. Joe Biden is never going to set the world alight, but Ryan just might - for the wrong reasons.
5. I think he shares many of David Cameron's characteristics and that's about as damning a comment as I can make.
6. I'm extremely uncomfortable about what I read of his foreign policy ideas.

That's enough to give a flavour of where my mind is running. If I had the vote, it would have an unambiguous X against Obama's name. He deserves a further term and, to my mind, Romney is not a viable alternative. I await the result with interest.

Autumn in New England: Service interrupted

We've reached Boston for the final few days of our trip and immediately hit wi-fi problems! The hotel system is down, which means that I can't post anything. Many thanks for those of you who have sent me an e-mail querying the lack of posts. Normal service will be resumed as soon as the techies sort out the glich.

Autumn in New England: Part 7

A covered railway bridge



An uncovered road bridge

Another day and another breakfast with a touch of the Mrs Cropley's. A blueberry (and bran?) muffin is very nice with a cup of coffee mid-morning and a mixed vegetable frittata, accompanied by a rocket salad with a sharp dressing, makes for a wonderful light lunch. But both for breakfast? Well cooked but weird.

Our guides turned up (Mary-Lou with one of her arms in a sling) and we planned the day. It was raining so we decided against walking in the morning and left it as an option for the afternoon. Off we went and soon made a detour to see our fifth covered bridge: this one being a covered railway bridge. It was actually in a very tranquil spot and I found it unexpectedly pleasant. Pleasure can be found in the least expected places.

We then drove to the hamlet of Plymouth Notch to visit the home of the xth president of the USA, Calvin Coolidge. He was nicknamed Silent Cal and in deference to his memory, ..........................

From Plymouth Notch we took a 4-ish mile walk along a steep country road past the graveyard in which many of the Coolidge family are buried and up through the trees. At the midpoint we saw a chipmunk that had the grace to stay still for me to take its photograph. Was it Alvin? I think so.



THE chipmunk

 After this we made our way through the countryside (lots of foliage colours) to our next, and final B & B, the October Inn, just 8 miles out of Woodstock. And what another nice place to stay it is too. We took the opportunity to pop into Woodstock for a nose around. A charming place with a discernibly relaxed atmosphere and, joy of joys, a Farmer's Market in full swing. Lots of fresh produce and lots of free tasters.

Back to the October Inn, where the hostess, Edie (Edith) pointed out an extremely interesting tree in her yard. After years of experimentation and much hybridisation, they had come up with an apple/pumpkin chimeric tree. In the early summer, it bears small apples (apparently with a Cox flavour) and in the early autumn they are able to pick small pumpkins from its branches. I wouldn't have believed it if I had not seen it with my own eyes. Prunus pumpkinensis is what to look for in your local garden centre.

The October Inn

Prunus Pumpkinensis bearing its autumn fruit

And after all that, an Italian themed dinner with no sign of Signora Cropley in the kitchen! Hooray, a result! I went to bed happy, snuggling up to my jelly weiner (but that's a story for another day).

Autumn in New England: Part 6

Our last few hours at Foxcreek Inn and my ITC and I had a pre-breakfast walk up the neighbouring road. Quiet and plenty of leaves to see. A moderate appetite was worked up for breakfast which, rather bizarrely to a UK palate, started with coffee cake and cream cheese. It tasted good and was followed by a sort of frittata. I say 'sort of frittata' as this is the nearest I could come to a taxonomic classification for it. It was egg-based and had asparagus, peas, cheese, potatoes, tomatoes, bread, herbs and pepper. Savoury and very tasty. Overall, mine hostess's cooking was excellent but I did feel that some of her combinations veered close to the style of Mrs Cropley from the Vicar of Dibley. I'll miss the element of surprise when I next sit down for breakfast! It's amazing how quickly your taste buds can get accustomed to being ambushed in the morning.

Our 'normal' guide Mary-Lou had had an accident at her home and could not make today's jaunt but another guide, Sue, stepped into the breach at the last moment. She proved to be very knowledgable and equally enthusiastic. Our drive to our starting point for the day's walk took us through some rolling farmland until we reached the Mount Independance National Memorial Park. This was the location of many skirmishes between the revolutionaries and the British before and during the War of Independence.There was a very informative exhibition in the visitor's centre (which was in the shape of one of the boats that sailed on the nearby Lake Champlain).

