A year Ago Today

   A year ago today Dear Sir landed in Pullman, Washington, USA and bussed me softly on the lips inside the tiny regional airport. It was also one year ago we had our first personal assignation after three months of near daily phone calls that lasted as long as five hours! Thank the Goddess for PennyTalk.com which kept us from going bankrupt in order to stay connected across the Atlantic those dark, cold, and lonely months filled with anticipation and longing.
   After nearly eight months of marriage we know we are each other's best mates. We are tailor made for one another. Les is a lovely human being: warm, kind, sensuous, side splittingly funny, with a generous soul and heaps of patience.
   It has not always been an easy adjustment living abroad and living on board. There are a few American things I miss, and I often fail to understand the British outlook and ways of doing things.
   For example, why use five words when two will do? Invariably the British use a string of words to attempt description of something an American will communicate in far less. I was in the public loo at Sainsbury's last week and inside was a baby changing station--which is what it is called in the States.
   Here in England this unit is labeled "Baby Nappy Changing Station," as though one needed clarity on why such a thing specifically exists. As if to say without actually doing so..."This unit is intended for small babies who need their nappies changed. Please do not attempt to change Nanny's ©Depends Adult diaper on this station."
   Another example is the actual name of a local grocery store chain's "Extremely Strong Extra Mature Cheddar Cheese." I had no idea a string of adverbs and adjectives could actually be an official part of the name of a grocery item. Who knew??? Not us Yanks. We have four choices in cheese strength back home: mild, medium, sharp, extra sharp (aged over 18 months).
   As I close for the evening it is snowing outside and a large coal fire is burning deep orange in the stove. We are officially frozen in at Newbold, and while this is a very good spot with close access to water, coal, diesel, groceries, and a bus to Rugby, we are still antsy; hoping for a quick thaw soon so we can be on our way toward Wales and the LLangollen. We aren't in any hurry, but we don't like being pinned down in one place for too long. May the Goddess and the five sacred things (earth, air, fire, water, spirit) hear my prayer for a brief cold snap followed by lashings of mild weather.