This is What 60 Looks Like

photo by John Sandel

I've never been one to lie about my age. I'm beginning to consider it, but I don't think I'm fooling anybody.

It's hard to get used to how I look as I get older. I think we all feel this way, at least around a milestone birthday. Maybe when I turn 61 it won't hit me as hard. Some days I'm fine with how I look. Some days I'm not. That was true when I was 30.

Isn't age a surprise? All my life I've known it was happening yet it's still shocking to see the signs: the muscles of my upper arms as loosely defined as a boiled potato, the little bumps that appear in odd places and decide to stay, the wrinkles that deepen like windblown crevasses on the surface of Mars.

That last one is more reality than metaphor.

Wilma is unconcerned about age, although she has a milestone birthday coming up, too. She'll be 5 in June.

Best Laid Plans

When Birthday Month began I made a pledge: "I'm going to have a minimum of one adventure each week," I said, "and I'll tell you about my adventures here...an adventure is something I haven't done before."

Today's post is about best laid plans.

For Birthday Week, and I mean for my actual birthday, John had a super, one-of-a-kind adventure planned for me. I was pretty excited.

The day before my birthday, our adventure fell through due to no fault of John's. So we called on friends who helped us plan a good substitute. The adventure that happened, though, was that John and I woke up sick on my birthday.

Okay. It wasn't really an adventure by my definition. I mean, I've been sick before. It wasn't how I wanted to spend my milestone birthday, either, nor was it how I wanted to spend the week. Don't worry, I'm way better now.

What do you do when you commit to something for yourself but your time is committed elsewhere? How do you prioritize yourself? I need to get better at that

As it stands, I will have to have my birthday next week. I promise I'll report back to you.

Friends (Birthday Month Adventure #3)

When I decided to have an adventure each week during birthday month, I hadn't realized how hard it would be to include adventures in my schedule.

I defined an adventure as something I hadn't done before, which alleviates the pressure somewhat. All I had to do was go to a library branch I hadn't visited or take the train somewhere new. But due to unforeseen adventures this week, ones I won't be blogging about (but they're good), I didn't have time for an adventure I could blog about until the last minute!

Whew! Thanks to my friends, I made it. And I had a wonderful time. Here we are outside Flintridge Proper, a restaurant/pub I hadn't visited before, where we enjoyed happy hour and each other's company.

I don't suppose a woman of my age and obvious sophistication has a BFF, but it sure is nice to have very good friends. Here are (left to right) Karen E. Klein, Desiree Zamorano, Janet Aird, Karin Bugge, me and Margaret Finnegan. Aren't they fabulous? Don't worry about me, being photographed like this is how I decide which clothes to put in the Goodwill box.

Many thanks to the nice young man who took our picture. I asked him to make us look "hot, sexy and fabulous" and I believe he managed.

Thanks for dinner, dear friends! Most of all, thanks for your friendship.

Southwest Museum (Birthday Month Adventure #2)

The Southwest Museum is another place I've always wanted to visit but hadn't until Birthday Adventure Month. Maybe always wanting to go but never having gone is one of my unconscious criteria for an adventure.

I'm determined to have at least one adventure per week this month. It's not easy to schedule adventures! I'm so focused on working. But adventures fuel me and I've never regretted one, even the ones that don't turn out like I expect them to. Especially those.

The Southwest Museum, the oldest museum in Los Angeles, looms over the Pasadena freeway, all southwestern/Spanishy in the sun. Damage from the 1994 Northridge Earthquake was so extensive the building had to be closed, and eventually it was acquired by the Autry Museum along with its extensive collections of Native American pottery, baskets and weavings, not just from the southwest but from all over the country. There's a complicated history to this. This link was sent to me by a friend.

There's only one exhibit room open right now, and a few pieces displayed in a downstairs hallway. I found the straw sandal to be the most affecting. It's a fine exhibit, but don't go expecting a full day. The Museum is open Saturdays only. It's free, there's plenty of parking, and you'll see glorious Native American pottery, some pieces as much as 500 years old, some from the late 20th century.

The website is a bit misleading. I clicked on a link for the cafe but it turns out that's at the Autry. We were so hungry that we skipped out without seeing the tunnel, approached from the disabled parking lot on a lower level of the hill. The elevator's not working right now, so if you are wheelchair-bound you're restricted to the upper level. But that's where the pottery is so you'll see most of the good stuff (but not the sandal).

An adventure doesn't always turn out like you expect it to. That's adventure by definition, in a way.

You might want to enlarge this one to appreciate the snow-covered San Gabriel peaks in the distance. This is a view I hadn't seen before, easily gained by stepping to the edge of the parking lot at the Southwest Museum.

