The Mother Country

We were fortunate to have live abroad for a year. We lived in Oxford, England while Jared studied at Oxford University through Wycliffe Hall. It was a wonderful year and as the days go by and we grow further and further from that time, I miss it more and more. I want to go back and we even contemplate going back and living there as a family someday. England is such a rich country. It is full with history and culture. So when it is cold like this and we have beautiful sunny days with the brightest blue skies like today, I often think of England. 
I miss the grocery stores. Yes, England has wonderful grocery stores with the best ready-made food you can buy. I miss the Covered Market, the smelly cheese shop, the cobblestone streets, the bluest skies you'll ever see, the walking, our dearest friends, the Borton-Branfoot clan (the family I nannied for), the pubs, the clothes stores with all the neatest prints and stripes. I miss Evensong, the walking paths, the rolling meadows, my weekly delivery of fruits and veggies locally grown. I miss the sausages, the sheep, and the weekends in the country with friends. I miss the snugs with coal burning fires and the ancient libraries, churches, and buildings. I miss the train rides, the exploring, and the motorcycle we owned. I miss even the kabob vans, the noodle bars, and England's triumph in making the best chips (fries) ever. I miss the simplicity to life, the creativity in the homes, making EVERYTHING from scratch, and their dinner parties. I miss it all. No, that is not true. I DO NOT miss the rain, but when rain falls here I jump at the chance to wear my wellies. 
England and all that it is engraved itself on our hearts and the time there really has become a part of WHO we are and not WHAT we did or WHERE we lived. You'll see England in us if you look carefully. England in our use of vocabulary, our dress, our snobbery to American cheese, our annoyance with America's disgusting obsession with importing so much of our food, our desire to be less wasteful, our love of Evensong music, reverence for the ancient, and a real desire to be able to defend our Truth to others. England is a special place. We miss our Mother Country.