Birthdays

Six Feet Under is a television series that I suggest everyone watches. I am so glad that when I was doing my undergraduate studies I would procrastinate by watching this series back to back, because it taught me a more valuable lesson than any essay I was writing at the time. It taught me to appreciate birthdays. Seeing death on a constant basis in crazy, unusual, and instant ways ingrains how much of a privilege life is, and how fragile it can be.  Turning another year older is ultimately what we all strive for. It’s what we want.

I recently celebrated my 26th birthday! Yes, it kind of snuck up on me; I’m not quite sure when that happened? I still remember my 21st birthday so clearly! Still I have done a lot of living in 26 years, and even though there is still so much to achieve, 26 seems like a bit of alright.
Another pearl of wisdom that I learnt 3 years ago is that time doesn’t matter as long as you are happy with where you are in life. The moment that I had that epiphany, I had graduated from university and I was travelling the world. I was sitting with my fellow house keepers in Grizzly Lodge on Big White Ski Resort in Kelowna, BC, Canada. I was exactly where I wanted to be.


I am not presently where I want to be, but with a bit of luck, I’ll get there this year. At the tender age of 26, I want to begin my career. When we were going around the table discussing what we would do if the world ended in December twenty twelve, mine wasn’t take off sailing around the world, or sit on an exotic island, it was to start my career. I am a bit late – I am aware of this, but I wouldn’t regret any of the amazing experiences I have had to date.

So taking a page out my own rule book, we cleared out that unloved and barely used wood fire pizza oven sitting neglected in our back yard, and cooked up a storm. Gavin and I tested it the night before, and I had an experience similar to finding God when I took a bite of that pizza. I’m sure it had something to do with the prep. Building our own fire, making our own dough – feels good to be cooking out in the open, and because it took about 30 minutes for the pizza to bake, Gavin and I sat had a beverage and talked, aint nothing like talking around a fire. A great way to cook, and I can’t believe it took us so long to use it!


On the day, I am lucky enough to have a chef as a friend who took over the majority of the cooking! As we were all getting hungry, we make a few pizzas in the oven as well, but I got many a compliment on the homemade bases, and people always seem to be very impressed when I manage to pull off some feat in cooking – I’ll choose to take that as a compliment.

Birthdays, a time to celebrate with bloody good friends and family, and feel grateful to be alive!

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