Another Trip—around the sun?
So birthdays…more or less like time are a human invention designed to mark off chunks of experiences in ways we can all relate to.
Here are some thoughts about my birthday that I’m not sure I can explain or that most of you can relate to, however, trying to connect is always worth a shot.
First—Birthday Cards
This is one of my happiest birthdays ever because I didn’t receive one card!!!What you ask why would somebody be happy for NOT getting a single card. Well here’s the thing. If you take the average cost of a card these days…let’s say $4.00 and add the amount of money spent on the gas used to get the card maybe a$1.00 then you pile on the value of the time you might have spent doing something. Like work for an hour $7.50 (it isn’t taking an hour to get me a card00right) Then throw in the cost of a stamp and you have roughly $13.00 invested in a card. Now counting the social media hits about 80 people wished me happy birthday. Since none of you spent $13.00 that means nearly $1,040 dollars was saved by people. Who can use that money to change their lives or the world in ways that are far more creative than reminding me I’m old.
Next. No candles!
This year I didn’t get any cake/cupcake with any candles involved. Of course at this point local open burning ordinances are likely to discourage or prohibit lighting this many candles, however, I’m still wondering why we have this tradition in the first place. Let’s think about this shall we.
Imagine sending a note to the parents of the kids your kids go to school with etc and that note said.
Hey Maria can your son Joe come over for a couple of hours and eat some sugar that my son has blown on several times and spread spit all over? Sure Joe will have fun because we’re also going to blind fold him and other kids and let them swing a stick at a bag of things that will rot their teeth and don’t worry just because that will be hanging from a light. There’s really not much of a chance that the light bulbs will hit him specifically.
Gifts—Wow did I get some!!!
I’m not going over the whole list because most of you will just get jealous but I want to say they included things related to music and sports…and more importantly…they allowed me to do time traveling. What? Yep I met a Green Bay. Packer who signed a hat and turned into a 10 year old boy shaking his hand…Now was his hand large? Let’s just say I didn’t really know that they made humans in that size. I talked with and texted with people I’ve come to know in every era of my life and have interacted with for all types of reasons. This reminds me of how tossing a little positive rock in the pond of the universe creates marvelous ripples that sometimes intersect and sometimes don’t, yet always provide the energy needed to make a difference.
Was there any down side to my birthday…. Of course… I celebrated it with gusto and it reminded me that I don’t celebrate enough days with gusto. I started thinking about toys (because 10 year olds think about toys) and realized that NERF has changed from a type of soft ball to a type of juvenile assault weapon clone. The Game of Monopoly has become the favorite purpose of people who might share the resources of our planet with a bit more generosity, and I stopped drinking early because I can’t drink as much as I used to….however as my (RIP) friend Bob often reminded me …We don’t drink as much as we used to—then again nobody could….
So…. This birthday was a trip and also a part of a trip …the next trip around the sun…. Thank you all for making every spinning cycle called a day a fascinating thing for me. As the trip around the sun moves along I’ll try to send thought of gratitude and peace and joy your way…but no cards or cakes with candles…
I may however wander around blindfolded swinging a stick and hoping for treats… that’s life you know
Nice piece!
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