God Save Our Gracious Queen...

Well, it's that time of year again...the 4th of July. This is a particularly awkward time of year for us Anglophiles. While the rest of the country celebrates America's independence from The Crown, there are those of us who don't view an affiliation with Mother England as such a bad thing. (I'd much rather be under Tony Blair's leadership than Dubya's, I have yet to find an American city half as grand as London, and a nation where everyone has health care seems damned civilized to me...)
Now before anyone calls Homeland Security on me, I am not suggesting that the Redcoats storm Philadelphia or anything like that...merely suggesting that we could learn a few things from our neighbors across the pond, including:

. The civilized ritual of afternoon tea. Stopping everything for scones with lemon curd and clotted cream at 4:00 could take the edge off God-knows-how-many surly and carb-deprived people every day. The Cadbury Chocolate machines in the tube stations are a nice touch, too.

.Royal Ascot. Yes, we have The Kentucky Derby (which is glorious) but this is beyond words. I have been to the racetrack, but have only seen pictures and news footage of the race itself. Even deserted, Ascot Raceway had an aura of excitement blended nicely with grace. (And yes, I did shout "Come on Dover, move your bloomin' arse!" to the empty stands.)

.The West End. Broadway but better.

. Not that one usually sings the praises of British food (even the British) but one of the best meals I have ever eaten was at Simpson's-In-The-Strand. I think I lived on peanut butter sandwiches for about a week after buying dinner for myself and a date, but it was well worth it. I remember it was July 16, 1995. (I have no idea why I have held on to that particular bit of information, but there it is...)

. European thought has always seemed very sensible to me. If one dares to mention Socialism on these shores, the word usually conjures images of grey, government-dominated drudgery. Although the UK has a Parliamentary government with a figurehead monarch, the day-to-day lives of the people are essentially lived in a Euro-Socialist mindset, and I think I have seen a greater concentration of happy, prosperous, bright, colorful people in the UK than anywhere else I have traveled. (Universal health care and governmental services do not mean that everyone has to live like an extra in Fiddler On The Roof. ) There is also a sense of social awareness and open thought in England that has genuinely touched me. Of course there is crime, poverty, etc. but there seems to be a genuine love for one's fellow man in Europe that we don't always have in the US. There are also sensible, adult viewpoints on social issues which eclipse many of the right-wing hysterical dogma (dogmae?) espoused under the rule of Bush II.

.Elizabeth Hurley. Enough said. :-)

. The sense of history in the UK is amazing. I was fortunate to spend 6 weeks at Oxford through the "Alabama At Oxford" program when I was an undergraduate at UA, and we were literally living in buildings three times the age of the US. My friends and I spent a lot of time (too much, I'm sure) at The King's Arms, a pub immediately adjacent to Wadham College, where we were staying. This pub was like a glimpse backwards into history, from the decor to the regulars, a few of whom I think may have babysat William The Normand. There is a seemingly seamless juxtaposition of the old and the new in the UK...one of my favorite vacation pictures is of a McDonald's in Bath, housed in a magnificent old building, with the Golden Arches smiling out from a window in what looks like a castle. (Admittedly, sometimes corporate sprawl can go way too far, but this was cute...)

...and the list goes on...Westminster Abbey, the white cliffs of Dover, the rough beauty of Newcastle and Durham, The Tower of London, the coast of Swansea, breakfast at a traditional British cafe (baked beans, anyone?), tea in The Georgian Room at Harrod's, a ride on Britrail trains, and the soft, lilting Mayfair accent... (sigh.)

So there you are. I am, as the song goes, proud to be an American, but I am also extremely proud of my British lineage (on both sides of the family.) On Tuesday, I will eat barbeque and watch fireworks with the rest of the nation, but I must confess that at some point, I may also have to enjoy bangers and mash while humming "God Save The Queen."

FLT3