We are family....

Through these two plus weeks here I have had the opportunity to attend a few Alanon as well as AA meetings. In the States, whenever I travel I always love going to new towns and finding a meeting. Getting to know new folks and hearing new stories. One thing I have always felt with these 12 Step groups is that I have felt at home.

England is no different. Every meeting I have been welcomed and certainly made to feel like I belong - that I am among friends. It is a very unique feeling that I'm not sure someone can truly understand unless they are part of a fellowship.

As my time in England nears an end, I fulfilled a promise and dream tonight of what I wanted and that was to treat my host, Karen, to a night out and a lovely meal. She chose the resturant, an Indian one, and again I ate food I never had before. Well, mostly I have never had. I ordered some lamb chops. Lamb chops cooked in Indian spices. I had them every now and then as a kid... but it had been years since I have had any. And it was well worth the wait. They came with an Indian bread that was made shortly before our meal.

Before my meal we had a treat of poppadums with relish and yogurt dips and I also had a small dish of chicken tikka.

Karen had chicken korma and we shared pilau rice. Karen's chicken to put it in American slang, was chicken in a coconut and spice sauce.

After that we went for a good walk and enjoyed some quiet time together. Now as I'm writing this I'm also watching the Pinstripe Bowl and turning Karen onto American football. I've got to give her credit, she wants to learn and asks a lot of questions and even said, "this could be exciting to watch."

Again as this trip ends I am just in shock about the weather here. A gentleman earlier today told me that today is a typical England winter day. It was cool, far from cold, and drizzly. This past Christmas was only the second Christmas in the last twenty years that there was snow on the ground. Heck, on our walk tonight, in someone's front yard was a palm tree, about seven feet tall and doing amazingly well.

This man also explained further the jet streams and the way they protect England from really nasty weather. Scotland to the north, Ireland on the west, Belguim and Eastern Europe all seem to protect England and to me make it a perfect winter wonderland....