Here's what a 71 year old guy does on his birthday

I have an easy answer to the title of this blog post: almost exactly what I do on any other day. After all, I'm 71,  not seven. A birthday party of any sort was the farthest thing from my mind.

I enjoy my usual Monday routine. So I followed it, with a few exceptions.

Reading and meditation in the morning -- check. Grocery shopping in early afternoon-- check. Tai Chi class in late afternoon -- check. Dog walk in early evening -- check.

The big surprise of my birthday came when I unlocked our mailbox. There it was, a birthday card from my daughter, Celeste (also signed by my granddaughter, Evelyn). 

Wow. Just Wow! 

In a FaceTime call last night, Celeste let me know that, per usual, my card would be arriving a few days late. I expect this to happen. I count on this happening. My birthday experience depends on this happening. It's one of the few things in life that is rock solid for me -- a card arriving from my daughter around October 9.

But when I checked the postmark, I saw that it was mailed on October 4. That was three freaking days before my birthday. Absolutely shocking. 

Tonight I had to let Celeste know via text message what she had wrought.

Hey, your card came today. Thanks for the love and nice sentiments. But there goes your record of late birthday cards! Need to start fresh in 2020. Hate to say it, but you’re becoming a responsible adult who does things on time. Which, actually, sounds like a good thing.

Laurel, my wife, also gave me a nice surprise: eleven homemade cupcakes with butter cream frosting to take to my Tai Chi class. Several people were missing, so I came home with two cupcakes, which got rave reviews from the happy recipients of the nine other cupcakes.

Then Laurel made a perfect vegetarian meal: nicely spiced braised tofu with rice, baked potatoes, and herb-enhanced sliced tomatoes. 

So yeah, I had an excellent birthday.

Some AllBirds waterproof wool shoes that I'd returned for a larger size appeared today, a present to me from me. And Amazon delivered a book I'd ordered about the nature of consciousness, "Rethinking Consciousness: A Scientific Theory of Subjective Experience," by Michael Graziano.

All that remains is for me to fill up the bathtub with pleasingly hot water, grab a yellow highlighter, and read a chapter or two of Graziano's book.

Oh, and then munch on a piece of raspberry chocolate cake Laurel brought home from LifeSource Natural Foods while watching Stephen Colbert make fun of Donald Trump. Perfect!

Comments

[Rain Trueax]

We have the same birthday-- a few years apart lol . I turned 76 and also did nothing special for the day.