Heading Home

     There's no place like home, said Dorothy, and most of us would be tempted to define that as being back in our own bed, our "home."  But home could just as easily move outward from your street to your city, or state, or country (say if a person in another state asks, where's home?).  But picture yourself at a Star Wars bar in a distant galaxy and home simply becomes Earth.  My home is Earth, you would reply.  And likely when telling that to someone, especially if you haven't been back in awhile, memories would come flooding back, almost all of them good ones.  For my wife and I, gone just shy of two weeks, heading home meant that we were ready to get back; not that we couldn't have stayed longer since we were thoroughly enjoying our return visit to Cornwall, but rather that everything was in place for our return...the coach, the flights, the pet sitters, the pile of mail.  It was time...but I had to throw in a quick recap of just some of the sights and scenery (groan, but hey, that's what the scroll bar is for), as well as a few observations and parting thoughts before it all fades away and blends into all the other vacations and reunions and gatherings...

     First up, yes we did and do consider a move to the UK, our "tourist eyes" again as captivated and wooed by the sights and people we encountered.  But part of our coming "home" was the bumping head first into reality and the realization that what was happening in the US was little different from that in the UK.  Inflation was high, wages were struggling (and mostly failing) to keep up, real estate was more and more unaffordable for local residents (while wealthier people continued to benefit), tax cuts and social programs were coming at a steep cost, all things which are spreading like wildfire across the globe.  Here's how Bloomberg put it: The UK is enveloped in a self-inflicted financial crisis.  And while its origins go back years, some $500 billion has been wiped off of Britain’s stock and bond markets in only a few weeks—the tenure of Prime Minister Liz Truss...German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said the UK government is putting “its foot on the gas while the central bank steps on the brakes.”...Added another report on the view from massive institutional investors: 

Spiraling losses on Wall Street are now snowballing into forced asset liquidation, according to Bank of America strategists.  The NYSE Composite Index, which includes US stocks, depositary receipts and real estate investment trusts, has broken multiple technical support levels including its 200-week moving average, the 14,000 mark.  Now, accumulated losses could force funds to sell more assets to raise cash, accelerating the selloff...Then there’s the UK.  Its rapid descent from stability to crisis, helped along by Prime Minister Liz Truss and her version of “Reaganomics,” is threatening to expose the fragility of global efforts to crush inflation, raising the specter of chaos spreading across financial markets.  Events like Russia’s default in 1998 and, more recently, Greece’s debt crisis show how single countries can trigger wider financial turmoil.

     Wait a minute?  Those views of multi-billion dollar institutional funds are pretty much those of the everyday worker.  Having to sell assets or dive into what little savings remain is as true for the person pouring you a pint as it is for the owner of that restaurant.  Landlords raise rents (really??) while restaurants raise prices, making it ever harder for the person just trying to keep up with the grocery and utility bills.  One of the last holdouts we noticed while in Cornwall were the buses which had instituted a flat rate of just ₤5 daily (about $5.75) for unlimited travel...a quick trip to Padstow for lunch, then a visit to the south end of the island perhaps an inexpensive diversion.  And did I mention the double-decker buses on the more popular routes?  At a ₤10 family rate, it remained one of the few affordable sightseeing escapes (although we admittedly saw few families, much less tourists such as us taking advantage of the fares; but then this was the off-season, even if the crowds walking the shops didn't make it appear so).

     Admittedly, the dreams of moving to a new home are on the minds of many.  For the younger folk perhaps it's being tired of renting and wanting a first home, or a move to a larger home or a home in a better location.  For somewhat older folk (say parents in their 50s), perhaps their kids now have their own children and it's simply wanting to move closer to them.  But tack on even more years and other considerations enter the picture...downsizing to something smaller, or moving to a house with fewer or no stairs, or perhaps just being closer to a hospital.  There's also the idea of moving because of wanting a slower lifestyle.  Cornwall had grown by about 40,000 people in the last 10 years according to the recent UK census but was still way behind the population growth we were seeing in our area, already more than double the size of all of Cornwall (although census data shows Cornwall's population growth is mainly due to older people moving in and younger people moving out).  Wait, those older folk would be us.  But even with all of that, not everything was a welcome sign...

View from atop a double-decker "coach."

     For one thing, there's the Stamp Duty which differs slightly from the Stamp Tax imposed nearly 300 years earlier (and likely added to the Revolution, although with the UK economy facing tough times there may be Revolution II brewing); in essence you pay this additional tax when purchasing a home or property.  It affects all UK residents, but the rate effectively doubles if you're not from the UK (yikes!).  Now shift back to the US and there's FATCA or the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act which, as Bloomberg reported, "requires foreign banks to report the assets of US account holders to the Internal Revenue Service": It was designed to go after wealthy Americans keeping money overseas to avoid taxes, but is also ensnaring regular people living abroad...As a result, many banks abroad deny services to US citizens --including savings accounts, retirement funds, investing and lending-- to avoid possible fines.  Some Dutch banks have even closed the existing bank accounts of US citizens...Meanwhile, an April review from the US Treasury found that while the law cost more than $574 million to implement, it only brought in $14 million in revenue through May 2021.  Government(s) at work...one doesn't want you to leave and the other wants to make sure you've thoroughly thought it through and are willing to pay for it.

      But even with all of that, and with Paul Simon once writing: ...every stranger's face I see reminds me that I long to be homeward bound, we found our tourist eyes soaking in many more pluses than minuses while in Cornwall.  We had heard from several people there that the difference between people in the US and the people in England is that Americans will ask if you need help and the English will help but only if you ask...mostly true, we found, but certainly not always (said from both sides and also depicted a bit in The Last Bus, which is worth watching).  When an elderly woman missed a step getting off the bus and fell onto the sidewalk and scraped her knee, the driver helped her back on and calmly turned to the eight of us or so on the bus and said, "Sorry folks, slight detour as I take this woman to the hospital."  Sad to say, but I doubt you'd see that in the States.

