Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun

UGH.  I used lyrics from Remember A Day, but forgot to change the post title and song reference in the post.  Ouch.  I am going to leave it all as it stands. Yet another reminder of how goofy I am.

Pink Floyd, A Saucerful of Secrets 1968

Remember a day before today 
A day when you were young. 
Free to play alone with time 
Evening never come. 
Sing a song that can't be sung 
Without the morning's kiss 
Queen - you shall be it if you wish 
Look for your king 
Why can't we play today 
Why can't we stay that way


I first heard "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" in 1988.  I had purchased Pink Floyd's Relics album on cassette tape at the Wal-Mart in Bonner Springs, right off I-70 and just as I headed off on a road trip to Science Camp in Hays, KS.  I was 17, my little 1978 Mazda had no air conditioning but no matter, this was my inaugural road trip sans authority figures.

I will never forget that freedom of cruising down the highway.  This was only my first roadtrip and I had grand plans for many more.

The possibilities were endless.

*******
Today, I celebrate my 40th year of enjoying steady heartbeats.

When I turned 30, things were very different.  I had a Sparkly New Boyfriend and a job I loved at an Internet start-up. At the time, Internet start-ups were ALL THE RAGE. It was 2001, so how could we lose, right? For my party,  I simply met folks at John's Upstairs Deck in downtown Kansas City and spent a whirlwind evening with my friends, shots and beer.  The night culminated in my sister and I shaking our stuff to Dancing Queen on the dance floor.  Just the two of us. She was 7 months pregnant at the time.

I still have yet to come up with an excuse for myself.

This past weekend, I had a few friends over for a food tasting - Pakistani food, my favorite dishes.  We worked our way through some haleem, nihari, malai kofta, karahi chicken and chapali kabob along with more than a few bottles of wine and Celeste's cheesecake.  The evening ended conservatively with my friend Christy and I talking quietly about Very Serious and Not So Very Serious topics until 2 am.

 Tonight, the Sparkly New Boyfriend Who Made Me An Honest Woman and I are going to take Team Chaos to the Blue Koi for some Chinese dumplings and vegan Ants on a Tree.  Nope,  I am not vegan, but that is how I prefer my Ants on a Tree.  It will be a mild evening, to be sure.

At 30, I had no idea where I would end up or with whom I would take the journey.  The possibilities were endless.

At 40, I want to be nowhere else.

And the possibilities still seem endless.

This morning, my mom shared this on Facebook. No worries about my ego getting out of check today!   Also, this serves as definitive proof that I must have descended from a long, illustrious line of hobos and street urchins.