Thursday, December 1, 2011

A rutabaga birthday

Today's my birthday, and I got to spend it hiking with the Senior Trailblazers. Before we left the Senior Center to begin our hike, Al told me he had a present for me. He knows I've got a bit of a weird diet and had a difficult time deciding what might be appropriate. He handed me an orange package, which I looked into and spied these... rutabagas! I thought at first they were turnips, but upon a little research, I find I wasn't all that far off. Who gets rutabagas for a birthday present? Me! And the cute card behind them is from a friend I know from my workout class. I guess I must be pretty special to qualify for these two wonderful (and exotic) gifts.
Nine of us hiked up the north side of Stewart Mountain on a trail we call "Olsen Creek," since we pass by or tromp through a good bit of water and mud on this trail with Olsen Creek flowing nearby. Fred pointed out that we also had six women out of the nine, making another sixty-nine. The sun was supposed to be shining, but we only saw a glimpse now and then, and as we ascended, we saw our first snow. I took the picture above, thinking it would be the most we would see. And then we got to 3,000 feet and ran into LOTS of it. Fred took this picture for me, because I wanted to put it on my blog. In 2009, I got this picture in my exercise class, and did something similar last year. It makes me really happy to be doing all this at my advanced age.
After we got this picture, we had a quick lunch. As you can imagine, none of us was really warm, but I wanted to show you my lunch for the day. Because Smart Guy keeps me in great veggies, I had brussels sprouts festooned with red peppers and feta cheese. It was really sublime and looks pretty sitting here in the snow.
We did have some views, even though the sun never really came out until we were descending. Here you can see Whatcom Lake in the foreground and Bellingham Bay behind. The promised sunny skies should be here tomorrow and for a few more days, too.
When we returned to the cars, after covering around nine miles and climbing and descending around 2,500 feet of elevation, Amy, our de facto social secretary, pulled out a bunch of birthday cupcakes, a candle, and everyone sang a rousing Happy Birthday, while I took in all the love and wrapped myself in being the center of attention, my favorite place!
And now I am home with Smart Guy, drinking my well deserved glass of wine while writing this post. I know my friends will be checking to see what I've written, and my blogging friends will comment and wish me many more returns of the day. I am filled with gratitude and even a teeny bit of humility. Thank you, one and all. I am truly blessed.
:-)

36 comments:

  1. Happy, Happy Birthday, DJan. I love the photo of "what 69 looks like." It looks happy, fit, fulfilled, surrounded by friends. That's no accident; you are very proactive in creating a wonderful life for yourself and I'm sure you are as great to be with in person as you are online. Enjoy this new year of possibilities!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Just a teeny bit of humility? I think you do better than that, DJan.

    Happy birthday to you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow! 69 years old!!! That's incredible. You are the picture of health and happiness, DJan! It's nice to be surrounded by loving friends, isn't it?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Happy Happy Birthday, Djan! You continue to be an inspiration to me!

    ReplyDelete
  5. You go girl! Happy 69th..I think you will still be going strong for another 20 years..maybe more!:)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Important things first...Happy Birthday! You've told me about your day and you obviously had a wonderful day. I hope to see many more of these pictures with one of your activity groups. I'm sure the birthday celebration at the end was a neat surprise.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Many happy returns....it is always a pleasure to visit your wonderful blog.I am wishing a happy,healthy and interesting 69th year.

    ReplyDelete
  8. yay! what a great way to spend a special day! happy birthday djan!

    so did you really get the spankings cause i imagine 60 of them might hurt...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Happy Birthday! A thoughtful gift from your friend.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Happy Birthday DJan! Sounds like you had a wonderful day!

    ReplyDelete
  11. You're my hero!!!!!!!!!!!!

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CLIMBER-GIRL!!

    PS- You couldn't have spent it better. (And tell SG that I love him--that BS salad looks terrific....)


    PSS--oh, and by BS...I mean Brussels Sprouts--LOL

    ReplyDelete
  12. And a very happy belated happy birthday from here too. You are an inspiration, and I love the photos you share. Thank you soooo much.

    ReplyDelete
  13. HAPPY Birthday, DJan! Wow! What an amazing day you've had. I am in awe. I love that colorful photo of your lunch in the snow. How wonderful to have so many good friends to enjoy your passion for life with.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Happy Birthday DJan!
    What a wonderful way to spend a birthday, surrounded by friends and doing what you like best. I was wondering about your snow over that way. We have quite a bit on The Blues so I figured there must be a lot at the elevations you and your group climb.

    I love the idea of rutabagas as a birthday gift. Glad you had a great day!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Happiest of birthdays to you, Djan! You're my heroine as you blaze the trail into late 60's (I turn 66 in January). Good food, good exercise, good friends, good lovin'- it's a great recipe!

    ReplyDelete
  16. FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS!!!

