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.
:-)