Birthdays

This morning I got up and went for a bike ride at like 7:00. It was pretty cool for a Sonoma County morning, about 40 degrees. This was not something I'd ordinarily do. I tend to ride later in the day, as I'd rather be a bit warm than a bit cool. I coated myself in layers of garments, ending in my tighest fitting sweatshirt, pulled on my tights and headed out. My ears were cold at first, but after a while I didn't notice them so much when my fingers, exposed beyond my fingerless riding gloves, started to ache from the wind chill (go figure!). But it was a good ride and I had a good time. It was a great way to start the day; a great way to start my birthday.

I think different people approach birthdays differently. Some people host parties. Some do a night on the town. Some, no doubt, spend their birthdays lonely and alone. I think Seventh Day Adventists probably spend their birthdays thinking "OK, I'm not supposed to think about this being my birthday," (Or is that the Witnesses?).

For the past several years, family birthdays have been feted at a Family Dinner. We (by which I mean I) would wash all the dirty dishes, take out all the garbage and recycling (remember, they're two different things), sweep and maybe even Swiffer the kitchen floor, and clear all the shit off the table so all the children could gather around and rediscover how much they all still have in common and marvel at how hopelessly out of touch their father is with reality.

We didn't do that this year. We didn't do the Family Dinner. In the first place, we couldn't because we have no place to put a table with Buster Posey's pen taking up most of the kitchen floor. Regardless of the dog, I don't think we need to do that anymore. 'The Kids' are all pretty well grown-up now, and they pretty much spend their birthdays as they please. If they can, I guess I can too. And that's exactly what I did.

thanks to all.



RR