A birthday of serendipitous delights

When you plan nothing at all for your birthday, that leaves room for serendipitous delights.

At 6:38am on this my 84th birthday I got this message from my sister Lesley:

“And a happy 64th birthday to you Rachel. Enjoy your swimming, dinner partying and whatever serendipitous delights come your way. xxx.”

Never mind that this message casually robbed me of the 20 last years: that was Sir Auto d’Uncorrect at work, no doubt. But the word “serendipitous” proved to be, well, serendipitous.

How a normal day morphs into a full-blown birthday

I set out for our usual riotous Saturday morning Pump class at 8.30am. And I didn’t come home until 2pm, because of multiple serendipitous delights.

Rawiri our beloved instructor informed the class that this was Rachel’s birthday, and they sang the traditional birthday serenade. I was a star for the next 50 minutes — rather puzzling as surely every day, someone at the gym has a birthday. But whatever! If you’ve got it, flaunt it!

Then I had a windy swim, and serendipitously my niece took photos.

Then I had coffee at the Eis Kaffee kiosk, where, serendipitously, some friends were lingering. We shared an almond croissant as a make-do birthday cake. So good.

Finally time to go home. And I unexpectedly met three more friends on their way to the Copthorne Hotel. One had been given a generous Bar Bites voucher and invited me to join them. So after 10 seconds’ hesitation I turned right around for a leisurely lunch with fabulous conversation and excellent food, and a splendid view of the harbour, the beach, and the gym.

An unexpected message through feline art

Just now, Ursula has sent me a message of sorts in the remains of her dry cat food. Either she is calling me a star, or she is a bit jealous.

The day’s not over yet. A dear friend has come to town and somehow a dinner party for her has spontaneously undergone mitosis, thus becoming one half of a birthday party for me. I will walk around the corner to my friends’ place tonight and we are all guaranteed to have a beautiful evening.

So that, my friends, is the sort of thing that happens when you have a birthday for which you plan absolutely nothing: serendipitous delights. 84 is looking good.