Our walk took us along paths through the woods on a promontory jutting out into the lake so we had some lakeside panoramas as well as woodland scenes as we strolled around. Our guide came into her own as she pointed out various plants, fungi, birds and animals to us. In the latter category, although we did not see one she told us about, the Vermont beaver (Castor Canadensis stihlii). This is a local variant of the more common North American beaver and has made a fascinating adaptation to its environment. It has developed six lateral incisors to enable it to cope with the hardness of the maples it feeds on. Although there were none to be seen, we could find plenty of evidence for the unique marks they leave when they gnaw through a tree (see photograph below. It left me wondering if there wasn't a commercial use for these mammals.

I've got to come clean and admit that we visited the Vermont Soap Museum on our way to our next B & B, the Shoreham Inn at, would you believe, Shoreham. Built in 1799, it is a very pleasant and comfortable wooden clad building. Our evening meal was less-Dibleyesque than the previous night and it went down very well with all of us - possibly our best meal so far?  The bottom photograph says all that needs to be said about it.



The characteristic gnawing pattern of the Vermont Beaver (Castor Canadensis stihlii)



A blue fungus that captured my attention

Shoreham Inn in Shoreham (spot the palindrome)

'Nuff said!

Autumn in New England: Part 5




Cranberry and pumpkin French toast (without the hot maple syrup)

  As I'm going to take the day in chronological order, I'll start off with breakfast. Not that I'm obsessed with food you understand, I just feel it's my duty to dwell on all aspects of our trip - and food is turning out to be a major feature of our days. 

Our breakfast menu began with a two flavour yoghurt and granola palate teaser before we got down to a hard core plate of cranberry and pumpkin French toast with crispy smoked bacon served, for those with a stronger constitution than I, hot maple syrup. Hey, we are in Vermont - everything comes with maple syrup. Do I hear you ask what cranberry and pumpkin French toast is? Delicious is the short answer. The long answer is: think British bread and butter pudding but substitute the raisins and sugar with cranberry, pumpkin, cottage cheese and cinnamon. My daily bowl of Scots' porridge oats will seem like peasant food when I get back home.

After recovering from breakfast and after discussing how we'd spend the day with our guide, we decided that a morning doing 'touristy' things followed by a walk in the afternoon was what we'd do. In order:
1. Vermont was/is a large scale producer of marble so we visited the Marble Museum in Procter (definately not the same as the House of Marbles in Bovey Tracey which, for some unfathomable reason, seems to be a tourist attraction in Devon. Sensible people avoid it like the bubonic plague). An interesting interlude - the Procter Marble Museum, that is, not the House of Marbles, which isn't.
2. Then we went covered bridge hunting. Not quite the step into the unknown as the word 'hunting' might imply. We actually followed our guide who knew where they could be found. Four of them in all. I didn't know that they were covered to prevent the wood of the actual bridge structure from rotting too quickly. I also didn't know that, during the winter months when the roads were covered in snow and sleighs were the common mode of transport, snow was actually shovelled into the covered bridges so that sleighs could use them.
3. A picnic lunch was followed by a quick trip around the Vermont Museum of Maple Syrup. As someone who has no knowledge of how maple syrup is produced, I came away educated - and also replete from the free tasting samples available. Me? I'm definately a Grade B syrup person.
4. And then on to the Split Rock Loop trail for a short walk in a Vermont wood. Lots of leaves and some rolling countryside - very nice. We came across some efts crawling across our route in several places. What are efts? No, not refugees from one of Tolkien's novels but the terrestial form of the red-spotted newt or salamander. They looked like browny newts (surprise, surprise!) and live on land until they become fully adult and head for the water to breed. Not something we see in the UK.

After all that, it was back to the B & B for our evening meal - another delicious affair but I won't detail the menu as I've mentioned food far too much recently (but if you were interested it was proscuitto ham and pear with a minty dressing to start, wasabi topped salmon as a main and hot pineapple, pistachio nuts and creme fraiche as a dessert). And on that culinary note, I'll end.



A covered bridge - can't remember which one!



An eft minding its own business



I like the colours of the leaves on the ground



I liked the pattern of these ferns as well



Autumn in New England: Part 4

The day started so well with a walk around the lake, surrounded as it was by trees showing the complete spectral range of autumnal hues. Then catastrophe - in the form of breakfast. I'd ended the previous day with a promise to myself that, for the rest of our stay, I would be abstemious when it came to food. But, when faced with the Blueberry Inn breakfast fare, my resolve crumbled. My downward slide started slowly with fresh fruit and melon and accelerated a little when the plate of biscuity scones containing blueberries, raspberries, cranberries or strawberries was passed around. I applied the brakes gently and had a bowl of yoghurt and granola (and what granola! With toasted coconut, cranberries and, I suspect but was afraid to ask, a generous coating of maple syrup). But then the speed increased to maximum when the fluffy blueberry pancakes, crispy smoked bacon and maple syrup came out! 10 out of 10 for good intentions: 0 out of 10 for resolve. Perhaps our walk would burn off some of the calories?

