I’m an autumn baby and I love having a cusp-of-things kind of birthday. I always associate my birthday with big change. Fall, rather than mid-winter, always feels like the new year to me. (I always felt like New Year’s resolutions were so strange… maybe I live on the Jewish calendar!)
My birthday was a week ago and we decided to leave Texas for the much greener pastures of the borders of Yorkshire.
Somehow we didn’t get any actual pictures of me facing the camera but I have to say the scenery upstaged us anyway. Apparently this is where they shot parts of the final Harry Potter.
A few days later our friends took us for a lovely day at Chatsworth estate. (This has also been home of many film sets, including being Mr. Darcy’s “Pemberley” in the last Pride and Prejudice.) My lovely friend Jen is a textile artist in Sheffield–I had to include this because I love how her colors looked against the sky that day.
I’m 41. It sounds so big to write that down. Did you know that Winona Ryder turned 40 last month? To me, that’s the official sign that Gen X is going into middle age. (Did you see her in Black Swan? Strange and gory.)
My 40th year took me by surprise. I didn’t want to think it’d be a big deal, but it was. I was suddenly crowded with unexpected thoughts, as perhaps many women are, about the rest of my life–about health, children, career, places to live and how to manage it all. All good questions. I started this blog as one of my new resolutions (it started right before my 40th), as a way of challenging myself to write and focus on one particular passion.
I share the same birthday week with my mother and her mother (both seamstresses!). I’m happy to say that my grandma is 102 as of last week, and she’s a sharp and witty lady–she is now mostly blind and no longer sews or knits, but on her birthday last year told me she listens to audio books now, about 20 a week!
Here’s to new horizons and giving oneself permission to change routes!
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Happy Birthday!!! Yorkshire sounds like it was delightful!
Happy Birthday!
Happy birthday, Amy! Your grandmother is an inspiration..
I am totally amazed at her… perhaps I should write about her life because it’s fascinating to me!
Happy birthday! I agree, Autumn is the best time for new resolutions. I think it’s partly that you can really see the change in the season, whereas January isn’t usually any different from December. Hope you enjoyed Yorkshire 🙂
So true. Alas, in Texas fall is so short, but it changes very drastically.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY WEEK!
as usual, i love your thoughtful and inspiring posts (and wish i could find a less cliched way to compliment you). i’m glad you made this blogging resolution.
Not cliched at all! Thank you.
Whoops, meant to comment on this before! Happy birthday! I’m a fall baby, too (a couple months back, mind you) but somehow it’s not enough to endear the season to me—too much dread of the oncoming winter, I suppose. Spring, now that I could rhapsodize on.
I, too, am very glad you decided to “challenge yourself” to blog :).
Those big round numbers sure can mess with your head, can’t they? 30 (last year—we’re a decade apart) really did a number on me. At least I got the kids thing out of the way way back… I just hope I get around to everything else. 😛
Yes, I am such a late bloomer in so many areas of my life. I didn’t get married until 31. It is weird, those numbers, and in some ways they’re almost biblical. I’ve loved seeing some of my friends really take off in their 40s–especially those that had families when they were young and whose kids were college-age by that time.