Village Life (UK)
One advantage to living in a small English village is the socialisation made possible by proximity. Assuming that one falls in well with one or more families in one’s village, one has opportunities to lunch, dine, snack or simply sit and talk with one’s neighbours at any mutually convenient time.
This afternoon, my aunt and I walked across the street to the neighbourhood pub; we ordered drinks and started speaking to the folks who had already gathered. ‘Ere long, other families started to arrive, bringing new faces and names to the mix; as a guest, I had the opportunity to be introduced to a number of residents and to begin to frame the connections between the various village folk. A couple invited my aunt and me over for lunch, whereupon we spent a delightful few hours eating heartily and discussing American politics. (In this village, at least, there is a pronounced distaste for things Republican… I fit in well!)
This evening, after a recuperative nap, my aunt and I crossed the road yet again to another neighbourhood couple’s house… dinner was of lighter fare than was lunch, though the single malt and wine flowed freely and the conversation was pleasant and lively. Shared experiences between my aunt and her friends made for an easy time; we ate and talked from 8:30 until after 11 PM.
I’m sure the experience for new folks untethered by bonds of shared work, family or other common experience would be different… but, once established, there is a sense of inclusion in the village community that’s nice to see — and very different from American suburbia’s self-contained house-pod system of disconnected family “castles”.
Upsides and down-, there’s good to be found here.
