I had a long chat this morning with someone who wanted to know more about Fair Trade and the FT Towns movement etc. The conversation wandered into tangentially related topics such as organic gardening, recycling, energy conservation and sustainable practices in general (the guy used to work for NYSERDA - the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority). He's the first American I've spoken to who has acknowledged that the only way to get people to use less petrol (gas) is to tax it more - though he recognises that it would be political suicide for anyone in power here to suggest such a thing. He's very into encouraging people to walk more, though having said that he seemed surprised when I told him I quite often walk nearly a mile to the library - "Really? Ah, well, that's because you're European," he laughed.
The Girl also felt her European-ness keenly today at school at the end of a presentation by the Raptor Project. The handlers brought out a bald eagle, causing them to wax lyrical on the lines of the US being the one country in the world where you can be free... "So, what? I was enslaved for the first seven years of my life, then?" huffed the Girl, recounting the story over dinner. But otherwise she had enjoyed the presentation, particularly noting a large owl that had actually appeared in a Harry Potter film. We'll have to look out for it next time we have an HP home movie night.
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