Yay! Happy Birthday. Eight years on Hive last month and 79 years on earth this month. I'm a really lucky lady. My family was with me on my earth birthday--husband, daughter, son, dog, cat. Just missing the granddaughter, but she called at night. Everyone but the granddaughter and the cat took a walk at the beach.
It was a perfect day, over 60 F. There was a gentle breeze on the shore. A lot of people seemed to have the same idea we had and came to the beach. Here's a picture of my husband, my daughter and the dog, walking on the promenade.
Here is a picture of me taking a picture with my phone. Those white, lumpy figures in the distance are boats that have been in dock for the winter. Soon, all those boats will be out on the water. One year we had a blizzard in April, so maybe it's too early for the boat owners to take them out. Not safe yet.
I'm the sort of person it's hard to do things for. I don't accept presents or kind deeds easily. That's not fair to people who love me. It can be frustrating for them, so I tried to think of something I wanted from everyone this year. That one thing was for all of us to be together and take a walk. Simple wish, but what is more beautiful?
My husband is four months older than I am, so every year we wait four months for me to catch up with him. Now we are both 79, and I'm impressed with that number. Impressed and grateful.
Will we be 80 together, when I (maybe) have my next birthday? Who knows? Lucky couple that gets to experience that number, together. So this year, I'm taking a breath, reflecting, and enjoying our time, our family's time.
The scenery was perfect. The one sad note was that some of the birds had died. We seem to have an epidemic of bird flu in my area, and several beaches have stretches of dead birds. We only saw two yesterday. I'm not showing any of them here. What I am showing is the bay, glorious, peaceful, grand.
Here we are, my husband and I, sitting on a bench. He's not much of a talker, so this is a good shot, catching him talking :).
Although the cat was not with us on our beach expedition, the cat is always with us. He wakes us up in the morning and reminds us when it's time to go to bed. He tucks in patiently at night these days and sleeps quietly. Well, sometimes he does get up and roar as he wanders around the house, but I think he must have a stomach ache when he does that. Here's a picture of the cat at home, cleaning a plate.
We tried taking him on walks. My daughter bought a carrier and walked around with him. He clawed and screeched. When the walk was over it was obvious he had been sick in there, so no more walks for him.
Now back to the beach. Here is the dog getting his ear scratched. My husband loves this dog, and the dog returns the affection.
Here is another picture of the dog. That's my daughter's feet behind him. When she goes to the beach alone with him he is much more adventurous.
My husband and daughter are sitting on a short stone wall in the picture above. The wall looks over the bay, which is usually busy with watercraft in summer. This time of year there would be a kayak or two in the water.
Here I am, sitting on the wall with my husband.
You'll notice that the bricks we're standing on (picture below) are not only cracked, but seem to have bits of debris on them. That debris is mostly broken clam and oyster shells. The gulls collect shellfish from the shore and carry the animals over to this hard surface. They throw the shellfish down from a great height, sometimes repeatedly, until the shell cracks and the bird can eat the animal hidden inside. I took a picture of one place that had a collection of these broken shell bits.
We did see a few watercraft in the bay. In the picture below you can see sails in the distance. These were very small and swiftly moving, so maybe people were windsurfing. There is a vendor who rents kayaks and small craft in that area of the park. You have to look closely at the picture to see the sails.
We also saw a couple of kayaks. People bring their own (my daughter has her own, also) and they rent from the vendor at the other side of the park. Here's a picture of two kayaks. That stone wall in the picture is the very one my husband and I were sitting on (image further up in the blog).
I took a brief video of a kayak that didn't seem to be moving. The wind is blowing audibly and overhead a gull is flapping its wings. But the kayak...gliding, almost still.
Of course there were children at the park, and a few other dogs. I took a shot of the playground as we were leaving.
My 'big' birthday present was a walk at the beach. But I did get other presents: beautiful flowers, lounge pajamas, money (grandmothers always need extra money to give away to grandchildren), a ceramic Easter egg, necklace, earrings. Here's a picture of two plants (gifts) that are on my front step, waiting for the spring sun and rain.
We had a glorious day. This picture of my husband and me captures I think the spirit of the day. We are beginning our walk on the promenade here. The dog is watching, wondering no doubt where we are going without him. My daughter held back a bit so she could get this shot.
I mentioned my birthday on Hive at the beginning of this post. Anyone reading this post would guess I'm sure that it's a great pleasure to share such a blog, to share my family day with my friends on Hive. I'm very happy Hive came along when I was in my twilight hears. This is such a stimulating, rewarding environment for anyone. For me, it is perfect.
I am brimming with ideas and curiosity. I'm not much of a social butterfly, but I easily make friends here, on this platform. Today I am thanking everyone who reads my blogs, who has made my Hive journey such a pleasant one.
May all of us be here next year when I celebrate my 80th birthday, with my husband.
Thank you for reading my blog. Peace and health. May the war in Iran end soon.
I end with the ridiculous birthday card my son gave me :) Never to old to have fun.
