Hello Fifty-Five.

Hello FIFTY-FIVE, and happy birthday to me. Today I’m celebrating another trip around the sun. I happen to love birthdays, and I’m not one of those people who despairs over her age, BUT, I do declare there seems to be something a wee bit supernatural going on. I mean, the orbit is the same each year yet the ride whips by more quickly.

Doesn’t it?

And sometimes, the lap bar holding me inside doesn’t feel quite so secure.

When I was a kid, every birthday felt oh so significant, the actual number itself rolled off my tongue in a completely different way.

Eight sounded succinct and more powerful than seven.
Ten marked a huge leap into the enchanted land of double digits.
Thirteen promised all the possibility that came with being a bonafide teenager.
I celebrated twenty-one in Tokyo!

Fifty-five feels strangely significant, too, more so than fifty-three or fifty-four. Those years simply showed up and rushed along in carnival ride fashion as I wrote a book, promoted a book, all those things. But now fifty-five is here.

“Fifty-five.”

It has a jaunty jingle to it.

Do I feel old? No.
Do I feel young? No.
I still feel like me but with more awareness of my own mortality and those around me, more control over my day-to-day life, more concern over my body and nature around me. And that’s a good place to be.

I’ve never understood why people lie about their age. Such pressure to look younger… My Daddy always rounded up his age. After he turned 55, he started telling folks he was 60. I suppose he thought it easier to count by 5s. But he died at 57 and never saw 60.

One thing is certain, our days are not infinite. Yet we often live as though someday will always follow tomorrow. And as my father-in-law once told me, “Someday gets here fast.” I know that now.

And as Willie Nelson says, “Gee, ain’t it funny how times slips away?”

Funny, not funny, Willie.

Things I Plan To Do…

I’m rolling out the red carpet and expecting great things from such a significant, light-bulb year. And I’m getting this party started with a few birthday goals.

• In honor of my 55th birthday, I plan to log 55 miles on the elliptical machine at the gym in July.
• I will donate 55 things to Goodwill. Soon.
• In 2017, I will read 55 books. (In January, I set my goal at 50. I just upped it to 55. You can follow my progress HERE on Goodreads.)
• I will spend 55 minutes per week on learning something new.

Now, let’s eat cake.

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis]This is 55. Happy Birthday to me ? ?#Party[/tweetthis]

Musical Pairing:
Willie Nelson, Funny How Times Slips Away