Birthday Boy oh Boy

The Monument I Happened Upon

Today is my 57^th birthday which means one thing – I’ve accumulated way too many of these things.  The happy birthday wishes are rolling in on Facebook which is one of the neatest things about that platform.  My wife woke me up with a chocolate chip pancake breakfast and we’re having lunch with my son – can’t beat that with a very large stick.  I love birthdays – some things you never outgrow.

My wife has been trying unsuccessfully to throw a surprise birthday party for me for years.  We’re so far from friends and family so that’s not happening this year either.  It’s something I told her that I really never had and would love to experience some day.  She’s just not very good at the subterfuge thing which is probably good news for me in other areas.

Yesterday was one of those interminable days (aren’t all birthday eves?).  I spent the entire day sitting in a room with lawyers and a federal arbitrator along with the union for an arbitration hearing.  I was able to get a lot of busy work done on the computer while the lawyers droned on.  I did have one good moment when the guy testifying told a bold faced lie.  I leaned over to the management lawyer and whispered in her ear and I could see the union president and business agent get real concerned.

While we were waiting for the library (where the hearing was) to open I wandered around a little bit.  I came upon a very nice monument to Major Taylor.  He has a street named after him in Worcester.  He was a world champion African-American bicyclist at the turn of the 19^th century and was based in Worcester where he trained on some of the daunting hills available.  He overcame a lot of obstacles and was apparently a superb individual.  I’ve stated before that this is one of the things I really like about Worcester – a lot of hidden treasures such as this monument and the memory of the man it is dedicated to.

The Back of the Monument