Birthdays

At every stage of my life, and everywhere I've lived, there always seem to be lots of birthdays in September and October. Way more than any other time of the year.

At this point I could point to the rather obvious mathematical calculation of deducting nine(ish) months from September/October and ending up at the festive season. In that golden period between Christmas and New Year, alcohol flows and romance fleetingly returns. It's also the coldest time of year, when warmth and entertainment are at a premium. This may or may or not have something to do with it and I'll leave it at that.

But back to the birthdays thing. I've just had mine, next weekend I'm celebrating two more, and there are a stack of them in and around the office. Everyone celebrates them differently of course - ranging from what one soon to be 26 year old described as a 'classic night' (house, nibbles, wine/beer, pub, beer, bar, spirit, club, shot, shot, shot...) to those who choose to try to prove that the passing of time hasn't affected their physical abilities too much by climbing Britain's highest peak.

But the great thing is, despite the sheer number of birthdays out there, you really never get bored of going to them nor celebrating them. I mean think about it. If you have say thirty friends and attend each of their birthdays every year for thirty years that's ninety birthdays. That's being conservative to be honest, and yet still each and every one is different and entertaining in its own special way.

I suspect they get better the older you get too. Whilst it's true that the magic goes out of the whole 'turning a year older' bit fairly easily, the excuse for a good piss-up or event out of the ordinary more than makes up for that. Birthdays also become milestones in the calendar as you get older - a chance to see people that you don't see half as much as you used to or want to.

And maybe that's the most important aspect of them - the chance to see the people that matter most to you. The older you get, the harder you work, the more stuff simply gets in the way of that seemingly easy objective of spending time with those people.

So happy birthday to all fellow SeptemberOctoberites for this year and all future ones.