     So that said, as with so many places that you visit and fall in love with --even if with glazed over "tourist" eyes-- it becomes less about the beautiful scenery and tasty food and sunny weather, and more about what really matters in life...the people.  Herewith, a quick summary of just a few of the people we met during our recent trip: --there were co-owners and brothers Roger & Ian working and running Chapman's Family Butchers since they were 15 and 17 and still holding firm some 50+ years later to the history and culture of the Cornish coast (I believe that theirs is one of only 3 remaining butcher shops in all of Cornwall); their stories brightened the eyes and memories of my wife, as well as fellow customers who chanced to walk in ("what, you remember Dovey and Mrs. Rodgers?"). --and Tony & Marion who greeted us as if we had never left, and whose friendship and energy belied the 80+ years under his belt; --and Rob & Lynn, he a retired police officer and she a Coastal path walker who made our meager 3.5 mile jaunt seem like child's play (she had completed 17 miles earlier); --and another Lynn whose Scottish brogue (which comes from the Irish word barróg, which means accent) was thicker than the fog at Bodmin Moor but whose handshake and hug was stronger and more sincere than 90% of the men I've met; --and Claudia whose exuberant and entertaining personality showcased her Portuguese roots to their fullest; --and Keith & Sue who were gracious enough to drive me to parts of Cornwall the bus wouldn't (okay, I could've walked from drop points but...) and exposed me to even more places and personalities; --and Doug & Hazel whose life-long cerebral palsy* didn't stop their constant happy-go-lucky laughs and attitudes, all of which only hid the smarts buried within (he has his Master's of History and she is one class away from getting hers); --and the chap at the Red Lion who remembered the London chocolate stout I used to order but which they no longer carry, drawing up a sample black & tan (my first) as a substitute; --and Natalie at another Lion, the Golden Lion in Padstow, who treated our rowdy party of 10 --wheelchairs and all-- as if we were long-lost relatives and made us feel welcome as such; and the snack shed operator at Cape Cornwall whose 15-minute enthusiastic history of the area was more than I could ever had hoped to hear at any college; --and Ben, a lifelong Cornish lad born and raised and my seatmate home, his tales and views of a changing Cornish life making most of the 9 hour flight simply vanish into air as thin as that which we were flying through.  

      We met many more of course --Phillipa & Mark, Betty, and Alex, along with a variety of endlessly friendly help staff-- and discovered that as with family and neighbors and whoever you may happen to meet, people are people; and despite an occasional bad apple or two, everyone has a story to tell and to share and to bring meaning to life, both to theirs and to your own.  I couldn't help but be dazzled as I woke up early back home (jet lag does that, a welcome get-up-and-see-the-stars alarm which you would otherwise likely not do) and stare at the massive Jupiter as it made its closest appearance to our home planet since 1963 (you can see it almost this close again in November of 2023 said Scientific American); but as massive as it was (and is), I realized that our planet is larger because of its life (as we know it, anyway).  And a good chunk of that life, even if we may be a bit too many in number, is the people...IF you take the time to share and listen.

     So, our move to Cornwall.  As Ben noted, people often come here and right away want to change things and he has to remind them that this "other" lifestyle is what they came here for.  Sharon Butala (a longtime favored author of mine) once wrote: I can't say that it surprised me, my earliest memories being of earth and grass and trees.  But now I was seeing all this, for the most part, alone, at my own speed, in my own way, as an adult.  No one was telling me what to look at, or explaining it to me, or telling me to wait and look longer, or not to bother looking at this or that.  This, it was now beginning to seem to me, had been the story of my entire life up to that point, the assumption by everyone significant to me apparently having been that I wasn't clever enough or sensible enough to know what I ought to be looking at or, worse, that I didn't have the right to choose for myself...the simple fact of finding once again what I liked myself.  One review wrote about the book: The intimacy hooks into our longing to know one familiar landscape, with a rock of a partner/husband, to belong to a close family, to be part of a community, to live a good long life and to pass content, understanding our place in the universe.  Almost sounds Cornish.  The current exhibit that displays the parallels of Stonehenge to the rock circles of Japan shows that we continue to be somehow connected, even from prehistoric times...

    Once again the question for us becomes one of if we'll uproot our settled life of comfort and routine, a life that belies what may be hidden underneath like a pastoral field hiding a nuclear silo.  As my wife said, she loves our home but added, "but I don't want to die here."  So the question reverses for all of us, where do you want to live?  No matter your age or ties, where would life emerge anew for you, a place where you not only have a place to live but a place that makes you want to live?  It can be done, said Hazel from her motorized wheelchair; it can be done.  To paraphrase the Beatles, (s)He's Leaving Home, Bye, Bye...

Sunset at my wife's childhood beach in Cornwall

*Douglas and Hazel continue to inspire me with their enthusiasm and positive outlooks, despite what many of us would view as physical limitations and frustrations.  Stephen King's character in his recent book, Fairy Tale, summed up a bit of my feelings: ...it made me sad, the same way I felt when I saw someone blind, or a person in a wheelchair who was never going to walk again.  Most people like that don't want pity.  They cope with their disabilities, help others, live good lives.  They're brave.  I get all that.  Yet it seemed to me --maybe because everything in my personal system was working five-by-five-- that there was something mean about having to deal with such things, out of whack and unfair.  Douglas noted that because of his appearance and actions, people talk more to his caretaker as if assuming that he isn't capable of understanding or responding.  Douglas uses his smarts and master's degree to continue his work for the government's immigration department...and both of them continue to teach my wife and me about how to live life itself.