Yesterday was my birthday – 44 – nothing too exciting about that. The first part of the day was pretty much a bust – the second half was a blast!
My “usual” birthday starts off by going to a restaurant and eating Belgum waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. After breakfast I go to the Botanical Garden and walk through the woodland garden. St. Louis has a beautiful botanical garden, and while I enjoy other parts of it, my most favorite part is the woodland garden. I generally go alone on my birthday, so I can spend as much time as I like in the areas I like and I don’t have to wander through the entire garden as I might if I went with someone else. After my walk in the garden I generally hit the art museum. St. Louis has a wonderful – Free – art museum. Then, the final part of my “alone” birthday is when I go out and purchase one thing for myself.
I did none of this.
Instead I had my usual breakfast, fussed and became frustrated over some committee work I’m involved in, did mindless paperwork, and finished up a gift for a very close friend of mine with whom I share a birthday.
The day before I built my birthday buddy a window box out of wood I salvaged from a demolition. I borrowed a friend’s pneumatic nailer for this project (THAT was fun!) I put a nice mitered trim around the top and painted it with oil-based paint I had left from a previous project. I was pleased with the results. Yesterday I spent time outside digging up plants out of my yard to put in this box – I went for the texture more than the color. The mosquitoes were really bad, but I survived.
The evening was GREAT! I picked up my chosen mom and headed over to the home of two good friends, and dropped off the window box – it was a hit. We had a few drinks then headed to a Nicaraguan restaurant. The food was wonderful and it was great to be around the table with my birthday buddy and five friends.
Our final stop – a landmark custard place in the city. I don’t think I’ve ever been to this place when the eight or ten lines to order weren’t at least ten people deep. Last night was no exception. We stood around and ate custard and enjoyed the nice night air.
I used paper napkins, ate custard with a plastic spoon out of a throw-away cup, I used quite a bit of gas to get from my part of town (North County) to everywhere else (South City), and guess what? Too bad! It was my birthday, and on my birthday I get to let myself enjoy without feeling guilty – at least those are my rules.
Happy (late) birthday. Glad to hear you had a good one! Too bad you didn’t get to do your ‘usual birthday stuff though, but at least you still had a blast. I grew up in St. Charles (now live in Columbia, Missouri) and the Botanical Gardens was always one of my favorite places. I went to STL last weekend for my dad’s graduation from Keller School of Management and we went to the Art Museum afterward since the ceremony was held at the Missouri History Museum.
I wouldn’t feel bad about being a little bit more wasteful, we in the environmental community do so much, that from time to time, I think it’s perfectly fine to ‘let go’ a bit and just have fun. Nice to “meet” a fellow environmental enthusiast from Missouri!
Happy belated birthday! I’m glad you had a birthday filled with all sorts of different experiences and treats. I think treats are just fine on your birthday – only doing certain things now and then is what what makes those things so special!