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The rule for birthdays in our household, and one to which I have willingly subscribed over the years, is that the birthday celebrant can do whatever he or she wants on that day. Some years I have felt that this was a burden, as Martha would ask me in the days leading up to the date, “What do you want to do on your birthday?”  And I would not always be able to decide.  That was not a problem this morning, with clear blue skies and warm temperatures.  Highlands Roadrunner went running – what else? 

I had run two difficult miles yesterday in strong wind and cold temperatures.  But the weather has changed, and this morning it was balmy in comparison, so I decided to run toward Fort Macon and try some “Picnic Area Intervals,” which I have not done since February 4.  Since we have arrived, I have struggled to break the one-minute barrier.  In my last session, for example, my times were 1:07, 1:05, 1:03, and 1:01.  I have hit that 1:01 split many times!  This morning, in defiance of my new age, I pushed those splits down to 1:02, 1:01, 0:58, and 0:58.  I think only runners can fully appreciate what a difference it makes to run just three seconds faster in a workout.

I went out onto the beach from the Picnic Area and ran back along the ocean,where Martha was walking and where she took this photo.  

“What do you want to do now?” Martha asked, and I wondered out loud if I had time to wash my running clothes before lunch.  “It’s your birthday,” Martha said with a twinkle in her eye.  “You can stay here and wash your clothes if you want to."  I decided to leave my clothes until later, and we left the condo for a picnic lunch at the same Picnic Area where I had run this morning.  Then we drove to Harker’s Island to the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center, which I have mentioned before in this blog; I think this has been our fourth visit this year.  We had picked up a brochure about the self-guided trails on our last visit, and that’s what we did this afternoon. 

The Willow Pond loop took us through a maritime forest (live oaks, cedars) around a small pond, where we sighted some kind of "waterfowl" too far away to identify or for my photos to turn out.  

From there, we made out way around to the Soundside Loop, which runs along Core Sound.  The observation deck at the end of a walkway had been damaged over the years by age and hurricanes, and had fallen into disrepair.  It made a poignant photo, I thought - the walkway fallen into the Sound.

It was a serene, quiet walk, and it brought us back around to the Cape Lookout National Seashore Visitors Center, where in past years we have boarded a ferry to Cape Lookout.  From there we returned to the Museum.  “I wonder if they would mind if I played the piano?” I asked Martha.  I had played the very nice Baldwin grand piano in the Heritage Center room on one of our visits almost three months ago, and as there was nobody about I slid onto the bench and played for awhile.  I have been learning a new Bach minuet on the keyboard I brought with me, but playing a real piano made it sound so much better. 

We returned to the condo and I opened gifts from Martha, cards I had received, and many greetings on Facebook.  My birthday dinner was take-out from Amos Mosquito restaurant - Parmesan and fennel encrusted red snapper with risotto and asparagus, and a piece of key lime pie for dessert.  What a wonderful dinner, a conclusion to a beautiful day.  What more could I have asked for on my birthday?  A good run, a picnic, a hike, a piano, the friendship of so many, and the love of my wife for 43 years. And although I am a year older today, I have not yet fallen into the Sound.  

Martha posted this on the blackboard a day or two ago.  I know many 90-year-olds, and this is so true of them!  As for me, I'm somewhere in between . . .