What I think about Birthdays

I went to a birthday feast last night at AV Italiano. The food was great, the wine flowed very generously and the most important the friends were.... Well they were what they are. It's funny how a celebration of age makes me think how rare the actual birthday event is. Follow me on this. For each person the true birth-day is celebrated exactly once. The annual anniversary of that date is observed generally throughout the lifetime; at an occurrence of 1/365 of each year, and the average life expectancy being probably 75, the total number of days occupied by birthday observances naturally works out to be 1/365 of the total number of days lived (27,375 days, overlooking leap-years of course). So that works out to be In decimal figures that is 2.7397x10-3. So from a purely statistical point of view, the birthday is a rare event.

But it is for other reasons, of course, that we mark the anniversary of the birth a human being. It is remarkable enough when life enters the world; it is no less so when it survives for a period of time expressed in years rather than days or hours. Even more than that, though, is the fact that a child who, despite great odds, goes on to become an adult forms relationships with other humans, adults and children both, and ultimately brings new life into the world. And it is we, those people with whom the birthday honoree has shared their life, who celebrate the anniversary.

The actual enthusiasm of the birthday honoree him- or herself tends to vary inversely with age. The sense of expectation that we have for an approaching birthday tends to decrease as we advance in years. As children we eagerly anticipate our birthday for several reasons: the special attention, the presents, perhaps the occasion of a party, complete with a unique cake especially for us. As we become older, however, birthdays seem to lose some of their former luster. This may be because the novelty eventually wears off. Years seem to become shorter, birthdays seem to fall closer together. Perhaps also it is because, generally speaking, the older we are the less we change from year to year. The quantity of "new" in a year diminishes as we settle into our selves and our lives, and so the passing of another year is less significant.

In any case the birthday is the primary means by which we measure our lives through time. While other annual events indicate the passing of general time, the birthday serves to mark off our own personal time as well. In day-to-day living, a year is perhaps too great a time span to have immediate meaning for us. But on the birthday it snaps into focus, if fleetingly. We become aware that time truly has been passing for us. And the birthday catapults each of us backwards through time, like paging through a picture album from back to front: most of the other 364 days of the year surrender themselves to the haze of half-forgotten memory, but often each birthday stands out, and we recall what we did one year ago; two; ten; twenty.

For some people, birthdays seem most like an ending: another year, gone. It is with almost a sense of loss, even regret, that the birthday is observed. But as a point of completion, the birthday can give rise to a review of all the things accomplished in the past year, of gains that have been made. The great teacher experience has enriched our lives, even if some of its lessons have been learned painfully.

No less than it is an end is the birthday a beginning. Just as looking back on the past can offer a sense of accomplishment, so does looking ahead to the future inspire new goals, or continued striving for old ones. On the birthday we are filled with speculation at what the coming year may have in store. Perhaps on the birthday we choose to put all the past behind us and to start freshly. Every year we are given this wonderful opportunity to begin anew.

But in all this looking ahead and behind, we might easily forget to examine the here and the now. The birthday is one day out of the year that we can pause and see what we have right now: Family. Friends. Home. Career. Health. Whatever we look back upon and wish that had been, whatever we look forward to and hope for, it turns out that those things that we need most of all are here with us today. At this very minute each of us is showered by blessings untold and incomprehensible. We have more than we can possibly understand all at once. In daily living, trials and tribulations threaten to overwhelm us. So on the occasion of the birthday, then, let us take advantage of its exceptional -- it is, after all, only 24 hours compared to the 8,736 ordinary hours in the rest of the year -- to pause and give thanks for all the things that we do have; and most importantly of all, for all the people -- mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons, daughters, and on and on -- who support us with the gift of love, a gift given not on just one day of the year, but every day of every year.

Happy Birthday my friends.

Can easy be too hard?

Have the fans of DC made the Nationals job of winning too hard? Let's examine what we have here. Oh, but a mere year ago, we in the land of no representation had no boys of summer to cheer or sheer for or about. Yet, with a blink of an eye and a couple of drug deals with MLB by the mayor, we, the lonely lost souls of summer are playing ball in the mist of the land of the policy wonks. Who would of thunk it. I can remember thinking if the Expos, because at the time we didn't even have a name for the team yet, could win 75 games it would be a glorious time in the land of Sunday morning talk shows. Even with the controversy with the Baltimore Orioles, everyone remained positive. We did not expect much because we had baseball. Well, the Nats started off strong and kept going. I looked around and damn it's September. Well sports fans, I checked today and my adopted team is two and a half games out of the wild card race, but fading fast. After losing the week end series with St. Louis and the Braves rolling into town for a three game set many have written the Nationals off. The sports talk radio and the local fish wrap basically have said..... Nice try......You guys did good. WHAT!?! Are you kidding me. No. You don't give them a pass. Play ball! It is not ok. We can't make it easy for them because our expectations were so low going into the season. Two and a half games out. Just look at it like this. If we get into the playoffs, we actually could go somewhere. We have three pitchers that match up with any three pitchers in the national league. So no, they don't get a pass. No it is not ok to mail it in. How would they, the Nats, like it if we did not show up for a big game just because we thought that we have done enough. We are going to stand behind you whether you win, lose or draw, but you have to shoulder your part also.