Prince of a Man

Today is David's Birthday.

And with today, we complete the cycle that first brought us to Santa Fe. A year ago today, David turned 50 and we drove down to Santa Fe to commence our house hunt. A year from tomorrow will be the first time we saw this house. David turning 50 also marked the beginning of his early retirement, which freed him to return to school to start this second career.

Finally I can connect the cycle of how the garden looked this time last year (better than it does now, I think. alas).

In my family, birthdays are special, but I feel like David often gets a bit skunked on his. Sometimes we've done fun things, like the year we went to Las Vegas for a few days and saw three nights of Cirque du Soleil, and drank margaritas by the pool during the day. Or the year we drove around Wyoming during his birthday week and played tourist.

But last year I was scrambling for gifts because I'd been on non-stop travel. It should have been a special party for his 50th, like we did for his 40th. I'd hoped we'd go out to dinner on some great patio in Santa Fe, but it was pouring rain when we arrived and we just didn't feel like going back out in it. We ended up ordering dining delivery from Maria's Kitchen. We stayed in, drank the expensive tequila I'd gotten him and listened to the rain.

We both remember that evening with nostalgia, though there wasn't much to it. Tonight we have reservations for the patio at Luminaria, which people say makes you feel like you're in the Caribbean. He has class all day and an exam this afternoon. Hopefully we can do cocktails and presents on the patio before we go to dinner.

Another low-key birthday for David. But maybe that's okay.

Next year, though, I'm thinking we should go back to Las Vegas for the weekend.