Note: Pasadena Adjacent was across the Arroyo from us at about the time of these photos. She was painting watercolor #19 in a series.

E. Waldo Ward Ranch (Birthday Month Adventure #1)

 

This 1902 barn is the most well-known view of the E. Waldo Ward Ranch, the first of my birthday month adventures. The tower is where they stored their weekly water delivery back then.

 

I hadn't seen photos of the house before. I don't know if you can tell from this photo but this house is BIG. It was built of redwood in 1903, and it's still occupied by the descendants of E. Waldo Ward.

Mr. Ward started his orange groves and perfected his marmalade recipes here at the ranch. His marmalade was THE thing on railroad dining cars for many years.

There's a gift shop, thank goodness. I'm happy to report that we came home with Pumpkin Butter and Old Fashioned Cucumber Slices.

You might think a short trip to Sierra Madre an odd way to start my month of birthday adventures, but I've wanted to see this place since I moved to Pasadena, so this week I did. My birthday adventures are all about doing what I want to do. Within reason.

E. Waldo Ward has regular hours when you can visit the store and wander the property. And on Saturdays they give free tours by appointment.

If you'd like to know more about the E. Waldo Ward Ranch, just go there! Or pick up Elizabeth Pomeroy's book Lost and Found at a local store or the Pasadena Museum of History gift shop. The ranch is on page 72.
 

Birthday Month

Margaret Finnegan had a great idea. During February, her birthday month, she would do 50 good deeds. Not only did she think it up, she followed through, posting her results on Facebook.

I'd like to imitate Margaret but I'm not as nice as she is, so I've come up with something else for my birthday month in March. I'm going to have a minimum of one adventure each week and I'll tell you about my adventures here. I'm allowed to do this instead of good deeds because I'm older than Margaret, and by god, some adventure is in order.

For my current purposes, an adventure is something I haven't done before or somewhere I haven't been before, preferably inexpensive or free and not too far away. I've got Elizabeth Pomeroy's wonderful Lost and Found as my guide, and I'd be glad to have your suggestions, too.

I'll try to do some good deeds while I'm at it.

Birthday Month

It's birthday month and I'm celebrating in all my favorite ways: world travel, lavish meals, jewels--you know, jet-setting.

I've also got a couple of sales going on the Camelot & Vine ebook:

Get it now: only through tomorrow (March 8, 2014) at Smashwords, enter the coupon code REW50 at checkout and get C&V for 50% off, or $3.00

If you miss it on Smashwords, the book is on sale all month at Amazon for $3.99.

Feel free to review it, good or bad. I'm told that quantity rules over quality on Amazon. Go figure.

Off I go to Paris, Milan, Istanbul! Or somewhere.

Today

Today is mine. I get to have it.

Most days we pitch in, assist, participate, help out, work hard, share responsibilities. But today is not most days, and everyone deserves to have a day that is not most days.

Needs

Tired from my birthday! I ate a lot. Wore me out.

These days, I don't need a party. All I need is my family of John, Boz and me, cozy in our living room.

And computers: one for John and one for me. A bone for Boz. (Addicts, all.)

And books. And crossword puzzles. And tissues to blow my nose on. And plumbing, of course. I feel like we need plumbing. Electricity, too.

But that's all. Except lunch and dinner. And bed. Stop me now, I shouldn't have started.

Self Portrait

It's my birthday, so a little self-reflection is in order.

This isn't a "big one," though they do tend to get bigger as they go. But it's as good a time as any to check in with myself and see how I'm doing:

Never as well as I mean to.
Always better than I could be doing, I suppose.

If I compare my real self to my ideal self, I'll never be satisfied, so I'd best leave that alone. I try not to compare myself to other people because someone, somewhere, said that wasn't nice. But in my not-so-nice/a.k.a. normal human moments I know I do better than some people. I do worse than others.

Maybe comparisons aren't a good idea. Maybe they're irrelevant.

The question is, am I happy? The answer is, yes. Grateful? Yes, yes, yes.

Speaking of which, John turned me on to this song.

I know you guys and you're all going to say lovely things (okay, most a few of you are going to say lovely things) and wish me a happy birthday. Thank you! Please tell us, also, how you reflect on yourself, when you self-reflect.

August Birthday

My friend just turned three. His folks threw a big party with family and friends, and an artist came to draw caricatures of all the kids. I wonder what wonders my buddy contemplated while he sat for his portrait. Perhaps he considered how blessed he is to share his birthday with his baby brother.

Perhaps not.

Meanwhile, baby brother contemplated a completely different set of wonders on his first birthday.

Happy birthday, my friends!