greens 2

fellow amercians david and jessica live in surrey, the nearby county full of green, rolling hills and lots of old world (read posh) charm. we visit them at their home for the past year, a true english cottage located within the paddock of a horse stables. jessica takes care of three horses in return for their cottage. on warm mornings she throws open large leaded glass french windows to let the world into their low, beam-ceilinged dining/living room. on cold mornings, she shovels coal into the aga stove --their only heat -- and stares disdainfully at the ice forming on these same windows. of course there are many more of the latter mornings, so soon they will move. but we want to experience this world before they do, so we drive the rollicking, one-laned roads that wend through arches of old hawthorn trees. i enjoy the ride in the way i enjoy roller coasters.

the kids are immediately taken with this country lifestyle. they pick loads of cider apples from the ground and sort them out on the cottage floor. they ooh and aah over the cottage. "it's like the three bears!" exclaims joe. "i want to live here next."

jessica takes us out to see the horses. as we cross the first pasture, joe remarks, "what a nice green." jessica bursts out laughing. "haven't you ever seen a pasture, joe?" he shakes his head. city kid.