Adios L!

In many ways, at times, the last year has gone by at a snails pace. And yet, looking back it almost seems like a flash. I often think back to what we were doing this time last year. Willy-nilly running around mask less and taking everything for granted. But today is a momentous milestone celebrating that passing of time. El Jefe is no longer an L. That´s right, he´s had his Spanish driving license for one whole year today! Exciting! The green sign with the white L denoting a learner is driving our car has been retired. Holy moly. A lot happened in that year.

Have I teased him about it every time he drove the car over the past 12 months? Yes. Yes, I have. Will I miss that sign in the window as we walk down to the car in the parking garage? I kind of will. As you all know, I haven´t needed it in quite some time since I hopped on getting my license pretty quickly after moving to Spain. El Jefe took a bit longer. Jeff called it the loser sign. Perhaps that’s because I would hold up an L with my fingers to my forehead whenever he would struggle to park the car or turn it around on a street that was meant only for horses and pedestrians for a thousand years, rather than our long station wagon.

´Don´t beat yourself up.´ I would tell him when he would get visibly frustrated while swearing under his breath. ´You’re still a learner.´

Steam would rise from his ears. I can crack myself up thinking about it. Ah, those were the days. But they´re in the rear-view mirror now- quite literally. Jeff has tossed it out with the trash.

It´s just in time, too. He will start his new life in Galicia L-less. When I went up to look at houses on my own in October and November, I had a few people ask me what the L was for, since I´m not a 20 something novice driver. I wasn´t aware that when I was driving the car I needed to take it down since I´ve had my license for more than a year. So that was good info to have since I could have gotten a ticket for driving with an L when I’m not a learner. But I didn´t care if it was there. My ego doesn´t extend to such things. Not like other people we know. 😉

While we are very excited about moving it seems I will need to wait a bit. Drs orders. So our move will not likely take place until the end of March or even April. I need to be smart and not push things. I´m OK with that. A healthy ❤️ is better than fast. I spoke to the moving company. They said the Covid border closures won´t impact them moving us nationally, since they´re a logistics company and they have waivers, so anytime we´re ready I just need to let them know. I was a bit concerned about that.

Just as the weather turns warm and sweaty in Valencia we will start our escape to cooler climes. With no L in sight. Our new neighbours won´t wonder why people in their 50´s have an learner sign on their vehicle. It will be easier not to stand out. We will likely be the only Americans in the neighbourhood so fitting in will already come with challenges of its own. A built in curiosity. But taking the sign out of the window feels like one more step to jettisoning the past year and moving forward. We´ll take it.