Getting Around

Finding my way around is interesting. For example, in the UK and Australia, house numbers are by street, so the numbers start back at 1 when you go to the next street. Not so here. Numbers are by area. I must admit I am not at all sure just how the US Postal Service decides where numbers start and end. However, an area can have house numbers starting at 1 and then going up to several thousand. For example the house I am currently staying at is No. 1855, in a village that has a very small number of houses (somewhere around 20 I would guess). Consequently, the next street may not necessarily follow the numbers of the last street. Makes life very interesting when you are looking for a particular address.

But wait, there’s more…

Then there is the whole system of counties and townships. For example, I am currently living in a place called Gouglersville. The postal address here is not Gouglersville, but Sinking Spring (another ‘town’ also a few miles away) as its Zip Code is 19608. Both Gouglersville and Sinking Spring are in Cumru Township. Cumru township is in turn part of Berks County. Berks County is in the city of Reading, which is in the state of Pennsylvania meaning that the address contains the state code PA.

Is it just me or is it all just a little confusing?

The village I currently live in is quaint, it has a fire station (that has an EXTREMELY loud claxon that goes off every now and again), two churches, Gouglersvile Lutheran and Wyomissing United. Quite why the Wyomissing church is here I do not know as Wyomissing is another ‘town’ a few miles away. Trying to explain where we are to people gets interesting, i.e. our address is Sinking Spring, it is actually in Gouglersville, you turn right just before Wyomissing Church.

See what I mean?

I am starting to drive more (albeit under the supervision of my daughter, see an earlier blog for an explanation), but I am having to get used to a number of differences. Not least of which is discovering that suddenly the lane you are in has become a dedicated left or right turn lane. You really have to watch out to make sure you don’t end up in such a lane by mistake as if you are in such a lane, you MUST turn in the stated direction. If that takes you on to a highway (going totally the wrong way to what you want), bad luck, you just need to get off at the next exit and go back.

Finally, I mentioned the cemetery earlier. That is another one of those subtle differences. In England and Oz, the grave headstone marked the grave, as did the area where the body was buried. Here, there is a headstone and that is it. The rest is just grass. No formal area where the body actually lays. It looks very simple and is obviously much easier to maintain.

There are some graves in this cemetery going back to the 1700’s and at least one is a civil war veteran. I know this because of the plaque and flag. That is because what is common here is for there to be little plaques that hold flags next to the headstone. The plaques are for people who have served in the armed forces. Some state the arm of service they were in (Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines etc.) some state the war they may have fought it, some even give their unit. On Memorial Day (a little like ANZAC day) there were lots of flags on these plaques which are supplied free these days. Looked very patriotic.