The climb up the side of the hill in West Sussex was bathed in conversation, sunshine and all the delight of rediscovering a favored corner of a world I feared I’d left behind years ago. Gentle spring breezes played with hope and two of my children ran ahead on the footpath to scamper over stiles, chase stray cats and examine tracks in the mud that might have been made by a fox. Birds twittered, crocuses bloomed and at my side the girl who turned me into a mother chatted with the girl who knew me way back when I thought I might want to be a writer someday.
The years touched us kindly in England last spring.
Along the top of the South Downs in England runs a track that legend says was made before there was an England, before the language we now speak had yet been uttered. It extends for miles, threading its way from Winchester in the west to the village of Alfriston in the east. The track has retained a gracefully rugged complexion for centuries and from along its winding spine unfold the breathtaking English countryside to one side and the majestic unease of the English Channel some miles off on the other.
The view is startlingly beautiful but more breathtaking still is the perspective a trek along the South Downs can deliver: on one side is the life we brought with us on the journey, along the top is the unexpected exploration of ideas we might like to pursue and away in the direction we have not yet travelled is a world of possibility, a path not yet sharply focused.
It is a reminder to breathe.
Life can be a turbulent journey at times and the energy that ignites the first few decades does not always burn consistently thereafter; there on the crest of southern England, however, with children’s laughter ringing in my ears years and an old friend’s conversation keeping me grounded in good English soil, I felt energized and renewed. The vacation is over now but the benefits linger and while the maple leaf is decidedly forever, I have to admit that over an important part of my heart, for some romantic reason, Britannia still rules.
Do you have any lyrical comments about England? Post your comment below and I'll share them with members of my British online writer's group, "26". If you're interested, you can view my "26 Profile Page" here.
