The Birthday Series: Part Four (final)

It turned out to be a nice day after all (it started out cloudy, then the sun came out and it ended up being rather nice - a little humid and buggy but all in all pretty pleasant)

My friend Jen spent the majority of the afternoon here at the house... We snacked and sipped and laughed and actually touched on some serious topics, too - nice to share the day with a good friend, just taking it easy

Here are some birthday sentiments, courtesy of:

www.useful-information.info

Inside every older person is a younger person - wondering what the hell happened.
- Cora Harvey Armstrong

Oh to be seventy again.
- Georges Clemenceau, upon seeing a pretty girl on his eightieth birthday

Old age isn't so bad when you consider the alternative.
- Maurice Chevalier

Getting old ain't for sissies.
- Bette Davis

When I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it happened or not.
- Mark Twain

I'm at an age when my back goes out more than I do.
- Phyllis Diller

A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's
birthday but never remembers her age.
- Robert Frost

If I'd known I was going to live this long (100 years),
I'd have taken better care of myself.
- Ubie Blake

Men are like wine. Some turn to vinegar, but the best improve with age.
- C.E.M. Joad

My birthday!--what a different sound
That word had in my youthful ears;
And how each time the day comes round,
Less and less white its mark appears.
- Thomas Moore

Age is a high price to pay for maturity.
- Tom Stoppard

If we could be twice young and twice old we could correct all our mistakes.
- Euripides

Growing old is like being increasingly penalized
for a crime you have not committed.
- Anthony Powell

I want to take this time to thank everyone for their good wishes and salutations marking this special day...

My mother and brother... my husband... my friends... my cats... and those who were here in spirit

Thanks a lot - let's do this again next year!!

Birthday Series: Part Three

I'm here with my friend Jen (and my husband, Greg) still celebrating my birthday

and the kitties...

but it's getting near the end - it's late, we're tired (that happens)

there was cheese and crackers - and wine - and champagne - and sun shining down on us - and now we're tired and sleepy and it's almost time to call it a day

so I'll try to post once more but I'm not promising anything!

A good time was had by all...

even tho we're fading away, I got some nice comments on my Facebook wall from old friends and I have people who care about me - and my mom called to wish me a happy birthday - what more can I ask for?

Life is good - yes????

Enjoy your birthdays - you only get one a year - and make them count!!!!

Happy new year - to me!

The Birthday Series: Part Two

Image: Leo Reynolds (from his Letters & Numbers series on Yahoo's Flickr)

More on those "red-letter days" :

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A red letter day (sometimes hyphenated as red-letter day or called scarlet day in academia) is any day of special significance.

The term originates from Medieval church calendars. Illuminated manuscripts often marked initial capitals and highlighted words in red ink, known as rubrics. The First Council of Nicaea in 325 decreed the saints' days, feasts and other holy days, which came to be printed on church calendars in red. The term came into wider usage with the appearance in 1549 of the first Book of Common Prayer in which the calendar showed special holy days in red ink.

Many current calendars have special dates and holidays such as Sundays, Christmas Day and Midsummer Day rendered in red colour instead of black.

On red letter days, judges of the English High Court (Queen's Bench Division) wear, at sittings of the Court of Law, their scarlet robes (See court dress). Also in the United Kingdom, other civil dates have been added to the original religious dates. These include anniversaries of the Monarch's birthday, official birthday, accession and coronation.

In the universities of the UK, red letter days are called scarlet days. On such days, doctors of the university may wear their scarlet 'festal' or full dress gowns instead of their undress ('black') gown. This is more significant for the ancient universities such as Oxford and Cambridge where academic dress is worn almost daily; the black undress gown being worn on normal occasions as opposed to the bright red gowns. Since most universities now only use academic dress on graduation day (where doctors always wear scarlet), the significance of scarlet days has all but disappeared.

In Norway, Sweden and South Korea and some Latin American countries, a public holiday is typically referred to as "red day" (rød dag, röd dag, 빨간 날), as it is printed in red in calendars.

Red letter day is a special day of the year, marked by red color in calendar

Red letter day may also refer to:

Companies and organizations:

• Red Letter Days (company), a UK company owned by Theo Paphitis and Peter Jones

In music:

• Red Letter Day (band), a band from south Florida
• Red Letter Day (album), an album by the band of the same name
• Red Letter Days (album), an album by The Wallflowers
• Red Letter Day (EP), an EP release by The Get Up Kids
• A Red Letter Day, a single from the Pet Shop Boys

Wow - who knew? Well, obviously, someone knew... and now you do, too! More soon...

The Birthday Series: Part One

"I am born." So begins Charles Dickens' novel, "Great Expectations" and isn't life just a plethora of those? I mean, don't our parents and grandparents and friends and relatives have loads of great expectations for us and then we take over and create our own list of hoped-for achievements? There will be disappointments and there will be red-letter days (What does that mean? More in the next chapter) and today I will check in and write several installments on what this birthday means to me and what I might have to look forward to... So, bring on the peacock feather cakes (or is that roast bird wrapped in pastry?) and soup tureens (or whatever else is on the table there) and help me drink some champagne and "celebrate fifty-eight" today!!

