On the eve of 35

Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown tomorrow night. And in the Jewish manner of keeping time (and there was EVENING and there was morning, the first day) with the new day starting at sunset, I am accutely aware of my birthday tomorrow - my own personal new year. I am also accutely aware that there will be precious little time for reflection during the 24 hours of the anniversary of my birth, and so have been trying to find time to think, at least a little, about the bigger picture of my life. I haven't gotten very far. That said, I have been thinking about how many opportunities there are to have new beginnings. Birthdays. Rosh Hashanah. The beginning of Advent. New Year's Eve and Day. Chinese New Year. Mondays, every one of them. Tomorrows, every one of those, too. I am grateful for these, because I have a feeling tomorrow may be fairly anti-climactic. Perhaps that's just as well. Thirty-five is a middle sort of birthday, nothing flashy. And I am far too practical - with the birthday cash my parents sent I bought a new bike helmet, since the snappy-buckle-thingy on my old one broke or fell off in our move. (To think I work in a shoe store and I bought a bike helmet with my birthday money!!) Sitting on the eve of 35, I am thankful. And tired. And hopeful. Who knows what the next year will bring...