England Stories

Can You Love a City?

by Shawn June 11, 2011

London will always be the city that I love. Too many mornings we woke up together as I drifted into the north end of town on the first train, then disappeared underground for five stops, emerging at Victoria Station. Too many late nights we drifted off together as I slipped away in my Mini Cooper, [...]

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Letters From John

by Shawn February 21, 2011

The next day we hiked down to the creek: Ben, John, Graeme and I. The descent into the valley was sheer, steep, and we clung to small trees as we slid into the field below. Once there we followed a winding path on high ground – that time of year the entire meadow was nearly [...]

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The Boxer and the Caged Wolf

by Shawn February 17, 2011

I remember my first trip to the southwest of England. It was like someone had taken all the beautiful things about the countryside where we lived, just west of London, and put them under a magnifying glass: the hills were steeper, the hairpin turns sharper, the green pastures somehow more alive. As we turned off [...]

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A Brief History of Love, in 617 Words

by Shawn February 14, 2011

Students scurried across the large grassy area of campus. It was a hot, October day, and anyone fortunate enough not to have a class lay on the grass, some on blankets, some propping their heads on backpacks. They were surrounded by a protective layer of trees and academic buildings. The air was filled with potential [...]

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The Fire That Wouldn’t Stay Lit

by Shawn January 27, 2011

“Hah ahm stenly,” he said, shaking my hand with what must have been a bionic appendage. His fingers were like miniature coils of steel cable. The first time I spoke with Stanley, who was the gardener at Rocketer (which is the name of the estate on which our little cottage was located), I could hardly [...]

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Into the Heart of a City

by Shawn January 19, 2011

Today I’m guest posting over at Janet Oberholtzer’s blog. It’s a post about prison, Andy Dufresne, and how spending time each day doing just one thing you love might set you free. But now Into the Heart of a City… The National Rail trains from Wendover into London mostly had plush, cloth seats and white [...]

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The Soreness From Recoil

by Shawn December 22, 2010

New Year’s Day in Wendover, England. A mist covered everything but the uppermost green of the hills, turning every ridge into a series of islands to be explored, or sailed past. Our second floor cottage window was just high enough to see out over the fog. Most of the hedges were submerged. It was a [...]

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