In the spirit of this book, kindly given to me as a gift - and which I found very interesting and entertaining - especially from 'afar', I thought that I would start to compile my own list of 'icons of the U.S.'
All sorts of things are icons of the US, in my view. Some are one-offs like the Golden Gate Bridge and the Empire State Building. Others are everyday sights that serve to remind you where you are and which in many ways, even when we first arrived here, were strangely familiar from so many films and TV series.
Inevitably this is a personal list and certainly not in any order of importance - or in fact any order at all, other than that many of these first ones are close by
1. Fire Hydrant. This is a very common sight everywhere of course and that is a good thing! This is a very local one and shortly will sprout a kind of flexi aerial thingy out of the top with a red coloured end on it which is, I think, intended to ensure that these can be found if needed in the snow (and perhaps so that snow ploughs don't knock them over?). The aerials when attached are remarkably long, which makes you wonder/worry about just how much snow is expected.
2. Mail Box. Every home around here has one instead of a letterbox slot in the door. Some are more attractive than others or better camouflaged. The great advantage is that you can raise the little flag and the postman will collect your stamped mail when he delivers. This is a particularly good thing as actual US Postal Service postboxes are blue and look remarkably like litter bins, as well as being few and far between!
3. Stars and Stripes. Of course we expected to see flags flying on civic buildings and for special occasions, such as Veterans Day, today. This one is on our neighbour's house. The sheer number of flags is surprising though and the number of houses that have a bracket on the front of the house to fly a flag, often all the time.
4. School Buses. Impossible to miss due to their colour, flashing lights, sheer numbers and ability to stop traffic in one or both directions, depending on the size of the road, they are very distinctive. In this area they are the normal way for kids aged 4-18 to get to school and back each day and they are out on the roads collecting pupils before 7am and in most weathers.
5. Road signs. Of course you would expect signage to be different and it is. In residential areas, roads are signed at the junctions, on high poles and in blue and white and relate to the road that they are aligned with, which can be confusing initially at major junctions.
Well that is just a few to get started with and I will blog some more ..
