BIG

     

America's BIG highways, flanked by some lovely BIG trees.

Madame Guenat, whom I have mentioned before as my elderly Swiss friend, frequently makes the comment, "America is a big country" (only she says it in French so it's much prettier). She has never been to America, but what she usually means is that she understands that something bad that happens in one area (like the movie-theater shootings in Colorado, for example), doesn't necessarily reflect the tenor of the whole country. I always find this a very kind thing for her to say to me. "Big" of course, is a relative term. When I showed Madame a map of the U.S. and explained that we would be living in Maryland while my parents were in Indiana, her initial thought was that we could probably drive from one location to the other in a few hours. She was shocked when I told her that it would take ten -- and more shocked when I told her that if we wanted to drive from Baltimore to visit my sister, who lives in Utah, we would be on the road for more than 30 hours (if we didn't stop). Big indeed.
       America's bigness (distances, people, portions, buildings) is something that Europeans sometimes disparage. At times I have been tempted to agree: It all seems so unnecessary. But after last week in the U.S., I have decided that big is not always bad. Take, for example, the trunk in our rental car (which was only midsize). We could fit our three suitcases and one backpack with plenty of room to spare, leaving the seats free for their intended cargo -- the people. I was also enchanted by all the enormous trees lining the highways. We didn't see buildings or billboards as we drove from D.C. to Baltimore, just piles of lush green.

Trees along the highway.

        Then there were the malls. Say what you want about consumerism, but on a sweltering day, there's no place like a freezing mall for a walk (yes, I am becoming an old person). And all the predictable stores are -- predictably -- in one place, requiring no venturing into killer humidity.

The smaller of two malls that we visited.

       I am not a universal fan of big, of course. Big roads are hard to cross on foot, particularly when big lines of big cars are barreling along them. Big portions in restaurants seem at first like good value, but we found ourselves unable to finish anything we ordered (we need to get smarter about sharing, clearly). Also, it's hard to suggest getting an ice-cream cone when you haven't finished your dinner. Especially when you're the mom. So big, for me, is a mixed bag. One thing I love about American Big, though: Big Coffee Mugs.

A sculpture on the harbor in Baltimore. It's not particularly American, I guess, but it's BIG. And I like it.