I arrived at Heathrow, the world's busiest airport, on the morning of January 6, 2010. The ground was covered with snow. Is there supposed to be snow? Maybe it's an hullucination from the overnight flight and jetlag.

The locals say that this winter in England is unusually cold and snowy. All I can do is believe them, for it is my first visit to the UK. But it has been on my bucket list for a long long time.

After working for six months in the ER at the QEH in Charlottetown, PEI, Canada, I was palnning to return to Sarasota, Florida to relax for a while before trying another locum opportunity. And then the chance to work at a US Air Force base overseas came along.

Charlottetowen had been wonderful. Summer and fall are most pleasant in PEI. For me, the icing on the cake was learning to sail. Mon. and Wed. evenings are race nights in Charlottetown harbour and my life-long yearning to sail was finally realized. My cousin, Ron, had me out on a forty-footer the day I arrived on the island. Many happy hours and weeks followed.

Charlottetown was the ideal job, really. My daughter starting veterinary medicine at UPEI and she, her husband and kids moving there from Nova Scotia was the perfect reason for me to do a locum at the QEH. Next summer I'll return and do it all over again, but, for now, it's merry old England for a while.

RAF Lakenheath promises to be another great adventure.