Walking with Americans

I think I will call my blog, "Walking with Americans", a title suggested by our friend, Anne Clarke. I've been walking with an American, my wife Kate, for many years of course. But come February, I'll be walking around - IN America.
Now that we're close to leaving Sydney, I'm noticing 'things Australian' all the more keenly. I must have walked past Forest Lodge Primary School several thousand times over the years, but it's only this spring that I notice, for example, the creamy scent of the big Acacia (parramattensis or mearnsii) flowering up on the school's sandstone embankment.
What will America be like? I've studied it from a distance for years, but I'm looking forward to living in the landscape and discovering the opportunities it may bring.
I also approach with some trepidation. Earlier this year when Americans were wringing their hands over the healthcare bill, I wondered why anyone would want to remain enslaved to the fear of ruin that uninsured ill-health means in America. When I realised it came down to a fear of government domination, I twigged to something else I may miss in America. Australians don't think of government as tyrrany; the politicians are our employees, and should do what the 'bloody taxpayer' wants. That's the subtext of many a call to talk-back radio. Those carping whinges have often given me the irrits over the years I must admit, but will I look back upon them with nostalgia in the year to come?