45 years later...

Suna at 5 or 6
Originally uploaded by sunasak

Here I am at age 5. I remember I had to practice not squinting up that one eye when I smiled. I remember my original eyebrows, too, and wish I had them back.

But today I am 50. Half a century gone, over half my life lived unless those Canova family genes really took hold.

I celebrated at lunch today by going outside to eat a sandwich and look at old things: all the turtles in the Turtle Pond near the UT Tower. They have moss growing on their shells, and seemed quite content to be blinking sleepily and enjoying the sunshine. It reminded me that there is good to reflecting on your life in a slow and thoughtful way. I saw a shadow and looked up to see a tiger swallowtail swooping up and down in the brisk wind. That reminded me that I am always changing. The butterfly led my attention to my left, where I saw a plant about 12 feet tall. It had no leaves, only huge thorns. But it also had a beautiful array of white flowers, the size of apple blossoms. The contrast of the thorns and flowers reminded me that there will always be beauty and danger in life.

With that little lesson all wrapped up, I was ready to face the rest of my day. So many of my friends have had huge parties, celebrations and events for turning 50. I honestly don't feel like it, and I know Lee isn't big on celebrations, so we will just have a nice dinner once my dad gets here on Friday. I'll raise a Starbucks toast to myself and Suzanne (tomorrow she is 50) at the knitting group, then sing in the choir as usual. A low-key, pleasant start to the next half century.

I did get a lovely freshwater pearl necklace and earrings from Lee, hand-made by his talented boss. I will TRY to share a photo of it, if I am home at the office desk enough any day soon to do so. Tomorrow will feature a lot of cleaning and straightening for the Parental Visit, but I'll try!

Have you been wondering how the new job is going? Well, it is just fine--there are a lot of details on arcane accounting mainframe applications to learn and I am trying to not be jealous that I am not on the web team. They have the fun jobs. Heh, reminds me of wishing I was on that other team at the previous place! But, here I will have lots of opportunities. It's a bit claustrophobic, but everyone is nice. Once I get a couple of books and plants in here, it will be OK, even though I can't turn around, the desk is so small.

The bus will take some getting used to, but is still better than driving all this way. I only have to drive 5-6 miles rather than 30-40. While the buses have wi-fi, they are so cramped I can't open the computer, so forget that. I have managed to knit some, though!

I think things will settle in just fine. I just need to adjust, which will happen.