Seasons

Primary Colors
Originally uploaded by CaptPiper.

Today was my fiftieth birthday.
Somehow that artificial number seems more significant than others. Yes, it's halfway to 100, but I don't expect to live to be 100, so wouldn't 40, which is half of 80, be the real landmark? Ten years ago, I didn't have time to reflect on the number. I was too busy raising children and returning to teaching and mourning my beloved Aunt Eileen, who had just died from cancer. I barely noticed turning 40. I still wear the Black Hills gold band on my finger that my husband bought me as a 40th birthday gift.

Ten years ago I read in a magazine somewhere that this hunky actor guy was turning forty, and the media asked him how he dealt with that. He said, "I just close my eyes and spend 10 minutes imagining that I'm fifty. Then I open them and realize that I'm only forty, and it seems young." I tried that method, and it seemed to work pretty well.
I suppose I could try imagining I'm sixty for a while and see if the notion of fifty becomes more palatable.

I'll let you know.

Meanwhile: I have been saving up for a new purse camera for about six months now. Today, with birthday money, I had just enough to buy it. I wanted the Sony Cybershot T30, but it was just too expensive, so I went with the Cybershot W70, which was the same in everyway except the LCD window was larger and it didn't have image stabilization, which I think I can get along without, and it was $220 less. So I went for the lesser camera. Ritz camera will let you return your purchase with no re-stocking fee if you change your mind within 10 days. They also offer a no-fault insurance policy at a reasonable rate. I purchased that so I can enjoy the camera.
So that was my big present.

Emily called to sing Happy Birthday to me. I miss her so much. Sam is a sweetie, though. He was actually affectionate tonight and gave me a home-made card with $20 in it. I thought that was pretty affectionate.