Not Enough Time In The Day

No matter how I try to plan (and I am the worst at managing my time efficiently) I can never get everything done during one day off...

So I try to get a few things done and try to relax a little bit and just call it a draw

I have lots of topics I am determined to blog about but can't seem to get around to writing any of them down

So perhaps I need to focus more on what I want to achieve, especially since I'm looking down the hideous maw of another birthday...

Today, though, I did get my driver license renewed (take a look - it does say "driver license" not "driver's license") and I planted a few flowers and bought a few more to plant on Friday

I'll put the little flag out for Memorial Day on Monday (the local fife & drum corps will wake us up early in the morning - they march right past our house and have a little ceremony at the cemetery around the corner)

So let's try to enjoy our time off, get a few things done and relax for the rest of it - we deserve it!

Short and Sweet

Just a quick post - here's a photo of the fire I had going on May 1 (Beltane - see blog post 05/01/11)

And, last week, I snapped this shot of a little pink dogwood tree in the parking lot behind the building where I work.

So far I have planted one tomato plant and one basil plant (both in large pots) and some spring lettuces, as well as a French tarragon, Greek oregano and some flowers (did I already blog about this? Oh, probably...)

Anyway - I am now going to clean the fish bowl (here's a photo of the new blue betta - his name is Barry, which is short for barracuda because he is always hungry!!!!)

Have a nice week - hope to have something a little more thought-provoking next time!

TJBG

Happy May Day/Beltane

Today is May 1, an unusually auspicious day, according to the calendar: It's Labor Day (in Mexico)... Holocaust Remembrance Day... and May Day (Beltane), to only mention a few. I will not go into all of them here, but I do want to toss in some fascinating details about Beltane, a day when we can shrug off winter, plant vegetables & herbs and welcome the sun back into our lives.

Here's an article from www.witchvox.com written in 2000 by Christina Aubin

Beltane is the last of the three spring fertility festivals, the others being Imbolc and Ostara. Beltane is the second principal Celtic festival (the other being Samhain). Celebrated approximately halfway between Vernal (spring) equinox and the midsummer (Summer Solstice). Beltane traditionally marked the arrival if summer in ancient times.
******************************************* The Maypole dance as an important aspect of encouraging the return of fertility to the earth. The pole itself is not only phallic in symbolism but also is the connector of the three worlds. Dancing the Maypole during Beltane is magical experience as it is a conduit of energy, connecting all three worlds at a time when these gateways are more easily penetrable. As people gaily dance around and around the pole holding the brightly colored ribbons, the energy it raises is sent down into the earth's womb, bringing about Her full awakening and fruitfulness.
******************************************* Water is another important association of Beltane, water is refreshing and rejuvenating, it is also imperative to life. It is said that if you bathe in the dew gathered before dawn on Beltane morn, your beauty will flourish throughout the year. Those who are sprinkled with May dew are insured of health and happiness. There are other folk customs such as drinking from the well before sunrise on Beltane Morn to insure good health and fortune.
******************************************* The central color of Beltane is green. Green is the color of growth, abundance, plentiful harvest, abundant crops, fertility, and luck. White is another color that is customary, white brings the energies of cleansing, peace, spirituality, and the power to dispel negativity. Another color is red (I wore red today!) who brings along the qualities of energy, strength, sex, vibrancy, quickening, health, consummation and retention. Sun energy, life force and happiness are brought to Beltane by the color yellow. Blues and purples (Sagittarius energies: expansion, Good Fortune, magic, spiritual power, Success), and pinks (Venus energies). Beltane is rich in vibrant color, lighting the eyes and cheering the Spirit as we leave the dreariness of winter behind.
******************************************* It is customary to bake a colorful fruit and spiced filled bread for festivals in the Celtic lands, traditionally this festival bread is sweet dough made with sweetmeat and spices. In Scotland they are the bannock - Bonnach Bealtain - for Beltane, in Wales - Bara Brith, Ireland it is Barm Brack and in Brittany Morlaix Brioche. For Beltane this bread was made the eve before Beltane day, is it said that the bread should not allow it to come into contact with steel during preparation (steel is harmful, deadly to the faery folk).
****************************************** On Beltane eve the Celts would build two large fires, Bel Fires, lit from the nine sacred woods. The Bel Fire is an invocation to Bel (Sun God) to bring His blessings and protection to the tribe. The herds were ritually driven between two needfires (fein cigin), built on a knoll. The herds were driven through to purify, bring luck and protect them as well as to insure their fertility before they were taken to summer grazing lands. An old Gaelic adage: "Eadar da theine Bhealltuinn" - "Between two Beltane fires".


Lots of great ideas for celebrating Beltane: Tonight, if my husband will help me move my little fire pit outside, I think I will bake some cookies (my substitute for bannock) and toast the end of winter with a glass of wine sitting beside a few tiny flaming sticks.

Happy First of May, everyone!