Happy snaps and the American energy policy!

It seems that the present weather on the east coast of the USA is very bad.  Perhaps it was somewhat fortunate that whilst I was there 75% of my time was filled with sunshine, even if most of the time it was very chilly.  Being English, and with antifreeze running through my veins, it was bearable and wasn't that uncomfortable.  When the sun didn't come out to play, it snowed a little or a lot, and I recall suffering from the dreaded 'loss' of sensation in my fingers, which made taking photographs somewhat labourious and maddening.  But despite the handicap of being unable to wear gloves, they constantly got in the way and made it virtually impossible to operate the camera successfully, I 'snapped' happily away to my heart's content even though one had to suffer for one's art.

I mention this for the only reason that now slowly working through the photos I'm both happy with the end results, and amazed just how many came out successfully.  Equally, there are a number of potentially 'good', I use the word with a great deal of latitude, photos that bear all the incriminating evidence of camera shake due to frozen fingers and a shivering disposition.  Even more surprising was the photos I took, which I fully expected to be awful due to resting on the delightful stomach of a belly dancer, turned out vastly better than I expected.  I will upload some of my better efforts when sorted so you can judge for yourself.

However, looking through the pictures I've sort of noticed that I've been subconsciously more intimately involved with water and wild places, and those of cities exhibit a less than careful approach, unless I was involved in a surreal scene.  Super Mario in Times Square shows all the signs of attention to detail, as does Spiderman, but the Woolworth Building and the Rockefeller Centre much less so.  Perhaps this does no more than confirm the suspicion that the outward ostentatious nature of money and its public indecency, is of far less interest to me than watching Super Mario frivolously cavorting around Times Square at 2 in the morning.  Much the same could be said about the delight taken standing by the statue of Rocky in Philadelphia, where for the first time during the holiday I was able to wander around without the need for a jacket; it was around 2c so felt warm, much helped by the sun and clear blue sky.

Of course, there are some scenes that simply beggared disbelief, which unfortunately never get photographed for one reason or another.  As I was dragged up with a mixture of Flipper, Chips, and endless Saturday morning cinema where the lone ranger and Tonto regularly dispatched the baddie, all later replaced by the more serious flicks of the 'French Connection', 'Serpico' and their like my cinematic perception of the USA was dutifully moulded.  But then cynicism crept in for a period and I took a more enlightened view that the USA couldn't possibly be as Hollywood depicted it.  Sadly this is something of an understatement and throughout the yuletide period homes paid homage to the Griswald family Christmas home.  Yes, the inspiration for the film, 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation' was there in reality.  As my friend and I travelled along the interstate and freeways of Massachusetts, the citadels of luminosity revealed themselves, evermore outrageous, bedecked with Christmas lights that consumed enough electricity to power a small country for a year.  The American thirst for competitiveness was well and truly alive, and were I to award first prize it would be to the ranch we passed by one evening in the dark, gloriously adorned with hundreds upon hundreds of light bulbs for being the most outlandish attempt at wasting energy.  Second prize would go to the much more mundane effort of a six foot Santa Claus completely blocking the front door of a house.  Third place would have to be awarded to the valiant power workers, who managed to keep the electricity flowing.

We often watch the news, or read it, and America comes in for a lot of stick concerning its energy policies, or lack of them as the case may be.  And I think that the message is finally coming home to roost.  Recycling seems to be on the increase; in service stations, and other public places, the toilets have signs encouraging users to think carefully about waste paper and water; there are signs reminding employees to wash their hands, customers don't get a mention.  Of course Europe is far ahead in better environmental policies and energy saving schemes, but Americans are to be praised and encouraged for finally coming onboard the trash can revolution.  One of the most welcoming sights was the extra lane set aside for cars to use that were carrying two or more passengers, sadly nobody seem to be using it.