Not So Terribly Strange

Like many other fans of Paul Simon, I suspect, I've wondered how strange it would be to be seventy. Of course, it seems much stranger to our younger selves. At a distance of several decades seventy seems rather antique. If one is fortunate enough to actually arrive at this advanced stage of life, however, it's really no stranger than it was being sixty or fifty or fifteen, come to that. No, the strangest thing about this birthday so far was waking up and checking my email and finding all the birthday greetings, not from friends (those are all on Facebook!), but from all the various commercial and charitable entities that now seem to know everything about me. Even the NBA offered me a discount at their online store. Must be that app I downloaded to my phone. Did I really share all my personal information with the NBA? Only Classic Toy Trains magazine actually gave me a gift though: a downloadable pdf of toy train layouts. Now there's something I can use in the coming year. Still, it is nice to see all this interest in the anniversary of my natal day, even if it's just from some programed application running on a database.

In more down to earth musings: it is good to be able to report that everything is continuing on a more or less normal trajectory. Part of the wisdom that comes with advancing years is simply the knowledge that everything changes, and the best we can do is learn to take what comes our way and make the most of it. Life on this earth is generally good, if we can only learn to accept it for what it is and enjoy our time here to the best of our ability. And that is what I intend doing this year. That is my new year's and my birthday resolution: to be thankful I'm alive and well and to enjoy myself and my family and friends. In the spirit of the season: God bless us every one.