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Issued at the whim of the editor - publisher - reporter - compositor - printer - flyboy - deskman & janitor.

Catching The Essence of the U.S.: A Work Still In Progress.

By ELISBETH HAGEN
Liz Hagen, communications director for the New Jersey Press Association and a good friend of Prop’s, wrote this for the July 2 edition of The Times of Trenton

"An immigrant is a person who has lost everything but his accent."

That hit me pretty hard when I first heard it. Have I, a South African who has lived in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Great Britain, lost everything but my accent?

My accent is a curious mixture these days. Not quite British, a smidgen of American, enough of both to prevent me from blending in either in my native South Africa or here in the U.S. I say “fordy” instead of “forty” but “grahss” instead of “grass,” and “dooce” instead of “deuce” on the tennis court. Real Brits peg me immediately as an outsider, a colonial of some sort, probably Australian.

We came to Philadelphia Aug. 17, 1969, my husband David and I, and our three sons. It was just after the moon walk and the death of Bobby Kennedy; just before Kent State. David went to work, the kids went to school and I joined the Women’s Movement and got the first of a series of jobs. High on energy but low on tact, I was fired from three of them.

In the pool at the Princeton YMCA, I met a friendly professor, an Israeli immigrant. “Be patient,” he said. “It takes at least three years to feel comfortable here and that’s if you speak the language.”

Continued on Page 3

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A Tribute To Our Car.

It’s running every day, purring like a kitten, starting faithfully in all kinds of weather, when the ignition key is turned.

Old age has not affected its performance, though rust spots have appeared on its white covering. It is as promising each day as the day we looked at it in 1987 in the dealer’s showroom.

It is an American-made product as proud as a Yankee soldier of its heritage and its commitment to the purchaser.

It is our Chevrolet Celebrity station wagon now closing in on 200,000 miles.

At this writing, the odometer reads 195,921.2 miles traveled on long trips and short trips. It probably will reach 200,000 miles later this year or very early next year. We have a second car.

We’re told that identification number in the headline could tell us many things about its origin and about whom we should thank for such a fine vehicle.

LOCAL ITEMS OF INTEREST THIS EDITION

Where is everybody going in such a rush? A speed limit on a highway doesn’t mean much these days, whether it’s 65 on a major highway or 25, 35, 40 or 45 on a lesser road.

A peaceful drive along a country road is next to impossible any more and if you’re trying to enjoy a long ride home, the guilts will get you eventually.

Part of that is because there are fewer country roads. At least that’s the way things are going where we live. Housing developments and tiny strip malls are opening up the countryside where once stands of trees shaded rural roads that have had to be widened to accommodate more traffic moving faster and faster.

Here in Pennsylvania’s Montgomery County, once mostly historic and proud of it, life has become histrionic like a daily theatrical bombshell. This is not to hassle speeders and coddle slow pokes because it’s probable that the speeders became that way because en route to job or home, they encountered a slow poke still cherishing a peaceful drive in the country, and had to make up for lost time when the solid yellow highway stripe finally turned to a broken line.

Continued on Page 4

HAPPY. HAPPY, HAPPY

Before the next issue of The Buck Creek Press rolls around in late December, we take this opportunity to wish you happiness on these fall holidays:

Happy Rosh Hashanah Sept. 30; Happy Columbus Day and Happy Yom Kippur Oct. 9; Happy Halloween Oct. 31; Happy Election Day Nov.7; Happy Armistice (oops) Veterans Day, Nov. 11; Happy Thanksgiving Nov. 23 and Happy Hanukkah Dec. 22.

You’ll have to wait for Happy Presidents’ Weekend in February, Happy Good Friday, Happy Easter and Happy Arbor Day later on.