Day 46: Bond. James Bond.

Soon I will have more in common with James Bond and Jason Bourne than I ever had before.  (Before, I had nothing in common with them.)  Today I walked to the post office to send off an application for my British passport!  Very excited about getting this document - I am pretty confident that I will feel pretty cool having two passports.  Of course, the United States isn't overly thrilled about dual citizenship, but they don't say that I can't do it, so I figured I'd better seize the opportunity whilst it's available.  After all, I remember the day when I applied for my UK residency after having been in the country for four years, and after I got my residency status they changed the rules to five years.  I was pretty thankful I'd done it while I could! 

It's pretty exciting being a British citizen, about to get a passport.  The lady at the post office very kindly commiserated on the ninety pounds I had to spend to get it, but really that is nothing in the grand scheme of things.  After living in Scotland for ten years (in June), I'm thrilled that it is now my country, too!  I got a letter from Visit Scotland today, sending me some information I had requested, and they said, "Thank you for your interest in exploring a bit more of your home country."  What a happy statement!  Of course I have three home countries, including heaven, and I love exploring the two that I have access to currently.  I look forward with great anticipation to the explorations of the third country some day!!

Today was actually 'quite nice', compared to much of the previous crazy, wild, dark, cold weather we've been having.  The sky was blue  - imagine!  No, you don't have to imagine, I took a photo for you.  It's a good thing too, because a few minutes after I snapped it, the clouds started rolling in a bit more.  It was that funny kind of nice day where you step outside and think, gosh, this is lovely, I don't really need my hat or gloves or anything.  Then you walk along a little further, and think well, maybe I will put my gloves on, just.  A little further on and the hat goes on.  By the time you get where you're going you are more bundled up than when you left, and you have to take it all off again because you're inside where it's warm.  What a complicated country to go walking in!

I actually took two walks today - also walked to my MET group tonight.  I couldn't remember how long of a walk it was - at first I thought a half hour and then I remembered it was quite close and so thought maybe 15 or 20 minutes...turned out to be about 10 or a little more.  When I got to the street on which the house was, there was a man walking alongside me, just about the same pace.  I figured he would speed up so that we weren't both walking in the same direction at the same time but without speaking, but he didn't.  So I (following the rules of etiquette for Encountering Another Walker) passed to the other side, but then it was still awkward because we both were walking at the same speed on opposite sides of the same street.  He steadfastly refused to look at me (he, too, was familiar with the rules of etiquette previously mentioned), but he refused to speed up.  So I took the initiative and did so, but I swear he did too because I couldn't get him out of my sights.  I started to wonder if he was going to my MET, too, but I didn't know him! Or at least I didn't think I did.  Finally he turned in just one house earlier than the one I was going to.  Whew.  Wouldn't want to have to Speak To Someone that you're walking next to! Imagine!

Walk length (total):  35 minutes