I was part of a group of outdoor writers who were invited to visit the UK and indulge in shooting and other gun-related activities. We arrived about 2 months after 9/11. The Brits in general were very thoughtful in their remarks to us and very welcoming. We spent several days as guests at Skibo, which is Andrew Carnegie's castle. I had recently retired from the Army Reserve and had been invited as COL Brown. So my "dress for dinner" suit was my uniform. We were near the end of a very long table. A British woman sitting next to me thought she recognized an American actress sitting at the opposite end of our table. Turned out to be Ashley Judd. After dinner, as the group broke up, there were plenty of people who wanted to say hello to her. Looked to me like she was getting plenty of attention. So I turned to talk to the gentleman on my other side. She came over to say hello to me and shake my hand. I explained to her that I was no longer serving and had no experience in Afghanistan, and doubted that the Army was looking for any long in the tooth officers. But if they contacted me, I would certainly return to Active Duty. It never happened.
I ended up experiencing my first driven day during that trip on the Black Isle. Had no idea whether I'd enjoy it. I did, and returned a few more times. One of the guns in our group was a Brit who was involved in "sporting real estate": evaluating driven shoots, beats on streams, etc. Turned out that when he was a younger man, his boss was dating Diana Rigg (Emma Peel in the British "Avengers" series). He told me that she was every bit as charming in person as she was lovely. I told him that if Brit female spies looked like her, they could likely find a lot of American recruits.
