English Rose

"No matter where I roam I will return to my English rose for no bonds can ever tempt me from she.

I've sailed the seven seas,flown the whole blue sky but I've returned w/ haste to where my love does lie.

No matter where I go I will come back to my English rose,for nothing could ever tempt me from she"

English Rose-The Jam

Hard on the heals of Wednesday's anniversary of my father dying comes another land mark anniversary,23 years since I left home and moved to America.

From the time of my first visit to Philly in the summer of 85 I think I always knew I'd move to America which is ironic really because as a child America might as well have been the moon,I knew where it was,I knew it was far away,and I probably wasn't ever getting there....how fickle fate can be.

Looking back I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the"call of the west" was so strong,w/out realizing it at the time there were several American influences albeit tv shows on me,"Kojak""Starsky & Hutch""Hill Street Blues""Colombo""Star Trek"and"Top Cat" were only half a dozen of the American shows I watched growing up in South East London.

Also my early sporting hero's included Jimmy Connors,Chris Evert,John McEnroe,Mary Decker so it's no great surprise that after my first trip here in 85 that the prospect of moving here on a permanent basis was very real.

Next year will be an interesting anniversary,24 years here,I spent 24 in London,do I miss living in London?a little,thanks to the Internet it feels alot closer than the 3,500 miles that separates here and there,at least these days my beloved soccer gets decent coverage over here....we just need to work on the rally naff coverage track and field gets here,when I moved here in 87 I thought given the fact the USA produced such great track runners that Track and Field would get great tv coverage here....boy did I get that one wrong!!!

I don't miss the crap weather back home,that said when it's cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey in the winter or when you could fry an egg on the sidewalk in the summer I question moving here but on the whole it was a good move for me,sure I miss Fish and Chips and mixed Kebabs w/ chili sauce,the Sunday papers and pubs but I've made a life for myself here in America in the last 23 years so I doubt I'll be considering a move back,but I would like to go home and visit it's been 6 years but my running has meant I've travelled alot this side of the Atlantic but either next Xmas or the following summer for the 2010 London Olympics I'd like to get my passport stamped one more time at Heathrow.

On a day the England cricket team flew out to Australia to take on the Aussies for the Ashes I notched a half century of my own,my 5th 10 miler in 5 days and now I'm off to The Electric Factory to see Social Distortion for the 5th time in 9 years,not exactly the American dream but a long way from the skinny kid from South East London who had to look up on a map where Philadelphia was b4 I met my ex wife Erica the first time when she came to visit London almost 26 years ago.