Birthdays

Yesterday, my fellow employees gathered around a couple of tables filled with cakes, pies and fruit and sang "Happy Birthday" to several colleagues who happened to share November birthdays. They blew out the candles together and the feasting began. Then, we went back to work. We do this every month.

How many million times a day does this ritual play out in homes and offices around the country--or the world? Celebrating birthdays is everywhere--or at least it's all over the U.S., where I live.

Also at work this week, we celebrated a birth, when an employee delivered her first child on 11/11/11--at just a few minutes before 11:11! Two photos of the beautiful boy circulated through our emailboxes.

Today is the birthday of Gordon Lightfoot, one of my favorite singer/songwriter/musicians. I spent an evening with him last week. Here's a case of celebrating the achievement of years. The man is still with us at 73, and although he doesn't sound the same, he is our treasured artist and we celebrate him every time "If You Could Read My Mind" comes on the iPod. There wasn't an empty seat at his concert last week.

The Beatles sang "You say it's your birthday..." on the White Album, and that song gets played a lot, although it is not as ubiquitous as the aforementioned little tune. There are lots of other birthday songs out there.

My wife, stepmom and older son all have birthdays in the next few weeks. That makes the Thanksgiving time especially meaningful. Also, a friend and former boss's birthday is November 27. Jeffrey Thomas, born just 10 days after Gordon Lightfoot in 1938, passed away at only 68. I used to call him on his birthday every year. I miss that--and him.

My most important birthday, I think, so far, was my 50th. That's when I began to take music seriously and got my first bass. I'm hoping -- even planning -- to have many many more.

Time: Milestones and What's Next at Blog Post 200

This is my 200th blog post. The first was on October 12, 2007, but I averaged 7 posts a year in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. This is the 169th of 2011. I committed myself to producing something daily--so here we are.

Is 200 a big deal? It makes me think of other milestones. How about birthdays? Are we celebrating the fact that you were born on a particular day or the fact that you've accumulated all those years? Why would a 50th be especially significant? Because we said it is.

Anniversaries? My 22nd wedding anniversary is about a month away. On that day, and leading up to it, I can remember my happy wedding day, and perhaps remember milestones along the way. And, I get the benefit of being married to my wife for 22 years--not a small thing in itself. This is a little different from a birthday because it represents commitment and some work to keep it going. My birth had nothing to do with me--I just showed up--but my marriage does.

I know that in my life I've been looking for the "next." That meant everything from the first penny of the year (I got my first 2011 one three days ago) to the new cars every year (I've followed the annual model changes since the 1964's rolled out) and even the next issue of Spider-Man (well, this was significant when I was reading these in the 1960s). These "next" incidents are outside of me, but it is fun to watch them appear. I had ten wonderful years gathering the 50 State Quarters, too. But there was no real accomplishment to these activities, although I have some slim blue albums full of metal discs on my shelf today. The comic books are long gone.

Next February, I'll mark 20 years of writing weekly automotive colums. Also in 2012, I'll hit the 1,000th test car. Now those are some happy numbers, aren't they? I just did it a week at a time and it added up. But it still feels different from collecting coins.