I had an American upbringing coupled with a rather strange sense of humour. Place names in the US make perfect sense to me: named after people, place of origin or adapted from Native American Names. After all, I was born in Minneapolis (Minnesota) and actually learned out to spell both names in the first grade. It was just how things were.
Living as an ex-Pat since 1993 (not counting the other five years spent out of the US in the 80s) I just accepted whatever town or village names were on the sign post. Really, who am I to criticize what another country uses for names. Not my language, not my right to question.
And then I moved to the England portion of the UK just last month (Jan 08). Not only am I coming into contact with names familiar to me from reading Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, but there are those towns whose names which I have just learned from Jasper Fforde. Places like Swindon and Reading, located just out the motorway from me.
Perhaps Woking gets the same reaction from children as does Temptation or Perdition.
But Middle Wallop? It is the home to the British Army’s Museum of Flying and otherwise doesn’t really exist. A local name to the area between Over Wallop and Nether Wallop, it is not a parrish or a real town. But you can address mail to Middle Wallop and it has a postal code, so I guess it does exist.
I found out about this and other interesting facts when I dropped in to the Army Air Field to meet one of the other US exchange officers today. Home to helicopter pilot training for the British Army, it is out in the middle of nowhere on the Salisbury Plain. Probably the most interesting event all year happens in July when there is an Acrobatic Air Show, set to music. It is on my list of things to do this summer. (Especially if Ray can provide me a place to park!).
Socks
There is this Art Yarn (trekking XXL) which looked like this in the ball
and like this after my socks were started –
Now if I could just explain why I started a new pair of socks rather than start the second of the cotton? Besides the fact that my hands just did not want to knit cotton this evening?
I am otherwise back to watching Medium and trying to choose the next audio book.
-Holly
Younger DD lives in Minneapolis with DSIL, and Miss P. I’m going out to visit the first Tues. of March. In the cold, snowy Minnesota weather. New Jersy will seem so warm when I get home, although it is snow season for us too.