Another Birthday Eve

Another birthday eve. About to turn sixty-one. Just a few hours away. I consider it an accomplishment. Since I can't reverse the process I might as well be proud. Though the time between each birthday does seem to speed up with each year. Happy to say that I'm still walking around and feeling adequate for the most part.

I have all kinds of new music to listen to and books to read. Took a trip to an art gallery and picked up a couple small clay sculptures. Then a impromptu drive from Independence to Albany on a winding country road that I've never traveled before. Then back to Salem and feeling lost at Best Buy in a sea of new technology. What bothers me is that there will be advancements and updates every few weeks it seems and I'll still be back at the first generation starting point attempting to comprehend and find my way in the dark.

A view from the rafters!! Found this photo in a 1962 South Salem high school yearbook in an antiques shop. I snapped a photo of the photo with my cell phone. The high school playoffs at Mac Court in Eugene. AKA "The Pit." Having been in there a few times over the years, I can verify that it lived up to its nickname. I thought the angle the photo was taken from was fascinating. Some of the perception and effect is lost in this small photo of a larger photo. I was going to purchase the yearbook just for this image but was shocked at the asking price. But being a basketball junkie and lover of basketball history, I felt a burning desire to have this photo. So I cheated. The alternative option that was considered for a few nervous seconds was sliding the page, which was loose anyway, under my jacket and walking out the door. Though I eventually decided that I was a little too old to risk being taken to jail for the first time in my life on a petty shoplifting charge. Who wants to spend their birthday in jail? Besides, who would put up bail for my release?

Sixteen years later, I attended what was then the Oregon Class AA High School playoffs in this building. A great old building with tons of atmosphere! You could sense the history and ghosts in the hallways. I would have loved spending ten minutes alone on that floor, just shooting baskets