Saturday, 26 April 2014

A birthday to remember


Not too long ago I celebrated my birthday for the 28th time.
 Isn't it funny how the whole experience changes in your lifetime? When the practice first begins you have no idea what’s going on. Everything is just noise, the taste of cake and some kind of fluffy toy being stuffed in your face.  Then it becomes the most important day of your life.  A birthday’s success is measured in balloons, presents, cakes and party games. Later the birthday signifies getting older and becoming an adult. When you finally hit the ages 16 right up to 21 it’s sensational.  The whole adult world is opening its door to you. Hand me booze, voting cards and independence!!!

In my mid-twenties birthdays took another turn.  The excitement from previous years was gone and I wasn't really sure what I was meant to be celebrating. It just seemed like an excuse to drink yourself silly and gets cards. After a while it led to me doing a lot of soul searching, pondering on all the things I hadn't done yet and feeling washed up. In hind sight I see how wrong I was and over the top, but I cannot laugh at it.  In life we put a lot of pressure on ourselves, even if no one else does.

This year my birthday began with an alarm, very early in the morning. Before I knew it, I was climbing upwards in the dark, cursing myself for not rolling over and going back to sleep. I had a day off, what the hell was I thinking? Even the littering of glow worms couldn't shake my bad mood.
 Then dawn began to creep up and as we reached the pass, a cloud fall came into view.  Moving just like a waterfall, the cloud tumbled over the Arthur valley.

The opposite valley looked like a glacier, with a thick sheet of cloud obstructing the view below. It looked so solid I thought I could walk on it.  Only the mountain tops rose from the vapor.







For a long time I watched this scene, this spectacle of nature and thought ‘I am so thankful to see this.’  If I’d stayed in bed I would have had no idea what I was missing, this whole phenomenon would have gone unseen by the world.

The rest of my day was brilliant; I got a kick ass cake, brunch in bed, got cards and books in the mail and was taken to a cave area I’d never explored.  But it’s the cloud fall that will always stay in my memory.
In my life, I’ve had an assortment of birthdays; some sugar high, some drunk, some sad and some happy. But this one was a whole new kettle of fish.  This birthday I felt I belonged. I was in the right place at the right time and I’m eternally thankful for it.

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