Journal of a Sabbatical

March 13, 2001

reminder service

Today's Reading: My Generation by Sarah Anna Emery

I am going to be fifty in April. April 8 to be precise. I'm pretty much aware of this fact. I generally don't forget my own birthday. So, like why is amazon.com sending me a reminder about my own birthday? Did I ask for a reminder? There are plenty of things I need reminders about like the next MRFRS board meeting, where I put the car keys, the Hungarian words for "clear cache", my passwords on this that or the other account, where the heck I put that 1099 form, Wilbur's next distemper shot, or my next dental checkup... But my birthday? My fiftieth birthday?

I eat lunch with a friend who is also turning 50 this year, a month after my birthday. She's had a complete makeover with an image consultant. She's had a permanent and colored her hair blonde. Over lunch she asks "What are you doing for your fiftieth birthday?" "Well, I was planning to climb Mt. Fuji, but I found out you can't climb it in April, there's a specific climbing season..."

Tonight at the Purrfect Companions meeting my turning 50 comes up. We're trying to schedule the next meeting and pick a date a few days after my birthday. They want to know what I'm doing for my fiftieth, which they are astounded I am about to celebrate. I tell them the lunch/Mt. Fuji story. They are in favor of climbing Fuji-san sometime in my 50th year. One says it will be a better memory than a makeover.

As I leave, I notice Miss Newburyport and Sandy in the laundry room, one atop each of the dryers. It's a darn good thing we have two dryers.