You Say I'm not Patriotic?

You may consider yourself lucky, if you will.

I value the joy that is voting, perhaps more than I should. (So some would say.) I proved it this week.

I am still registered to vote in New Mexico, therefore I have to request and vote via an absentee ballot. Not a big deal, one would think. But in all actuality... let's just say that no one can call me unpatriotic and tell me that I don't love my country. Here's what happened.

My absentee ballot came with an affidavit of electronic transmission, which stated that I understood that I was giving up my right to a secret ballot, that I really was eligible to vote, and that I wouldn't show up on election night and try to vote again. I understand that this is to protect my vote from some sneaky vote-stealer who might try to pretend that they are me on election day, but it is an annoyance that I have to have this form notarised.

Notarising a document is actually not that big a deal in the States. You go to the bank. You sign up and wait a bit until the notary comes and does their thing. They don't charge you anything at all if you go to your bank.

Here, it's a bit different. Granted, the US Embassy will notarise documents for US citizens for free. But that involves missing a day of work or of school, plus the cost of the train, plus the cost of the tube since the Embassy is in London. Not really much of an option. Then I discovered that there are notaries in England too. BUT... notaries are a type of lawyer. They do sign documents, but they charge you lawyer fees also.

So I had a choice to make. I could pay about £50 and miss work/school to go to London to get the affidavit notarised, I could pay about £50 to go to the notary to get it notarised, or I could just not vote. Some, perhaps, would have chosen not to vote. But like I said earlier, voting is important to me. So I went to the notary.


This photo was taken in the waiting room at the lawyer's office. These are yearly additions and clarifications to the law code. This bookcase went from the floor to the ceiling, and there was another one just like it across the room, partially full of these books. The books are more current and in better condition at the bottom of the case, and the last book in this case was from 1974. The books at the top of the shelf were obviously old and falling apart. Some of them were so old that I could not read the dates. But I could read the date on the first book in the case... 1864.

I was a little shocked. Were they decorative? Another case in the room was full of signs. Old building signs with the law firms name on them. Maybe 7 or 8 of them. And some of them were extremely old also. So I asked the receptionist, who told me that this law firm has been in existence since 1864. Wow.

The notary was very old and very sweet. He had me hold a bible in my hands while I swore that I really was who I said I was. He wrote that his commission to be a notary expires on his death. And he tried so very hard not to ask who I was voting for. I could tell he was dying to know. He mentioned that he wasn't asking more than once. And when a different secretary came in to take me to pay for his time, and she flat-out asked me; he expressed sadness that they weren't allowed to ask as he told her off for asking me. (I did tell them. My ballot wasn't private anyway, and pretty much everyone knows who I am voting for, so it wasn't as though it were going to be a secret. And boy, did it make him happy. I think he might have been waiting for an American to come in just so he could talk about the election.)

Going to pay was an experience too. It was raining, and the finance department was in some other building. So she picked up an umbrella and I followed her. It took about 5 minutes to get there, through side streets and in front of what looked like houses. The grounds were lovely, though the paths were narrow and some had high walls on either side, so there really was no room for me to share the umbrella. She talked about how miserable it is in England, and how she wants desperately to move to Florida. (I don't know what it is about Florida. Every Brit that I have talked to, when talking about going to the US to visit or to live, talks about Florida. Florida is NOT THAT GREAT!) I asked her whose houses we were passing, to be told that they were not houses, they were offices for the lawyers that worked for this firm. The whole area was the law office. I had no idea that it was that huge. Perhaps a 6 or 7 minute walk from one side to the next. Wow.

After paying, I walked home in the drizzle, and it was so pretty. The trees are changing colour, and it dawned on me that I hadn't yet taken pictures to show all of you. I wanted you to see things while they were green, so I took some pictures with my phone on the way home.


This is the view from the first bridge that I have to cross to get home. The river is called the River Stour, and it splits into two at one side of the town, flows through the town, then meets back up with itself on the other side of town. The bridge is a footbridge, and this is the large part of the river. Perhaps thigh deep at places, but mostly knee deep. The white splotch in the middle is a young swan that moved in this summer and doesn't yet have a mate.


This is the path on the other side of the bridge. At night, this path is a little too creepy for me to walk along by myself. The tree overhang the path and it is very dark. But during the day it is beautiful, and perhaps my favourite part of the walk home. The foliage to the sides are mostly stinging nettles, but there are blackberry bramble growing among it, and these trees are elder, so there are lots of berries to pick on this part of the walk in the summer.


This is the building that our house is in, taken from further down the street. Our flat is the one with the hanging planters on the balcony. So yes, we are on the top floor. I like it. Good exercise going up and down the steps, and an attic for storage.


And last but not least, this is the view of our street looking out of the French doors and over our fake balcony. You can see the misty grey of the sky from the rain. It was a lovely walk home.

And During this Break...

A video that I thought I might share.




Personally, I hope you do vote.