A Very Happy Birthday

I can’t remember ever actually enjoying a birthday so much as this year. They were never dreadful; they were just annoying. But this birthday really was wonderful. It didn’t feel at all about me; it felt like a celebration of friendships—my friendships. As viewers give meaning, power and value to art, friends give purpose and worth to life. 

I had breakfast with Bruce, found papers for my sculpture that please me and then had a delicious and beautiful three-course meal with John and Bunny. Now that fine dining is so rare, I appreciate it much, much more. Oh, it was good! J&B found an ideal place for us to sit and they treated me.

And when we emerged from lunch, the sun was out. My trip home on the subway was not crowded and the flight home in blinding sunshine was beautiful. I felt blissful as I drove home through the forest and past the farms and horses in lovely bright light. And when I got home, there was a present from Jay on my back porch and then … my reunion with Fred, Ethel and the Sheebs. Heaven!

At 7:00, I crashed. I was pooped and went to bed. But what a wonderful, fabulous couple of days I’ve had. My friends have given me such a wondrous boost. 

Dr. Shoja said, when I told her I was quitting after two-and-a-half years of therapy, “If there’s one thing to take away from all we’ve done here, remember this: Your condition is not your fault; it is not something you deserve.”

I have weak, vulnerable self-esteem. But my friends have said and done things during the past two days that I’ve vowed never to forget.

Click on the image to enlarge it.

I have an inner nerd; hence, this post.

Above is a photo of several ice crystal halos around the Sun taken by Michael Schneider in the Swiss Alps. According to Schneider’s post (translated from German by Google), this display developed gradually as he waited for a friend as some icy fog and/or clouds were dissipating at the top of a Swiss ski resort.

Using a site on atmospheric optics, one Mark McCaughrean, helpfully annotated Schneider’s photo to identify all of the various halos on display in the annotated photo below.