A Milestone Birthday
This will probably end up being finished later [Surprise, surprise... it was], as my mother-in-law is now here, but I read a really fascinating article today. I saw it on the table this morning, but since I was in a rush doing last-minute things, I decided not to read it right then, but set it aside until things were slightly less crazy. I just got the chance to do so an hour or so ago.
Those birthdays with zeroes on the end of them can elicit some really interesting reactions from people. I know when I turned 30, I wasn't too thrilled. I think it was because I knew a part of my life was done forever-- I was no longer a youth, and was well into the part of my life when I was "young." I know I didn't feel the same at 29 or 31. It was just another birthday. I guess part of it was me- knowing I've entered another decade, another stage of my life. Part of it was social/cultural-- here in America there's quite a bit of emphasis on decades, categorization, and "ages" in general. "Youths," "Seniors," "Boomers," "Gen Xers (I hate that one)"-- all these different labels that somehow "define" us. I don't really think they do. For example, The children born during WWII and the early so-called "boomer" years had totally different worldviews/perspectives/historical experiences than those born at the tail end, around 1964-65. Yet they're all lumped together as "boomers". My wife and I are just barely six years apart, yet what we watched on television as children, what clothes we wore, what things we played with, what cultural/historical touchstones we remember are so vastly different. I can remember watching the Watergate hearings, the fall of Vietnam, seeing the Sunday paper headlines blaring about the kidnapping of Patty Hearst (we lived in the San Francisco Bay Area), seeing an article on the Zodiac killer and wondering what that was all about... having my elementary school teacher play for the class this new record that had just come out, and all of us listening to "Free To Be... You and Me" for the first time.
For my wife, even though we are just six years apart and counted by the media and pop culture enthusiasts as part of the same generation, it was quite different. A world of "My Little Pony," "Strawberry Shortcake," Wall Street scandals, "Morning in America," and the whole 80s scene formed the backdrop of her childhood (which was my adolescence!). I feel closer to and share more memories with my youngest uncle, a member of the tail-end of the boomers, than I do with people of my wife's "generation."
But I digress-- I was talking about a really interesting article in this morning's L.A. Times. It's about an explorer many of you have probably never heard of, Norman Vaughan. As the beginning of the article states, he's the last survivor of the 1928 Admiral Byrd expedition to Antarctica. On that journey, Byrd named an Antarctic mountain for Vaughan. Flash forward to eleven years ago, when Vaughan became the first person to scale the summit of the mountain named after him. This December, Vaughan is returning to Antarctica to climb the mountain yet again in celebration of his 100th birthday.
Talk about memorable. I don't even remember doing anything interesting on any of my birthdays. Sure, I remember my 21st, being taken out for my first legal drink-- I remember my 18th, which was a surprise birthday party with over fifty people in attendance. But climbing a mountain just before I turn 89, and then planning to do it again for the 100th?? It really was an interesting article to read. Not only has he lived this long, he participated in the tail end of the Age of Exploration, just a mere 80-some years ago. Today we have articles, papers, research, and all kind of materials talking about how global warming, human proliferation, and wasteful use of space threatens the earth. Yet less than a hundred years ago, there were still areas of the planet that remained unexplored, and there were still intrepid adventurers going off into the unknown.
Not only that, but this man is a testament to the challenges of living a full life, and a model of how to enjoy life the best possible way. While that doesn't mean I'm going to go out and learn how to mush, or develop the skills to suddenly climb Everest, it does inspire me to think about what I want to do with my life. Regardless of our habits and genes, we each have a finite time -- how will each of us decide to use the time we have? I've done quite a bit, but when I read about guys like Norman Vaughan, it reminds me of what I haven't done, what I'd like to do, and the potential I have to achieve my goals. I don't think I'm anywhere near able to compare my life with Vaughan or people like him, but it's great to remember that there really aren't any limits except the ones we place on ourselves. I hope this journey this winter pays off, and that I'll be reading about Vaughan celebrating his milestone birthday, and planning for the next hundred years. If I'm smart enough to listen to myself, I'll be testing my own limits before long, and not letting opportunities escape.
