Can’t I Just Stay 59 Forever?

Another birthday has come and gone. I think all in all, it was pretty darn good.

I don’t know about you, but I am always a bit uncomfortable with a lot of hoopla over birthdays. I know that people really do enjoy knowing that day has come, and I was heartened to read so many sweet messages on Facebook, on my phone, and in my email. I like that people take the time to do that, it’s nice of them.

But I’d like to hang on to this year for a long time. I turned 59 yesterday.  And it seems like if I can stay 59, I can avoid moving into the really ancient decades, ones 60s, 70s and 80s.

Yet my dad, at 91, enjoys his life a great deal.  So did my grandmother Essie, who lived until she was 95.  She never stopped playing bridge and drinking brown booze, though she did give up the cigarettes in her 80s. I would like to think that I have as fun a life as Essie did.

She wasn’t taxed with work, she enjoyed her relationships and her little daily habits, and up until she was  in her late 80s would spend the summers in her wonderful little cottage on top of Cummings Way Hill in Edgartown.  Now, that’s how to live!

For my birthday we got a chance to visit the outdoor sculptures at Art in the Orchard, walking all through the pretty apple, pear and plum trees to see people’s artistic vision in the 30 sculptures. While we were there, a troupe was putting on some sort of cabaret, doing it al fresco and being followed by the crowd.  It was a fun day and even our daily shopping turned out to be a fun experience, with chicken soup at Whole Foods, so no need to cook dinner at home.

And on top of it all, my favorite football team, the New England Patriots, pummeled their Superbowl rivals 23-7 and I got to watch the whole game. Great day, simple but enriching all in all.  It was bizarre seeing the entire field covered in fog, my old pal Ed Bryant was in the stands, but I think watching it from my bedroom was a better view.