After spending a few days preceding my birthday in emergency rooms and in the hospital bed, my plans for a quiet celebration in a downtown spa went south. So, not to waste the day and to show how thankful I am to walk and breathe and feel at home in my body again, I took a long walk to the birch lake. I celebrated with sparkling maple water and a raspberry-lemon bar and received a gift of seeing a beaver for the first time ever. I recorded a birthday choral sang by a Tennessee warbler, an Indigo bunting and a few other birds. I’m not so stupid to believe that the universe turns around me, but I do believe that it is aware of my existence and as I start my fourty-eight’s tour around the universe, I feel deeply, immensely grateful.