One thing that was really obvious when I visited the States back in 2004 was the extreme patriotism of the American people. Everywhere I looked, I was reminded of where I was by US flags flying proudly from public buildings and private houses alike.

Today’s Gratitude Item: That the trivial pursuits evening I went to tonight was really fun. Oddly, the winning team (not us) won bottles of wine and the losing team (also not us) got chocolate fish. I liked the losing team’s prize better!