California DMV,

Ten years ago, I studied for the Idaho driver’s test for days and days, and then I failed by one question. Luckily for me, the employee on duty looked like she walked straight out of a casting call for adorable, chubby grandmothers with hearts of gold. When she finished grading my test, DMV Grandma side-glanced around the office, and led me back into the test room, where she let me change a few answers (what are you supposed to do if you happen upon a funeral procession in Idaho?!). Anyway, I walked away with a shiny new passport to teenage freedom.

Somewhere in the last decade, I stopped driving, moved to California, and in 2011 my license expired. But last week, Chris took me to the DMV to see if I could get another driver’s license. I didn't even consider the possibility that I might have to take the written exam that day until I was actually handed the 38-question written exam by a distinctly un-grandmotherly DMV employee. At that point, failure was a foregone conclusion.

But guess what: I passed. And I have only almost crashed the truck twice since then.

britt

To Ammon, Idaho natives

Picture of and my brother, Spencer, and I country waltzing at my brother (Steven)'s wedding reception this weekend. It was, in fact, a barn dance. Colorado mountains, belt buckles, cowboy hats, fu manchus, and everything. Loved every single second. 

Fellow Country Mice,

There are rumble strips at various points across the Bay Bridge between San Francisco and Oakland; they are supposed to be a signal to drivers to slow down, and when I moved to San Francisco, my dad drove me across the Bay Bridge. It was a clear night, and we could see the whole skyline. I looked out over this amazing, beautiful city, and got excited about living in the middle of all that: shopping at big department stores, sight-seeing, eating at trendy restaurants, wearing fancy dresses, and having new, big, city-girl adventures. But then, when our little Camry drove across those rumble strips I thought, “Hmm. Why are there cattle guards on a bridge?”

Maybe I’m not so city mouse.

britt