The House In the Woods

Shortly before we moved to England I said to Rhett, " Maybe we'll love England so much we'll want to stay forever." His response was a resounding "NO" and then he began to "educate" me on how different Europe was from the states and how it could never be comfortable enough to be home. Granted, America is the promised land, blessed by God to be given to those who cherish freedom; however, is it possible to love another country when first you love America? Our home is in the small village of Mildenhall, tucked into a neighborhood of trees. There are a few human homes for the unfeathered, bi-ped species, but most of our neighbors are furry or feathered. We are surrounded by a wood, which opens up every now and then to a meadow, then closes again into woods. We have twice gone exploring in the woods around our home. On the Sabbath we went wandering and enjoyed the surrounding grandeur and the joy of being together as a family. When I first laid eyes on this area of England, which I assume looks similar to most other parts of the country (with small variations, of course), I understood how this land inspires my favorite authors. Dickens did not generally write of the beauty of the country, but it is woven into his stinging criticism of the developing industrial time of the nation. The Bronte sisters were inspired by the lifestyle and beauty of this ancient land; similarly was Jane Austen and Anthony Trollope. My most startling understanding of inspiration comes when I think of C.S. Lewis, Lewis Carroll, and J.K. Rowling. Granted, C.S. Lewis was born and raised in Ireland (all the more to his credit I think :) ), but the woods in England he describes in the Chronicles of Narnia are right out of my backyard. While we were walking, the children did indeed pretend they were roaming the woods of Narnia (which takes very little imagination when you physically feel as if you could be nowhere else). I saw the inspiration of Alice wandering around meeting creatures as magical as those in Narnia. Perhaps my favorite, childish musing was seeing the meadow in the middle of the wood and imagining it full of the tents of wizard families from all over the world, congregating in England to watch the Quittich World Cup; many of whom stopped to stare as the famous Harry Potter walked by. This is truly a beautiful country with many good people on it. Just three weeks after arriving, while wandering in the woods surrounding our home, Rhett said, "maybe we could extend an extra year, or maybe they would give us back to back tours here. If the Air Force said I could stay here to finish out my 20 years until retiring, I'd stay in the full 20." This is quite a statement from Rhett, who never thought he could love another land. These words were uttered under the intoxication of the land and don't actually mean we'll be staying here the rest of our lives, maybe four years instead of three though. I suppose it's like loving your children. You don't love one less because you love another, you just have different reasons to love each. The area of England in which we live is called East Anglia and we live in the county of Suffolk. This area is very special to me, in particular, because hundreds of years ago my ancestors inhabited this very place. Who knows but that we've walked in the very same wood? Rhett has English roots as well and we both are feeling the Spirit of Elijah. We are excited to get our genealogy folders and go to the local libraries. The nearest temple is in London, which is just over an hour away. Once we get settled in a little more, and our van arrives, we'll be able to get there with some frequency (I hope). Speaking of the church, I thought some of you would be interested in knowing that Ben Affleck is in our ward. Of course, this Ben is only five, but it makes for an interesting story. There's also a Jessica Alba in our ward. We have a ward of about 200 and there has been a great amount of new people moving in. It seems to be mostly Americans, but there are several British families (probably more than I am yet aware of). Our neighborhood is predominately American, which is a small disappointment, yet not of significant consequence. I have some pictures to share but we still don't have our household goods, which includes our computer. They won't be arriving until the end of October. We are living with the loaner furnishings the base provides and making due quite well. We haven't had a television for quite some time now and I'm more partial to leave it that way but I'm being voted down (which is odd to me, who likes to think of the government of our family as a benevolent dictatorship not a republic), so soon we'll buy a TV and get a bit more up to date. I am having Rush-withdrawals (Rush Limbagh). I don't hear much of American news, except about the hurricane situations. We're afraid that three or even four years won't be enough to do and see all that this side of the world has to offer. One thing is certain, when we do finally leave this place, a part of us will stay here with our ancient heritage and the beauty of the land.