The weather was not good again - rain and mist - but we decided to continue with our planned walk. This was to take us along part of the Appalachian Trail and 100-Mile Trail along a section called the Chittenden Brook route. Up into the woods with a gentle incline for perhaps 4 miles, followed by a much steeper descent along the, presumably, Chittenden Brook. Lots more leaves and lots of interesting fungi (and I'm interested in fungi!). The rain stopped towards the end and we were able to lunch without our food being soaked. Yes, more food but a relatively modest affair with rolls, fruit and cookies. From there it was a short step (well 2 miles) along a track to the car. About 7.5 miles in total so we felt we'd had a good stretch.

Then it was off to our next B & B, the Foxhill Inn. Another extremely good quality inn with a very welcoming host and hostess. Excellent room with the biggest jacuzzi bath I've seen in a long while. We were due to eat at the inn but due to a slight problem (the hostess had forgotten to pick up a package of salmon when she was shopping for the meal) we had to go to a neighbouring resort hotel for our dinner. Very tasty but somewhat over-rich. But no resolutions from me tonight. Tomorrow is another day - with more gastronomic challenges. Why am I expecting yet another trencherman's breakfast?

Foxhill Inn somewhere in rural Vermont

Autumn in New England: Part 3



Blueberry Inn

 A hearty breakfast at the Churchill House Inn started the day, with cottage cheese pancakes and maple syrup being the high point. What else will be remembered about our stay? Doors that wouldn't shut, shower taps that were a puzzle to make work and the welcome of mine host's Russian wife (as warm as a Siberian winter at the start but thawing to spring over breakfast - we never quite got to summer!). But our bed was extremely comfortable, the room was warm and the food was excellent (the chocolate cake was particularly notable).

After breakfast we met with our guide for the week (Mary-Lou) and took stock of our options for the day. The weather forecast was not good: in fact it was raining as we met. We decided that we'd spend the morning being tourists and then, if the afternoon weather was better, we'd take a walk. And this is what we did:
1. A brief visit to an iron furnace from the mid-1800s. Given the number of iron mining artefacts we've seen on Dartmoor, it was fascinating to be able to make comparisons with what was going on in the UK at around the same time.
2.  Short visit to Brandon (charming little down with lots of interesting buildings in the vernacular style).
3.  Short visit to Middlebury (good farmers' market with some excellent produce and friendly traders, cooperative market store with an impressive range of foods and a picnic lunch in the town centre).
4. Thence a 4 mile walk in the woods of the TAM (Trail Around Middlebury).
5. And throughout all this we had an expert commentary from our guide. She really does know this part of the world.

From there, with Carl in the driver's seat, we drove to our next overnight stop, the Blueberry Inn at (or near) Ripton. Another good inn with yet another over indulgent meal! And so, dear reader, to bed.

Autumn in New England: Part 2



Churchill House Inn in the Spring

 From Burlington to Brandon today heading north-west and driving through New Hampshire into Vermont. Raining most of the time but this did not detract from the scenery. It looks like we've hit the leaf season just right and I think we'll be seeing some pretty amazing colours. What we saw today in terms of shades of red, purple and brown could be a good taster of what is to come. The colours are far more varied and vibrant than what we see in the UK. Down to variety of trees and climate?

As well as scenery, the theme of the day was 'food'. Ranging from breakfast at the hotel through lunch at Peter Christian's Pub in New London to dinner at our B & B (the Churchill House Inn in Brandon), we have eaten too much! But it was worth it, albeit transiently. I reaquainted myself with root beer: two in one day and that's probably my quota for the stay. It's an acquired taste and not one that I'm ambitious to develop. Nice flavour but far too sweet for my palate.

Tomorrow morning after breakfast (more food!) we meet our guide and start walking - I think we are heading for the intriguing sounding Blueberry Mountain. It's far too late in the season to expect the eponymous berry but I'll be keeping my eyes open for whatever the woods have to offer. Fingers crossed for good weather.

Autumn in New England: Part 1

Hilton Garden Inn, Burlington

Here we are in Boston for a walking holiday with our American friends (Ailsa, Carl, Emilie and Ken). I wake up and notice that it looks like we've brought the rain with us!

