My Perfect Birthday

Turning sixty-eight years old is no big deal. I woke up this morning feeling better than I felt before I retired at sixty-six years old. Retirement has been better for my physical and mental health.

Today I watched Season 3 of The Bear while Joe worked in the yard. I meditated and listened to a train soundscape with my eyes closed (there may have been a bit of snoring on my part). Answered Facebook alerts, texts, and emails from friends and family wishing me a happy birthday. It is sweet to be remembered on this day. I also prepped dinner and put it in the oven. We are trying a new recipe – Baked Pork Chops and Apples. It smells divine!

This will be served with a green salad of butter lettuce, romaine, red onion, garbanzo beans, feta cheese, and raisins. We also have macaroni salad. Since  we moved into the house I have been cooking dinner. I try new recipes weekly and have begun to experiment with ingredients. Joe is doing all of the yard work, so it does not seem fair to expect him to cook as well. He says he would gladly cook, and I know that to be true. In the past it gave him pleasure cooking for our friends and family.

The other day he said, “If I had known how well you can cook, I probably would have asked you to do it more over the years.” I laughed. It is not that I do not know how to follow a recipe or how to experiment, he always enjoyed cooking so much and, other than group dinners which we both cooked,  I was fine with him cooking and me cleaning up from meals.

So now I bake cakes or cookies weekly and find something ‘fun’ or ‘new to us’ to do with the nightly protein. I am learning things along the way, like not to make meatloaf in a loaf pan as it ends up steaming the meat. Now our meatloaf is formed into a loaf shape and baked on a cookie sheet. The recipes I have used come out firmer and moister than my past meatloaf recipes.

A day or so ago, I downloaded a phone app called “Be My Eyes.” My dear friend, Ann in Pennsylvania, had posted the information on Facebook and I was intrigued. The app is free. The purpose is to connect “blind and low-vision users who want sighted assistance with volunteers and companies anywhere in the world, through live video and artificial intelligence.” During the sign-up process, the app tells you it may be weeks before you get a request for assistance. I was so happy to get a request today!

What I like about the app is that I can serve someone else without a specific time commitment, I can do it when it is convenient for my schedule, and there are no emotional ties. The call I received was a couple asking me to tell them the color of a shirt. They also wanted to know if it had writing on it. What they were “feeling” was not a word but the outline of an orange alien. The shirt was grey. My take-away from the call was that I take my vision for granted.

The house smells  like baking apples. An orange butterfly is flittering around our backyard bushes. A cool breeze is flowing through the sunroom. The temperature outside is 78 degrees, making for a perfect day – not too hot or too cool. Even with the windows open, the neighborhood is quiet.

Happy birthday to me.