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| early summer on the Palouse |
The first week after our wedding went by in a blur. Suddenly the the weather turned over and it was in the mid 80's and 90's here. Of course the air conditioner in both my car and the house decided to crap out at the same time! Four hundred and fifty dollars later both house and car were cool again.
When Les was here last February we discussed his driving when we returned for our wedding. I couldn't bear to think of him cooped up throughout the long, hot summer, but he wasn't certain he wanted to drive unless the road lines were better marked.
Upon our return in June Les was pleasantly surprised to see freshly painted road lines everywhere. I knew WSU and the City of Pullman would paint them fresh each spring in time for May commencement, but I told Les, "Just for you baby; I had them freshly painted just for you!"
Dear Sir has been keeping the car and chauffering me to work and back each day. My first Monday back at work he showed up an hour early to get me, saying, "I forgot what time you told me to come get you and I miss you." What a great way to be greeted by one's husband!!
We've frequented Ferdinand's Scoop Shop on campus for superb ice cream, visited the bears (orphaned grizzlies are brought to WSU's animal Science program where they are studied for metabolism research) and Les finally
When Les was here last February we discussed his driving when we returned for our wedding. I couldn't bear to think of him cooped up throughout the long, hot summer, but he wasn't certain he wanted to drive unless the road lines were better marked.
Upon our return in June Les was pleasantly surprised to see freshly painted road lines everywhere. I knew WSU and the City of Pullman would paint them fresh each spring in time for May commencement, but I told Les, "Just for you baby; I had them freshly painted just for you!"
Dear Sir has been keeping the car and chauffering me to work and back each day. My first Monday back at work he showed up an hour early to get me, saying, "I forgot what time you told me to come get you and I miss you." What a great way to be greeted by one's husband!!
We've frequented Ferdinand's Scoop Shop on campus for superb ice cream, visited the bears (orphaned grizzlies are brought to WSU's animal Science program where they are studied for metabolism research) and Les finally
got to see them close up and personal when four large grizzlies came charging down the hill of their huge outside pen and attempted to tear the steel doors off the inside of their cages to get at food. I am pretty sure the scent of our ice cream cones set them off.
Dear Sir has been working on the house, fixing things up, tidying up the garden beds, weeding, pruning, pressure washing the vinyl siding and painting the back deck and front porch. We've also been sorting, packing, and throwing things away--all to get the house readied for sale and me ready to move.
Our wedding reception moved from July 9th to July 23rd to accommodate our hosts chrisi and Keith Kincaid who had an unforeseen international issue crop up which required travel to the Ukraine for a couple of weeks.
With my new driver's license I am now official as Jaqueline Marie Biggs in this country, and was tickled pink to be addresed as "Mrs. Biggs" by the DOL attendant.
Les was fascinated by the vision testing machine at the Department of Licensing. We spent an extra fifteen minutes chatting with the attendants about the differences between licensing of drivers in the U.S. and England.
American drivers' licenses expire every five years and one must go in and take a vision test and renew all personal information with an updated picture in order for one's driver's license to stay current. Any change in the meantime, such as a name change or an address change means a new vision test and issuance of an updated license. In America our licenses serve our national picture identification. We have Social Security cards and numbers issued specifically to us but they may not be used for I.D. except to get one's initial license.
Here in the States the age a person may first apply for a learner's permit differs from state to state like thousands of other laws. In Washington State one can get a farm permit at age twelve to drive large farm rigs. Most kids get a learner's permit at age fourteen which enables them to drive with a licensed driver in the car with them. One may apply for the final exam at age sixteen and become a fully licensed driver as long as one has had a learner's permit for six months.
With my new driver's license I am now official as Jaqueline Marie Biggs in this country, and was tickled pink to be addresed as "Mrs. Biggs" by the DOL attendant.
Les was fascinated by the vision testing machine at the Department of Licensing. We spent an extra fifteen minutes chatting with the attendants about the differences between licensing of drivers in the U.S. and England.
American drivers' licenses expire every five years and one must go in and take a vision test and renew all personal information with an updated picture in order for one's driver's license to stay current. Any change in the meantime, such as a name change or an address change means a new vision test and issuance of an updated license. In America our licenses serve our national picture identification. We have Social Security cards and numbers issued specifically to us but they may not be used for I.D. except to get one's initial license.
Here in the States the age a person may first apply for a learner's permit differs from state to state like thousands of other laws. In Washington State one can get a farm permit at age twelve to drive large farm rigs. Most kids get a learner's permit at age fourteen which enables them to drive with a licensed driver in the car with them. One may apply for the final exam at age sixteen and become a fully licensed driver as long as one has had a learner's permit for six months.
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| Cornwall, England UK |
I've had great fun regaling my American friends with tales of the lane and a quarter sized narrow roads in England, the lack of parking, and the game of chicken played with oncoming traffic. Descriptions of large roundabouts with mounded hills in the middle blocking one's view of the other lanes give U.S. driver's pause for thought. Now that I know vision tests are not mandatory in the U.K. I will have to wear a DEPENDS adult diaper when traveling by car!
Les keeps wishing for lines on road telling him when to stop, when to yield, etc.etc. We have signs for those actions because lines on the roadway are obscured in winter weather six months of the year.
He also pines for traffic lights on posts beside the lanes instead of hanging above his head in front of the lanes. Nonetheless Dear Sir drives quite well in our country.
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| European traffic light |
I wake up every morning now with a smile, literally! For the first time in my life I don't open my eyes and tense up, waiting to find out what ninety mile an hour curve balls life is going to throw my way today.
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| American traffic lights |
I am loved, appreciated, and deeply contented to be part of a very good partnership. We finish each other's sentences and blurt out the same ideas in unison.
Our thoughts are often in sync without either of us saying anything initially to the other. We work together side by side to keep house, make plans, and we thoroughly enjoy one another's company. We love one another deeply. Folks smile at us in passing as we walk hand in hand, and others get a merry glint in their eyes when they spot us kissing.
My friends--so used to me being 'the woman who walked alone through this world with a juandiced eye toward men'--now smile indulgently at me and call out with a lilt in their voice, "Hello Mrs. Biggs!" It is obvious I am happier than I've ever been in my life, married to my brilliant Englishman. And why is he so brilliant? Because he loves me!
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