Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Look at the stars, see how they shine for you....



Look at the stars
see how they shine for you
and everything that you do
Yeah, they were all yellow
Coldplay, Yellow


I woke up early this morning and was rewarded with a sky full of the most delightful, twinkling stars, little diamonds set in a freezing cold January morning sky.

It seemed apropos, since today is my 52nd birthday.

It was a gift to be reminded that even as the years pass, there is some permanence, at least in my lifetime; that same sky passing overhead on this cold morning is likely the spitting image of the one on January 14, 1963.  There is a lot of comfort in that.

I am reminded constantly of the many blessings I have and I am not embarrassed to own my age and my life.  I have been the architect of it all, with help along the way from my many friends and my wonderful family, as well as the odd stranger.  Oh and the people who taught me how NOT to be - the mean-spirited, the whiners, the nay-sayers - they were a gift, too.

The one thing I am most mindful of as I begin my 53rd year on this planet is that you can embrace life or let it happen to you.  The choice is always yours.  Personally, I have been an embracer, but that instinct is becoming ever-stronger as I get older and realize that my life is what I make of it and is no one's responsibility but my own.

I am sure I will get some lovely presents today (and I already have a couple of wonderful ones!), but truly, the stars this morning were in a class of their own.

While I was lying there, I was reminded of the wonderful quote by Robin Williams' character in Dead Poet's Society:

Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable? Because, you see gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils. But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Listen, you hear it? - - Carpe - - hear it? - - Carpe, carpe diem, seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary.

And we will all define extraordinary differently, won't we, which is what makes this world such an exciting and unknowable thing.

For me, that is a good way to start a birthday....

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And speaking of cakes (were we?) I must share a find!

Before Christmas I picked up this wonderful cookbook:



As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to have it, because the directions were just so darn easy to follow and the recipes looked wonderful.



We had friends to dinner and I baked The Strawberry Meringue Cake, a variation of the old Eton Mess.

It was truly one of the best cakes I've ever eaten, and the other three or four recipes I've baked to date were equally good.




So Yay Jane Hornby!  You give good recipe!  Now I must buy her other cookbook, What to Cook and How to Cook It.

Have a most delicious cake and remember: those stars shine for you, too.  Seize the Day!

xoxo wendy

52 comments:

  1. Happy birthday Wendy! I hope you have an extraordinary day :)

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  2. Happy Birthday, Wendy. The stars and the cake look wonderful! Lean in.....

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    1. Thanks Barb - I'm leaning in so much I'm tipping over!

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  3. Happy Birthday, Wendy dear! What a long strange journey...

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  4. Happy Birthday, you young thing! It was a beautiful star studded night in your honor! I get my meteor shower ( sometimes). May you have a momentous year. More cake, please...

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  5. Wishing you all the best for your birthday!

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  6. Another wonderfully crafted essay Wendy. Your writing is a gift too. Now, here's some interesting trivia - the number one song on the day you were born was Go Away Little Girl by Steve Lawrence. Enjoy http://www.birthdayjams.com/us/1963-01-14

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    1. Thanks Duncan. Hmmmm - could that have been a message from the universe???? Hope not! Off to go see what was #2!

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  7. Happy Birthday Wendy! Have a wonderful day - it sure started out in the best way possible!

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  8. Happy Birthday Wendy and yes carpe diem. I own my age too, I'm not 68 years young, I'm 68 years old and those years are precious.

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  9. Happy Birthday Wendy.

    May your walls know joy; May every room hold laughter and every window open to great possibility.

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  10. Happy birthday Wendy...enjoy your cake and celebration.

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  11. Happy Birthday to our Dollface Wendy! You are loved!

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  12. Replies
    1. Oh...and I wanted to say...you baked a masterpiece! That cookbook looks great. I need the ones w/pictures.

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  13. Happy Birthday, Wendy! Reading your blog is such a delight.

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  14. Happy Birthday Wendy. I hope you will have wonderful celebrations!

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  15. Hello Wendy,

    Happy Birthday!

    As the stars were shining in the sky, so your special kind of magic greets us here in this most touching of posts.

    There is so much to be grateful for,both good and bad enable us to grow spiritually, you are so right to remind us. And, living a life less ordinary is certainly in line with our thinking.

    As E.M.Forster so eloquently wrote......just connect......and connect you do, Wendy, for we are all the richer for knowing you. We are looking at the stars!

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    1. Hattatts, just chiming in to say what a perfectly lovely comment for a wonderful Wednesday birthday gel, our Wendy!

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    2. Love that quote Jane and Lance - thank you,

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  16. EMBRACE ME... Wendy dying over your meringue and cha cha tag. We must have champagne and do the merengue some day! Trust it has been a perfectly wonderful anniversary of your birth. And ta darlink for the timely reminder to grab life with both hands and make the most of it.

    This post includes a few of your favourite things, Chris to carpe, and a delicious book tip. As instructed, I have seized and I have stargazed, but no cake yet. Think I must fix that -- in your honour of course -- tonight.

    Thank you again for sharing your birthday and life joy with us. Your scribe voice is a great gift. Never quite sure what will pop up here, but it is always a pleasure to tag along. xoxo

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  17. Happy Happy Birthday. Dear Wendy. I am so glad that the stars all came out to twinkle and shine to celebrate your big day.!

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  18. Happy Birthday, Wendy. I hope it's been a wonderful day!

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  19. Happy birthday, Wendy! I love Eton Mess so I will have to try that cake!

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  20. Happy birthday, Wendy! Hope you have a great year ahead!

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  21. Happy Birthday Wendy !!!
    May you have a wonderful year!
    - L in Chicago

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  22. Happy belated birthday from a long time reader. You share the same birthday as my father, who passed away two days shy of his 82nd birthday last year. I'll always remember Jan. 14th as a special day.

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    1. Anon - what an honour to share a birthday with such a wonderful man! I bet you are still reeling. I lost my dad in '12 and I still miss him so much!

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  23. Belated Happy Birthday Wendy!! I hope you had a fabulous time. xoxo

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  24. Happy Birthday most wondrous blogger, wear of the great gold pants and blimin good writer.
    Still older than you chook.

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  25. Many belated happy birthday wishes Wendy. We're not get getting older, we're getting better:)

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  26. HAPPY, HAPPY cake-filled, star-filled, kiss-filled sort of a birthday, Wendy.
    What, only fifty-three! A mere child! (And don't ever get over the habit...)

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Kindness is a virtue...