New Things

I think I've said before that I love the turn of the year, and the promise of a fresh start. I am continually marking times and events in our lives -- sometimes just in my head, but often in conversation with the children -- to say, "when we get to X we can look back and remember how we did this", or remember how we felt, or remember how awful something is, because in the future it surely will have been worth it...

And today we pass the 18 month mark here in Texas. And I've been thinking about all the new things we've discovered and how we've changed.

Before we moved to Texas, I'd never eaten tamales, or mole (sauce) or fish tacos or black beans or barbecued brisket. I had never thought of making nut butters out of anything other than peanuts. I'd never heard of panko or queso or chipotle and didn't know how to pronounce it. (It's "chi-pote-lay", I'm reliably informed. We giggled when we heard people in Montana say "chi-pottle").

I didn't know what a Cougar was (the slang term) or a triathlon. Lucy and Jessica didn't know what "mocha" was or how to say it, and neither had ever dribbled a basketball. I had never seen anyone wear cowboy boots with a business suit (the pastor at our church does, and somehow it looks ok). I didn't know you could eat prickly pear cactus.

We've broadened our social circle noticeably too. Before moving to Austin, I really thought that all fundamentalist Christians were politically and socially conservative (they're not). I had never made friends with homeless people or corresponded on the internet with someone I'd never met. Jess and Lucy have friends who are devout Jews, Catholics and Evangelical Free Church members, and have socialized with them at their faith community's youth groups, and invited their friends to ours. Jess's best friend goes to a non-denominational bible church and was recently baptized in her own swimming pool. We go to dinner parties where the host (a former college football player with very sporty children) not only says grace, but prays for the continued health and athletic success of all the talented children present (and that includes ours!) We know several vegans, and to my amazement, I can now prepare suitable meals, and even CAKES, for them.

We have all participated in homeless feeding programs which was a new experience. Homelessness is a big problem in all southern cities and our church is "downtown" -- ie, urban, by their standards -- and heavily involved in feeding and housing initiatives run by the city and other churches. We're becoming much more community-focussed -- a sure sign of middle age. Phil went so far as to write a letter to the city of Rollingwood after they removed the Christmas decorations in front of the city hall (He was complaining about the overdone political correctness) and he is on the board of a community health clinic for the poor and uninsured. We watch a lot less TV than we ever used to, partially because we have not settled on a provider (cable, satellite etc.) and so have only 3-4 channels, but we have three computers and use them a lot more than we did in England. I think that's partially the effect of teenagers in the house.

I certainly drink less than I did in England, but that's age too, and I think I've softened my outlook and feel I am gentler and more relaxed than I was in the past few years. Maybe that's because the people around us seem to be so polite and genuine and occasionally taken aback by the kind of sarcastic banter that used to make up so much social discourse in London. I'm sure that's not a British- American thing, but a big city-small city difference. Phil says the two cantankerous people in his rowing circle are both ex-New Yorkers and that their behavior is noticeably different.