71

       A few days ago I turned 71. Funny, but turning 71 didn't feel nearly as momentous as turning 70 did ​(See post from 10/5/2021, https://www.ailantha.com/blog/70).

      In fact, this birthday didn't feel momentous at all. It felt like...I don't know...just another birthday. But a very nice one. I received many phone calls - including a wonderful surprise call from a dear old childhood friend - and a finity of birthday wishes on Facebook.
​      My sister sent me a beautiful box of cupcakes. 

     Tom and the kids took me out to dinner at Harvest, a pizzeria that looks like a house,

...where one may enjoy one's pizza on the front porch if one so wishes,

...though we opted to eat our pizzas inside,

...where they were no less yummy.

     After dinner we headed for Tommy and Emily's house where we had birthday cake. I made the cake. It fell apart. I don't know why. We ate it anyway. It was delicious.

      And I felt none the worse for being 71.
      Maybe entering a new decade of life is something like plunging into a pool: a shock to the system at first, but then you get acclimated. So I guess I'm now acclimated to the idea of being in my seventies. As long as I don't dwell on it too much.
​      Or look in the mirror too much.