{"id":340,"date":"2016-04-20T17:30:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-20T17:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/2016\/04\/20\/my-love-affair-with-england\/"},"modified":"2020-10-28T16:28:33","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T16:28:33","slug":"my-love-affair-with-england","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/2016\/04\/20\/my-love-affair-with-england\/","title":{"rendered":"My Love Affair With England"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"London\"<\/a><\/div>\n

I am not sure when this love affair began. \u00a0As with so many love affairs, I was in the middle before I knew I had begun. \u00a0And also as with so many love affairs, I was seduced by words. \u00a0It was the words that pulled me in, the words describing a world, lifestyle, and frequently, a time period far removed from my own. \u00a0Through those words, I followed along as Lord Peter punted down the river in Oxford with Harriet. \u00a0I danced at the assembly in Meryton and watched as Elizabeth was dismissed as negligible by Darcy. \u00a0I leaned against a fence beside Lord Emsworth and gloated over his prize pig. \u00a0I learned the phrases and manners of Regency England. \u00a0I lived through the war years in Barsetshire and reveled in the minutiae of small-town life. \u00a0I traveled to a farm in the Yorkshire Dales with James Herriot and watched as a newly delivered lamb clambered to its feet.<\/p>\n

And then I started another love affair, a love affair with a man who was almost as obsessed with England as I was. \u00a0I think I fell in love with him when I asked him if he liked to read and he said yes and then recommended James Herriot’s books. \u00a0I might have swooned. \u00a0A man who read and who liked some of the same books as me. \u00a0Dreams do come true.<\/p>\n

When we had been married for a couple of years we went to London on vacation. \u00a0It was like having a history book and a novel come to life. \u00a0So many things seemed familiar because I had read about them. \u00a0It was as if I recognized everything but I just hadn’t been there in a while. \u00a0It created this strange sense of belonging. I felt like I had gone home to a place I had never been to. \u00a0But I had been there before. I had been there in all the books I had read.<\/p>\n

Why do some places catch our imagination? \u00a0Why do some places feel right when we first arrive? \u00a0I don’t know the answer, I just know England is that place for me.<\/p>\n

I relate to a culture where being private and reserved is acceptable. \u00a0I love a culture where drinking innumerable cups of tea a day is normal. \u00a0I love a country where 80 degrees is considered a heatwave. \u00a0I know England is a country like any other with its problems and problem people. \u00a0I know it isn’t perfect. \u00a0But I also know that in the US I frequently feel slightly out of step with the world around me. \u00a0 In England I feel like that hesitation in my step, that out of sync rhythm, is gone.<\/p>\n

I am sure there is someone reading this and shaking their head and thinking “It is just because she is on vacation. \u00a0Life is always better on vacation.” \u00a0I have been on a lot of vacations and I always play this little game with myself. \u00a0Would I live here if I could? \u00a0Frequently the answer is no. \u00a0It is a fantastic place to vacation but I know I would never want to move there. \u00a0With England, the answer is always yes. \u00a0I would live there in a heartbeat.<\/p>\n

My husband and I are in England right now. \u00a0It is our ninth visit together, my husband’s tenth. \u00a0We go back because it makes us happy, because, at this point, it is familiar. \u00a0We will wander through stately homes, admire the gardens, and browse through the book stores. \u00a0We will sit in coffee shops, do a little shopping and visit a few museums. \u00a0We will enjoy ourselves in our own quiet way.<\/p>\n

And then we will come home to our everyday life. \u00a0We will come home to kids and bills and work and responsibilities. \u00a0We will feel a little homesick for a place we have never lived in.<\/p>\n

My love affair will go on. \u00a0I was seduced by the words in the beginning and I will still have the words. \u00a0I can find the secret garden with Mary Lennox. \u00a0I can cope with the vicissitudes of everyday life with the provincial lady. \u00a0I can travel down the river with three men in a boat (to say nothing of the dog.)<\/p>\n

I can do all of this because my love of books and my love of England and my love of a man are inextricably entwined.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am not sure when this love affair began. \u00a0As with so many love affairs, I was in the middle before I knew I had begun. \u00a0And also as with so many love affairs, I was seduced by words. \u00a0It was the words that pulled me in, the words describing a world, lifestyle, and frequently, a time period far removed from my own. \u00a0Through those words, I followed along as Lord Peter punted down the river in Oxford with Harriet. \u00a0I danced at the assembly in Meryton and watched as Elizabeth was dismissed as negligible by Darcy. \u00a0I leaned against a fence beside Lord Emsworth and gloated over his prize pig. \u00a0I learned the phrases and manners of Regency England. \u00a0I lived through the war years in Barsetshire and reveled in the minutiae of small-town life. \u00a0I traveled to a farm in the Yorkshire Dales with James Herriot and watched as a newly delivered lamb clambered to its feet. And then I started another love affair, a love affair with a man who was almost as obsessed with England as I was. \u00a0I think I fell in love with him when I asked him if he liked to read and he said yes and then recommended James Herriot’s books. \u00a0I might have swooned. \u00a0A man who read and who liked some of the same books as me. \u00a0Dreams do come true. When we had been married for a couple of years we went to London on vacation. \u00a0It was like having a history book and a novel come to life. \u00a0So many things seemed familiar because I had read about them. \u00a0It was as if I recognized everything but I just hadn’t been there in a while. \u00a0It created this strange sense of belonging. I felt like I had gone home to a place I had never been to. \u00a0But I had been there before. I had been there in all the books I had read. Why do some places catch our imagination? \u00a0Why do some places feel right when we first arrive? \u00a0I don’t know the answer, I just know England is that place for me. I relate to a culture where being private and reserved is acceptable. \u00a0I love a culture where drinking innumerable cups of tea a day is normal. \u00a0I love a country where 80 degrees is considered a heatwave. \u00a0I know England is a country like any other with its problems and problem people. \u00a0I know it isn’t perfect. \u00a0But I also know that in the US I frequently feel slightly out of step with the world around me. \u00a0 In England I feel like that hesitation in my step, that out of sync rhythm, is gone. I am sure there is someone reading this and shaking their head and thinking “It is just because she is on vacation. \u00a0Life is always better on vacation.” \u00a0I have been on a lot of vacations and I always play this little game with myself. \u00a0Would I live here if I could? \u00a0Frequently the answer is no. \u00a0It is a fantastic place to vacation but I know I would never want to move there. \u00a0With England, the answer is always yes. \u00a0I would live there in a heartbeat. My husband and I are in England right now. \u00a0It is our ninth visit together, my husband’s tenth. \u00a0We go back because it makes us happy, because, at this point, it is familiar. \u00a0We will wander through stately homes, admire the gardens, and browse through the book stores. \u00a0We will sit in coffee shops, do a little shopping and visit a few museums. \u00a0We will enjoy ourselves in our own quiet way. And then we will come home to our everyday life. \u00a0We will come home to kids and bills and work and responsibilities. \u00a0We will feel a little homesick for a place we have never lived in. My love affair will go on. \u00a0I was seduced by the words in the beginning and I will still have the words. \u00a0I can find the secret garden with Mary Lennox. \u00a0I can cope with the vicissitudes of everyday life with the provincial lady. \u00a0I can travel down the river with three men in a boat (to say nothing of the dog.) I can do all of this because my love of books and my love of England and my love of a man are inextricably entwined.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":701,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,35,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-england","category-featured","category-thoughts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2849,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340\/revisions\/2849"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}