The Fifties are Nifty!

 Or so I'm told.

Today is another of life's milestones for me--my fiftieth birthday.

I wound up not getting to ride, as I had hoped to do. Sometimes life gets in the way of such things. There were a couple of other birthday celebrants having rides today, and I could perhaps have gone on one or another of them. Instead, we had a small gathering at our house, and I spent much of my morning helping finalize preparations. I made a beer run around one this afternoon, and wound up driving for some stupid reason--probably had to do with the fact that I was already dressed for the gathering (in a kilt, as would be expected) and didn't want to change clothing around to ride in the somewhat chilly day. At least that's the rationalization I'm going to use this time.

I don't mind that I didn't ride today--not much, anyway. On my way home from work tomorrow, I'll break the eleven-hundred mile mark for 2011, and I'm fine with saving breaking the 1100-mile mark >before< my birthday for 2012, just as I've opted to save the "first thousand by the end of February" for next year.

We (Jenn and I) had a nice group of folks over for snacks and dessert. It was an interesting mix, by design. I had friends I've known for many years and friends I've known for a couple years. I had friends I've met through cycling and friends who knew I ride but were not as involved with cycling. It was fun.Both of my stepdaughters helped a great deal with cleaning and food preparation. I appreciate them greatly--they are good people.

It's common for folks to ruminate on this or that at such milestones. If I didn't know what day I was born, this would be just another day. However, birthdays are important in my family, and fifty is a milestone of note in our culture.

That said, I don't seem to have many profound thoughts bouncing around inside my head--only verbose ones. It's good to have family and friends, and to have some of each gather with me to celebrate. Twenty years ago today, my mother and stepfather moved into their current home. I was hoping to develop a dating relationship at the time, and when it didn't happen (and in spite of that I knew it would not have been an especially good idea for it TO happen), I went into a depressive tailspin that was profound enough to last me a while. I came through that--with help--and found something of a new me. I went on to enjoy the next ten years more than I had the prior twenty or more. I realized then--and still firmly believe--that the radio advertisement claiming that such and such station was playing the music from the best years of my life was lying to me. The best years of my life are coming.

One friend who attended commented that she had not ever seen me as happy and content with life as I now seem to be. She credited my marriage with much of that. I'm not sure but what it's one of those "which came first, the chicken or the egg" things, though. Yes, I'm pretty happy with life overall these days. When folks ask how I'm doing, my pat response is, "I'm loving life!" I think that being happy in life is part of why Jenn and I got started as we did. I think being with Jenn has helped me be happier, to be sure. I don't think it's a one-way arrow, though. I think being happy helps me be happier.

In any case, I'm glad to be able to enjoy life. It's a marvelous day in paradise, wherever paradise is, but it's not a bad day here, either.