    Now that looks like a fabulous way to celebrate a birthday! And I absolutely LOVE your birthday picture! I hope I get to 69 able to get a shot like that! :o)

    lots of hugs from the other side of the world! ;o)

    PS: did you figure out why I mentioned you in that picture in my blog? Another clue: I was reminded of one of your fellow senior trailblazers. :D

    ReplyDelete
  17. A very happy Belated birthday D-Jan! Glad you were able to celebrate it with your friends in such a fun way.

    I've missed ur visits at my blog...but,then again I haven't blogged in a while.Have a lovely weekend as well.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Glad it was a great day. You are a very special person to a lot of people. Nice photos of you surrounded by wonderful friends on a happy day. Those are memories to keep for a long long time.

    ReplyDelete
  19. How fun...what an adventurous, fun day for you. A day late, but happy birthday to the birthday gal. Hope all your celebrating was everything you wanted!!

    A link to my Friday post: Part 1 of our Road Trip

    Hope you have a lovely weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  20. You are so awesome, and those pictures are fun. ;)

    I hope you had an amazing birthday :0)

    "Happy (late) Birthday!"

    P.S. I'm aspiring to be like you when I'm 69!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Well darn.. I'm late to the party! A belated Happy Birthday to you dear, DJan. If you are what 69 looks like, I'm gonna love it. You are absolutely amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Happy Belated Birthday, DJan. What a wonderful day you must have had surrounded my friends!
    Your photos put us there right beside you.
    Here's to many more years of happiness and good health!
    Hugsss, Susan

    ReplyDelete
  23. Happy birthday! You redefine 69 years of age. You live like you're just 18.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Happy Birthday, DJan. What a wonderful gift, he says somewhat tongue in cheek. Yes. I too have recieved such a gift on my birthday. From best spouses girlfriend who knows I'm not one to rant about my dislikes..but their is one thing that can truely set me off. You guessed it..... :)

    ReplyDelete
  25. Happy Birthday! Sorry it's a day late. I've been without power for the last 48 hours.

    Have you eaten your rutabagas yet? My grandma used to cook them for me, fried in butter with yummy seasoning on them. I never think to buy any and cook them for myself. I hope you enjoyed yours.

    It looks like you had a wonderful day surrounded by friends celebrating you, which is exactly what birthdays should be.

    Hope this upcoming year is a great one for you!

    ReplyDelete
  26. We will indeed! Happy birthday to an amazing woman.

    ReplyDelete
  27. What great photos! Especially the one of "what 69 looks like". You are truly my hero! I want to grow up to be just like you when I'm 69!!

    I'm so glad you had a fantastic day and here's to an incredible year of ever higher climbs!

    ReplyDelete
  28. I like the food. I am not sure about the hike. Hikes for me, these days, are from the recliner to the dinner table. And then I am dragging along a bottle of oxygen.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Oh my, how did I miss your birthday, DJan? I am late in wishing you a happy birthday, but you know it is most sincere and full of good wishes and hugs.

    Al sounds like a cool guy to me. I personally love rutabagas. I have eaten them for years. They are not as easy to find here as they were in California, but some people grow them in their gardens.

    Smart Guy's choice of veggies for you shows how much he cares for you. Great choices. And Feta cheese is awesome. You and I eat very similar I think.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Happy 69th birthday miss sagittarius hiker and health person...Our only child went to WWU and loved Bellingham and the many areas you hike and enjoy..We love that whole area, it is lovely and very progressive, didn't you live in Boulder, Colorado? Our only child was born in Boulder county to boot, she wanted to go to the University there but the cost for outofstate students was prohibitive to us and her..She loved loved WWU she worked for the president of the school and made many friends for life, although to me it was cold all year long, even in the summers, we loved being with her there and she hiked like there was no tomorrow, she felt women were treated well at WWU and wants to come back there to market her school...Happy Happy Happy Birthday...from WWU parents and WWU graduate too..just saying!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Happy Birthday - glad to see it was a good day spent with good friends and fun times.

    ReplyDelete
  32. I love the what 69 looks like photo!
    it looks really good

    Happy Birhtday
    you're a wonderful friend
    and I'm so happy I met you here in the internet tubes

    ReplyDelete
  33. and a happy birthday from me too, although I've already wished it, I wanted to appear in this list too. Lovely pictures of your trek on your birthday and such a wonderful achievement to be able to do that at your age (wink). Many more happies to come D-Jan!

    ReplyDelete
  34. ps forgot to say, I love rutabagas too, although we call them Swedes in England. In fact, I have them today, mashed up with potatoe and butter. Delicious and so good for you (I hope).

    ReplyDelete

I really appreciate your comments! If you see a word verification box here, just ignore it. I don't use the darn thing and Blogger is trying to get us to use it, I guess. Ignore it and your comment will still appear.