May 25, 2007
Turning ... a certain age
So I turned... a certain age, on Wednesday. I won't mention the number out loud on the interweb as I may well be forced to start lying about my age soon.
It's not as bad as I thought. I find I feel pretty much the same as before. Every year, I expect growing older to make me feel different, and it never does. I wonder if inside every eighty year old there is a shocked eighteen year old thinking 'What happened?? One moment I was doing tequila slammers in my gold lame bikini on the beach in Thailand and now my hands shake too much to pour my own small glass of sweet sherry in the nursing home.'
Or maybe it's all a lot more subtle than that. I hope so anyway (I've never had a gold lame bikini, just in case you were wondering...)
My birthday was a lovely day. I was on holiday in Corfu. It was sunny and hot, and we took a boat trip to the wee island of Paxos.
I sat in the back of the boat, hair ruffling in the sea air, chatting to lovely travellers, thoroughly enjoying the tang of the sea and the beautiful views. The boat stopped so we could go swimming in the clearest bright aquamarine sea I have ever seen.
It was amazing. A trite use of the English language, but I can't think of a better way to describe the bliss of it all.
Afterwards we dried off in the hot sunshine, salty air whooshing by, eating tasty sandwiches. We touristed past a number of sea caves and beautiful white sandy coves where billionaires tie up their yachts for little breaks from their demanding lives. I knew I should go in out of the sun, but I realised I was having too much fun to care if I turned into a little lobster.
Then we had an utterly lovely time wandering around the main town on Paxos, discovering little churches and flower-strewn alleyways off the whitewashed streets, higgledepiggedly and enchanting with bright hanging flowers, and sea-faded paintwork.
I bought some tat (I have an extended fondess for the tat of all nations). I try to resist the little salt shaker shaped like a Greek cottage by the sea, but what can I do? I'm on holiday.
Then back to the bright lights and the big townships of Corfu. A bit of a snooze on the boat on the way home, Greek and other pop music seeping into my unconciousness, so I still find myself singing this song. Don't watch it. ;-)
Then out to dinner at a lovely restaurant overlooking the sea. Champers and all.
I think it was my favourite birthday ever. Although I have to be honest and say that I can't actually remember any other birthdays just now (anyone?). Even last year is a distant blur. Oh well, definitely the best birthday ever then.