Thinking in the Bathtub, Birthday 47

Follows...some thoughts on my 47^th birthday:

• My life has spanned two centuries. Now, before you think that is old, anyone born before January 1, 2000 can say that.

• Like James Taylor I can say, “I've seen fire and I've seen rain, I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end, I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend...” You can take it from there.

• I've had my feet in 15 states not counting, Euphoria, Confusion or Discontent.

• I have seen both solar and lunar eclipses as well as meteor showers and the tails of two comets.

• There have been five Popes, ten Presidents and six Archbishops of Canterbury in my lifetime.

• I've churned butter, picked strawberries, tailed green beans, popped fresh peas and shelled beans. I have also eaten hot tomatoes in the field as the migrant workers ate them at the same time.

• I have milked both cows and goats, goats are more dangerous and I am lactose sensitive.

• Though I was young, I know where I was when John F. Kennedy was assassinated and I remember the funeral. (I was watching Popeye and Janie, it happened right after Beanie and Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent.)

• Again, I was young, but I remember the “I Have A Dream,” speech.

• I cried in Junior High Geography class while a plane filled with Vietnam POWs deplaned in the United States.

• I have read East of Eden and loved it and watched East of Eden and hated it.

• I have held my newborn nephew in the hospital and in a very lame Darth Vader voice said, “Luke, I am not your father.”

• I have seen each of my two nieces and three nephews come home from the hospital wrapped in the same shawl that I came home in as well as each of my three sisters.

• There have been tears of joy, sadness, grief, fear and disappointment come from my eyes.

• I have laughed at jokes, falls, funerals, weddings and family reunions.

• There have been rants, raves and disbelief in my life, several of them before noon today.

• I have interrupted my mother while canning peaches. It was August of 1960, I made her go into labor. (As if canning peaches wasn't labor enough.)

• Peaches are my favorite fruit.

• I've made friends, lost friends and missed friends.

• I've read, written, sang, drawn, painted, hand lettered and faux finished. In fact, I like to think that my death will be a faux finish.

• I've celebrated, lamented, feared and dreaded birthdays, all in the same day.

• I've had nightmares of playing naked Twister with the Golden Girls.

• I have lived in hopes of finding someone to share my life with, the search has spanned two centuries. This is when it seems like a really long time.

• Man has walked on the moon during my tenure here.

• I've been under the Golden Gate Bridge and avoided Alcatraz.

• I've been a Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist and always a Christian.

• I have been witness to first steps and last breaths.

• I have sat through Gone With The Wind, The Ten Commandments and some really bad sermons.

• I was vaccinated with a phonograph needle.

• I've never been on a property owned by Disney, unless you count the mall stores.

• I own a Mickey Mouse watch.

• I've been given “truth serum” and gave my opinion on Wellington Boots while under it's influence.

• I have cranked ice cream.

• I've owned three bikes, a 1969 Ford Falcon and a 1976 Ford Mustang Anniversary Edition.

• I have learned this advice from a very dear friend, no longer with us, “Birthdays are a luxury that many cannot afford.”.