Our journey started on Wednesday evening when we drove to Nailsea, just outside of Bristol, to stay with friends who live close to Bristol Airport. An early morning flight on Thursday took us to Dublin and then, after a 4 hour stop-over, on to Boston. Nothing unusual in all that except for the fact that all USA immigration and customs procedures were completed at Dublin airport before we got on the plane. When we reached Boston, after picking up our bags, we walked straight out to the concourse and were met by our travelling companions. Unbelievably easy and a great improvement on the way we had to enter the USA before. No queues and even smiles from the officials! If they don't offer this facility at Gatwick or Heathrow, this alone would be a good reason to travel through Dublin as a hub-airport into the USA.

We spent the night at the Hilton Garden Inn Hotel in Burlington in the north-west suburbs of Boston and today we are heading further north and west into Vermount to find our first B & B inn. The walking starts tomorrow!

A great example of a heartfelt apology - not!

In my previous blog, I mentioned the dastardly deeds of the apologists and those they serve. I also touched on the sincerity of some of their so-called apologies. Whilst visiting a USA blog site today, I came across a great example of someone being caught out and the Humpty Dumptyism that crawled out of the woodwork in the aftermath.
The perpetrator was Rush Limbaugh who is deservedly little known in the UK. Who he? Think of the most rabid Daily Mail columnist you can, give them a radio show and you are on the right lines. Oooh, it pains me to say it but I am being rather unfair to the Daily Mail when I make that comparison: he really is worse than the excrement in print they routinely throw at us. To move on, recently Limbaugh has become embroiled in a controversy over remarks he made about a law student, Sandra Fluke after she had a speech supporting insurance coverage for contraceptives. Amongst other things he called her a ‘slut’ and a ‘prostitute’ and continued his attacks over a period of days. There has been a considerable backlash to what he said and many advertisers have withdrawn their sponsorship of his show. And now we go Through the Looking Glass and enter the realm of Humpty Dumpty.

The argument his apologists make for him when he gets into hot water (and he’s got previous: he suggested, quite emphatically, that Michael J. Fox was exaggerating his Parkinson's symptoms, he commissioned a "Barack the Magic Negro" song and he called soldiers who criticise war "phony soldiers") is that we all just don't get his unique sense of humour. Where have you heard that excuse before? Or the related “what I really meant to say was……. and you’ve (deliberately) misunderstood me to make me look bad” defence?

Limbaugh’s response to such situations always follows a boringly predictable path. He says something entirely unacceptable. People complain. He repeats his comments. People complain some more. He continues to not only deny any wrong-doing but ridicules his accusers. He starts to lose advertisers which, in turn, risks the only things he cares about--money and attention and thus he then feels compelled to apologise (or is forced to apologise given the torrent of pressure against him). In all cases, his apologies are less than fulsome and obviously insincere but, sadly, they always seem enough to get him off the hook – eventually. Time passes and the advertisers come back to his show. And Limbaugh lives to pollute the airways for another day. Job done – by a master at Humpty Dumptyism.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. Not everyone is taken in by him and his escapades give political cartoonists a field day – I’ve included just a few for your amusement. One day he’ll go too far and there won’t be many people grieving his demise.

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic....

In this, probably my last post of 2011, I thought I'd comment on something that's been keeping me bemused over the past few months - the antics of the contenders lining up for the Republican nomination in the USA. It's not something that has had a lot of coverage in the UK media but, through the internet, it's been interesting tapping into a few US news sources. As an apparently weak and vacillating President Barack Obama struggles on, US governance and policy-making has recently been described as "less stable, less effective and less predictable than it once was". It is obviously in everyone's interests - and I do mean everyone's - that the man in the Whitehouse is of the highest calibre: how do the Republican hopefuls measure up?
It's only a few days before the Iowa caucuses (and I can't pretend to understand fully the caucus/primary system) but all I seem to read about is talk of who is up in the polls, who is down, who has made the latest gaffe and who is the most conservative candidate of them all. To a distant observer like me, they are all saying absolutely nothing of substance. None of them has articulated a vision for the future that seems to be in line with what I perceive most Americans want. Stripped of the rhetoric, the stark central choice they are offering boils down to regression versus progress. And the more regressive the policies, the louder their supporters cheer.
The contenders will keep up their farcical jousting until the presidential race begins in earnest next year. And with what result? The former US president Harry S Truman once remarked "Progress occurs when courageous, skilful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better". From where I sit, I can't see any of the Republican contenders matching this description: unfortunately it pains me to write that I'm not certain that Barack Obama does either. And I don't think we can look to the UK for exemplars: no doubt I'll be ranting about that in 2012. Now there's something for you to look forward to!