6:24 p.m.

Missouri has received its fair share of rain this Spring, with flowers in bloom and everything so fresh. But, flying over England is like looking out over jeweled hills of emerald, jade and peridot. From a plane, the view is so lovely that the exorbitant amount of annual rainfall and grayness is excusable. Silver chains of winding, twisting roads string identical rowhouses like beads that are clasped together by sparkling interruptions of streams and canals. Peeking past the puh-puh fluff of white clouds is like looking through a frosted glass box at Britain's natural Crown Jewels.