What a difference location makes

After not being able to take much of a trip for over two years, we finally had the chance and took an extended trip to the Lone Star State to visit the children and grandchildren. It has been something of a culture shock to say the least -- and I mean that in a good way.

People are friendly down here. It is a pleasure to see people. Back home, you would not dare to ride in an elevator with a stranger for fear of causing the downfall of Western Civilization. Even before the current pearl clutching over COVID, you still would not dare to have a conversation with someone in an elevator. 

Not here. You get on an elevator with a total stranger and get off with an old friend.

Yesterday, a man noticed our BC license plates and was ecstatic. It made his day to see someone who had traveled from so far away. We had a nice conversation for a good five minutes.

You do see masks down here, but not that many. In places of business of national companies you might see employees wearing masks, but most of them are below their noses if not on their chins. As for customers or people on the street, I would say that less than five percent of people wear a mask.

I observed a while ago that I missed seeing the faces of pretty women. I also missed seeing the faces of ugly women. I missed seeing faces, period. I shudder to think what the nonsense is doing to young children. Not a problem here.

The politics are much more conservative here. I have seen pictures of the Biden "I did that!" stickers. I saw my first one last week. In the breakfast room of our hotel, Fox News is usually on the TV. I found that quite refreshing. A couple of days ago I was at breakfast and looked at the TV. I saw a headline at the bottom of the screen: "Russia installs ruthless general in Ukraine fight." That jarred me for a moment. That did not seem like a headline that Fox would use. The I looked; someone had put CNN on. We went to breakfast a couple of weeks ago. The son of the owner had a Reagan/Bush 1984" t-shirt on, and behind the counter were a couple of "Let's Go Brandon" signs.

We did a run to a liquor store. It cost us $117.00. We looked on the BC Liquors website and compared: it would have cost us $270.00 in BC. Granted, there is the exchange rate to consider, but it is not that much. 

The weather is a bit different here. It has been a little muggy but not much worse than we experienced at home. It rains here, but rather than the constant drip for days on end, the clouds turn on a fire hose for a few minutes then turn it off. We have seen some of the wildest lightning either of us has seen, though.

Sunny days are a bit different, too. I have long heard the expression "It's ## in the shade." There is a reason temperatures are measured in the shade -- the ambient temperature is what is needed and the sun could heat the thermometer itself, giving an inaccurate reading. I really understand the reason after being here. You can be outside in the shade and it does not seem all that warm. However, when you step out into the sun you feel like someone has pointed a blow torch at you. And it is bright -- even with my sunglasses on I squint.

All in all, we are enjoying our time down here.