Those birthdays with zeroes on the end of them can elicit some really interesting reactions from people. I know when I turned 30, I wasn't too thrilled. I think it was because I knew a part of my life was done forever-- I was no longer a youth, and was well into the part of my life when I was "young." I know I didn't feel the same at 29 or 31. It was just another birthday. I guess part of it was me- knowing I've entered another decade, another stage of my life. Part of it was social/cultural-- here in America there's quite a bit of emphasis on decades, categorization, and "ages" in general. "Youths," "Seniors," "Boomers," "Gen Xers (I hate that one)"-- all these different labels that somehow "define" us. I don't really think they do. For example, The children born during WWII and the early so-called "boomer" years had totally different worldviews/perspectives/historical experiences than those born at the tail end, around 1964-65. Yet they're all lumped together as "boomers". My wife and I are just barely six years apart, yet what we watched on television as children, what clothes we wore, what things we played with, what cultural/historical touchstones we remember are so vastly different. I can remember watching the Watergate hearings, the fall of Vietnam, seeing the Sunday paper headlines blaring about the kidnapping of Patty Hearst (we lived in the San Francisco Bay Area), seeing an article on the Zodiac killer and wondering what that was all about... having my elementary school teacher play for the class this new record that had just come out, and all of us listening to "Free To Be... You and Me" for the first time.
For my wife, even though we are just six years apart and counted by the media and pop culture enthusiasts as part of the same generation, it was quite different. A world of "My Little Pony," "Strawberry Shortcake," Wall Street scandals, "Morning in America," and the whole 80s scene formed the backdrop of her childhood (which was my adolescence!). I feel closer to and share more memories with my youngest uncle, a member of the tail-end of the boomers, than I do with people of my wife's "generation."
But I digress-- I was talking about a really interesting article in this morning's L.A. Times. It's about an explorer many of you have probably never heard of, Norman Vaughan. As the beginning of the article states, he's the last survivor of the 1928 Admiral Byrd expedition to Antarctica. On that journey, Byrd named an Antarctic mountain for Vaughan. Flash forward to eleven years ago, when Vaughan became the first person to scale the summit of the mountain named after him. This December, Vaughan is returning to Antarctica to climb the mountain yet again in celebration of his 100th birthday.
Talk about memorable. I don't even remember doing anything interesting on any of my birthdays. Sure, I remember my 21st, being taken out for my first legal drink-- I remember my 18th, which was a surprise birthday party with over fifty people in attendance. But climbing a mountain just before I turn 89, and then planning to do it again for the 100th?? It really was an interesting article to read. Not only has he lived this long, he participated in the tail end of the Age of Exploration, just a mere 80-some years ago. Today we have articles, papers, research, and all kind of materials talking about how global warming, human proliferation, and wasteful use of space threatens the earth. Yet less than a hundred years ago, there were still areas of the planet that remained unexplored, and there were still intrepid adventurers going off into the unknown.
Not only that, but this man is a testament to the challenges of living a full life, and a model of how to enjoy life the best possible way. While that doesn't mean I'm going to go out and learn how to mush, or develop the skills to suddenly climb Everest, it does inspire me to think about what I want to do with my life. Regardless of our habits and genes, we each have a finite time -- how will each of us decide to use the time we have? I've done quite a bit, but when I read about guys like Norman Vaughan, it reminds me of what I haven't done, what I'd like to do, and the potential I have to achieve my goals. I don't think I'm anywhere near able to compare my life with Vaughan or people like him, but it's great to remember that there really aren't any limits except the ones we place on ourselves. I hope this journey this winter pays off, and that I'll be reading about Vaughan celebrating his milestone birthday, and planning for the next hundred years. If I'm smart enough to listen to myself, I'll be testing my own limits before long, and not letting opportunities escape.
posted by Mr. Sandman | 9:23 PM
<< Home