Cross me

Birthday memories

It was my brother's birthday yesterday. He's in Toronto and I'm here in Trinidad—for now. I emailed him good wishes and a birthday card. Physical cards are nice but after a while they end up in a box stored away collecting bugs and dust, unless of course you end up trashing them all because your card collection (which includes Christmas and every other holiday/occasion) has outgrown your living quarters. Years ago a friend of mine told me that she was throwing out all her cards—I thought then that I could never do that. What about all the memories? I still haven't thrown out my greeting card collection, but even though the box that houses it is rather small, I am giving it serious thought—it's not like I can take the cards with me when I leave this planet. I figure I can spread them out on the floor and take a single memorable photo to replace that box full of memories. It's not just the cards, I don't want any gifts—I am downsizing by removing all the clutter from my life and have been for the past few years. So you see it's not that I have anything against those special paper cards—I want to get rid of it all and that includes many other boxes of physical memories.

My brother mentioned that he was going to spend a quiet birthday. Good for him! Simple and peaceful. My most memorable birthday happened many years ago. There was no crazy party or if there was I don't remember. This memory was crafted by a friend who took the time to sing Happy Birthday to me in the form of a message on my answering machine. I remember getting home and checking my answering machine for messages and there it was—in all it's sensuality. This was in the style of the version that Marilyn Monroe sang to JFK back in 1962. It was better than the original and I can still hear it today—regardless of who's celebrating a birthday. I have the tape stored away in a box. The memory will never leave me, even if one day the tape does.

Frogi

I see clearly now.

This time around

it’s come around again
much like it had before
many many moons ago
I experienced for the first time
loved for the first time
learned in a different way
searched all over
seems so long ago
I wish now was then
to gracefully accept
didn’t realize how blessed I was
masked the offerings, tempted fate
often numbed myself
so many offerings
many more than you two
you are in my life
cherished, adored not admittedly
I believed you
loved you for many years
are you afraid of growing old?
I want to meet you
little old me
open me up
this time around
all the blessings
each day I must give thanks
you are compelling
smiling up and down
all around I see the smiles
I feel it all, let me feel it all

If a shadow falls...

I have been taking a lot of photos lately and need to get an external hard drive to keep up with my storage needs—400Gig should be enough for now. Seagate or Lacie? Hmmm.