The well-wishes came in the form of snail mail cards, phone calls (some even accompanied with singing!), texts, and social media messages. So many! Though Facebook prompted most of those messages, it’s OK, those people still reached out to me and let me know that I crossed their minds, even if just for a brief moment. A moment that hopefully reminded them of some span of time or event that we shared in the past.
With all these well-wishes, I needed to make the most important call of the day – a call to my mom. Much to her surprise, once, many years ago, I sent her flowers on my birthday. The card said something to the effect of “I just showed up, thank you for doing all the work!” This time, after she wished me a happy birthday via cell phone towers, I thanked her for pushing me out 😊
One of my favorite birthday cards was not actually a card, but a Kyler Martz postcard from my friend Bridie!
By definition, a “birthday” is a single day, but I feel like after the age of 50 years, you have the right to allow the celebration to span a week or longer! In this spirit, my birthday week started with a girls’ retreat in the mountains near Boone, NC.
Four of the strongest, most badass women I’ve been fortunate enough to have met through the military, accompanied me to The Art of Living Retreat Center for a weekend of seclusion and time to actively focus on our own, and each other’s, well-being and happiness with an R&R Retreat. Guided meditation and mindfulness, hatha yoga, delicious food, and therapeutic spa treatments made for a decadent experience of connection.
The food was incredible! Vegetarian and mostly whole foods, the menus focused on organic, seasonal, and local produce. This pic is of one of our lunches: Satur Lodeh (Indonesian stew), coconut fried un-chicken, tomato sambal, vegetable fried rice, Indonesian spiced green beans, lemongrass salad, and fruit custard. Delicious!
Three meals a day were served in this dining area with a stunning view of the Blue Ridge (a segment of the Appalachian Mountains). Starting the day with this sunrise view at breakfast every morning set the tone of interconnectedness and beauty for the whole day.
I continued the week of my birth by participating in a FaceBook motorcycle challenge called America’s Ultimate Long-Distance Rider. It’s a self-guided scavenger hunt, via motorcycle, that runs a calendar year. At your own pace, and anytime you want, you collect points by visiting a site in one of each of 12 categories. There’s no fees, but money from the purchase of stickers, patches, and other merchandise is donated to 9/11 and veteran charities. The goal is to visit a site, that fits into each of the 12 categories (for a total of 12 points), in each state. There are also multiple additional sites and categories in which to accrue extra points. I don’t really need an excuse to ride my motorcycle, nor do I have anything to prove by collecting points, but I find this challenge to be yet another way to introduce me to sites and experiences I would not have otherwise known about. And it’s fun!
One of the categories is “city/town murals.” Oftentimes, town murals are on public buildings and fairly easy to get to, but this postcard style Southern Pines one is off-the-beaten path and on private property, requiring permission from the owners to get to it. The staff on site was excited that I found it and that I wanted to take a pic of my bike next to it. Despite having to wear heated gear, I had a great ride and discovered a whole new part of town I had never been to!
Continuing with birth week celebrations, our local girl gang, aka The Southern Pines Litas, converged upon Full Moon Oyster Barto share some seafood and catch up a bit. We don’t do much group riding in the winter months, so birthdays are a great excuse for us to get together and visit.
I was surprised and humbled by how many of the girls showed up for my birthday get-together. Sooooo many riding adventures and stories represented in this pic. . . such a good time!
The food was delicious and the company fearless 😊
Charlie, one of the Litas and good friend, is also an incredibly talented artisan. She crafted this gorgeous chopping board for me at her parents’ woodworking shop, the veteran owned and operated Stubby K Studio. Together with her dad Max, and her mother Mindie, Charlie brings to life clients’ visions for heirloom wood products. What an honor to receive such a thoughtful and quality gift. It’s meant to be used, but it’s too beautiful for me to ever chop anything on!
In addition to these celebratory get-togethers, I managed to fit in a local yoga class and breakfast with my friend Christi while she was in town, as well as a couple of days wrenching at my favorite motorcycle shop!
Even though college and a fork in career path took me from blue-collar to white-collar work in my late 30s, I never lost a love of working with my hands. Luckily, the owner of a local motorcycle repair and customization shop, Burnout Alley, allows me to be a part-time apprentice. Though I’m sure Mike is tired of my never-ending mechanical questions, he tolerates my inexperience and supervises my wrench-turning whenever I show up.
My week of connecting with friends and motorcycles was a perfect way to usher in my next trip around the sun!
Happy Birthday, Sunshine. You know, I have always thought that a child’s birthday should be celebrated by the Mother. She should have a Happy Birthday for every child she had.
FitHippie Adventures 
Happy Birthday, Sunshine. You know, I have always thought that a child’s birthday should be celebrated by the Mother. She should have a Happy Birthday for every child she had.
Chief
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Yep, agree! We just show up, Mom’s do all the hard work.
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What a fabulous birthday celebration(s!). Love it! Happy Birthday Karen! 😊
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