Gladys Strickland/GB Strickland
Author of Adventure Thrillers and Personal Essays
December 1988 – The short days of winter, which have never been my favorite, made lighter by Christmas decorations. After several years of having a four-foot tall artificial tree on my dining table, a live tree stood in the middle of the combination lounge/dining room. Decorated with borrowed lights and tinsel, some of my jewelry, … Read more
November 1988 saw me more settled into the house, the village, and England. There were still plenty of new things going on. The first trip to Scotland was a visit to Edinburgh, St. Andrews and Aberdeen. Thanksgiving was the first holiday I celebrated outside the States. It was a bit surreal to realize that for … Read more
The picture window in the lounge looked out on the village green and directly in my view was the large tree. It was one of the first things I saw each morning, whether collecting fresh milk by the front door or opening the curtains in the lounge. Daily I watched the leaves make their annual … Read more
September 1988 – my first full month in England A lot of new things to experience: bottles of fresh milk on my doorstep in the morning, lighting a coal fire, turning on the boiler to heat water and warm the house (and turning it off to save the oil in the tank outside, and driving … Read more
August 1988 – I arrived in London jet-lagged and overwhelmed by so many new things. This is the story of my first day.
On a warm Sunday morning, Daddy parked our blue Buick by the back door and opened the trunk. Handing him my suitcase, he added it to the other luggage in the massive compartment. Back in the house, I picked up a couple of books, a stack of Teen and Tiger Beat magazines, and the pillow … Read more