Rain Taxes and the Prince & Kate!

And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.  2 Samuel 23:4

". . . and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust . . ."   St. Matthew 5:45

Please do not give England any creative ideas on more ways on how to extract money out of the people.  We got a bill in the mail that breaks down our taxes and it says we have to pay 100 British Pounds a year for rain water that falls on our roof and runs off into the gutter!!  Can you believe that?  How can that be justified?  I wonder if we could actually catch all the rain water and use it somewhere, not letting it run away in waste.  Could we take that to court and win?  I know, it'd cost more to fight it than to just pay it.  It just seems wrong to tax someone on something so absolutely out of one's control while none of it whatsoever is owned or used personally.  Besides, we share the roof with 11 other people!  Does that mean we all pay 100 pounds and the town makes all that money on rain water run off?  No wonder there was a Boston Tea Party!

Now that I've had that small rave, I must say it was raining the day Prince William and Kate arrived above our house (yes, above, as in up the hill and landing in a helicopter).  The night before he came to town, we saw the police cars guarding the school on our street where they were to dedicate it and then go to Blackburn to finish the last leg of their final official public duty before the Royal Wedding.  No time was announced for their arrival, but we have a great view up our hill and saw the ambulance at the top of the hill and heard the helicopter coming in.

Stopping traffic

                                                                  Passing our house

There they go!   It was raining on their parade.  This was the only rain we got during the family's visit.

 Elder Blain went out to wave as the motorcade drove past our apartment and Dakota and I took a station at each window to take pictures.  Cailin and Bridger stood on the Juliette balcony to see them pass.  Motorcycles and SUV's protected the prince and his lady love and there were two identical cars with blacked out windows--the first and the third, so you wouldn't know for sure which one they were in.  It was still an exciting moment to be so close to royalty.  I can't help but think they did see us waving, since there were only us, a few neighbors standing by their doors, and a few people out walking to the bus or walking their dogs. 

Oh, our family's visit was fantastic!!  There will be many pictures posted on that whirlwind experience!  We need to get back to missionary work for now.