Bring Out Your Dead...
I’m not dead yet! My Birthday Whimventure®
Last week I celebrated my 60th birthday. For many people that is an amazing feat, for others I still get “you’re just a baby.” This one hit me a little harder than the other birthdays I’ve celebrated. I think maybe it’s the age (or is that the mileage?). When I was a kid 60 was considered “old” it was the one foot in the grave kind of number. I know that isn’t the case in these days of medical marvels, but still that little kid voice in my head keeps saying “gosh mister, you’re old.”
For the record we really don’t do big things for birthdays. I tend to play them off as “just another day” and in this age of happily clicking on “send birthday greeting” via social media it does seem to be an after thought. We usually end up at our local pizza place and then early to bed. The philosophy has been if you want something, you buy it. You don’t hold off until a specific date on the calendar. This might be because we don’t have kids, or it just may be a weird outlook on life. So as we got closer to the date Sue really wanted to do something for me. I was thinking of a quiet weekend with the cats catching up on stuff, maybe even drawing 😱. On Thursday we went to a watch party for the US Olympic Curling Team Trials. I had the rest of the weekend off. Sue had mentioned maybe hopping onto a plane and seeing it in person. I, of course, had stuff planned for Sunday so I needed to be back in time for that stuff. Combine that with the uncertainty with air travel… I was a little apprehensive.
Friday morning I was given an ultimatum- either we head to Asheville, NC to see the new troll exhibit on opening day, or we sit around and do nothing. A real “Whimventure®” no planning , just go. I said “Sure” and started to pack. I did my usual packing which included drawing supplies- but in all the times I’ve packed them they rarely get used. We hit the road before 10:00AM and I drove us to Asheville arriving in time for dinner at the Asheville Brewing Company.
Troll Hunting
The next morning we got up early to hopefully beat the crowd. If you know nothing about Thomas Dambo’s Trolls just understand that they have a following and the release of a new troll or set of trolls is a big thing in certain circles. Sue had originally looked at seeing the Field Study trolls (think adolescent trolls on a school field trip) when they first came to be in London. As she started to plan that trip she learned that they would be in Asheville Starting November 15th. Asheville is maybe 8 hours by car and was originally the half-way point when we would go and see her parents. Since then we’ve spent a lot of time getting to know the area and really enjoy it. The last time we visited the NC Arboretum in 2020, they had a LEGO exhibition which was cool.
For the record we started off troll hunting during our visit to Denmark. Since then we’ve tried to see any trolls we can. Sue, due to her travels has seen more than I have (I’ve seen about 32), but who’s counting. Sue also has a boatload more geocaches than I do.
We arrived to a line of cars a bit before 8:00AM. Once we got in we found a parking spot and began a nice walk through the gardens and along the trails.
The trolls story had to do with learning about the human world and how humans impact the Earth. Thomas Dambo’s trolls are made from reclaimed or recycled materials and the lesson was to get us to think about our impact on the land we find so beautiful. Maybe we should take care of it a bit better than we do. There are some simple changes we could make. Yes, that’s over simplifying it, but… these were young trolls asking questions like every child does, troll or human.
As you can probably surmise we had some fun that morning roaming around with other experienced Troll Hunters comparing notes as to which ones we had seen and the joy and whimsy they brought to us. Not a bad way to celebrate 60 years on this little ball of dirt we call home.
After Thoughts
As with any Whimventure® there can be some soul searching afterwards. With the trolls it usually has something to do with consumerism and our role in the destruction of our planet (our home). For me combining this with a birthday I will be feeling for a long time I started to consider my actions and what I am doing and what I want to do. While I am a collector (some would say hoarder -you say tomato…) I had already started to realize and commented on the fact that all my little precious bits and bob I’ve gathered will end up being put in the bin when I pass. No one really cares about the stuff. They have significance for me, but in combination with watching “The Repair Shop” and seeing all these people who have strong connections to stuff that had strong connections to the people they loved… I don’t have a lot of that. The cats don’t care. Sue might want some of it, but most of it are just the silly things I bought. Family stuff will go to family, if they want it.
Every year around my birthday I think of it as “New Years” and time for resolutions or at least an opportunity to make some changes and refocus my priorities. So while I have been planning on what conventions I would like to attend, I’m now pondering that maybe I just need to settle down and actually create. Set some projects or goals that don’t require me buying a lot of stuff. Yes, that new LEGO set coming out this week looks cool, but where would I put it? Do I really need it? Would I regret spending $400 on it when I could spend that money elsewhere (like health insurance, plumbing, or car repair)? So as I head into Thanksgiving week I am thankful for a lot of the opportunities I have been given, and now need to consider what the future holds for me. Although I know I’m on the downhill side of life, I’m not dead yet.
When someone dies someone is tasked to write their obituary. An attempt to make sense of their life and accomplishments. I’ve found that the things one person thinks are important, may not be what others think. While I still have a while to go (“I’m not dead yet… I feel happy, I feel happy”) I feel my life can be summed up with- “He did a lot of stuff, some of it interesting, most of it not.” As for the interesting part- look for me wrangling a balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade this week. I’m planning on writing up the experience so look for it sometime.
The trolls field study exhibition’s next stop is in Southern California in March, so look for them there.
Think my first comment got removed as I tried to write a Judy Dr appt into my calendar, resting on the keyboard of my laptop so here is the brief version.
Bruce needs a shot of life positivity - badly needed at 60 and above (believe me at 84). Just because you didn't make the cover of Time magazine doesn't detract from Bruce's life accompishments to date and have us wondering what else he'll pull from that bag we call life?
And obits - well, I didn't want the one that says 'Born, died, fondly remebererd' so I wrote my own - 3 pages plus appendices! that I suspect will never be found. And if it is, I apologize to those who were left out or get tired of reading it. I almost went for duplicatig the one out here that never mentioned whose obit it was - just, 'If you read this you'll know I'm gone.' It was a wonderful obit, tracing a life well lived - with no name. Newspaper got more comments on it than almost any other story that year.
For all of us, that says it - a life well lived. He hasn't figured it out yet but Bruce has set an example of how to do that and, thank you Bruce!
This may be one of my favorite posts from you so far. I love the trolls (Norwegian, duh). And am thrilled you got off the sofa for a fun Whimventure® to celebrate your Ṣāṣṭhyabda pūrti (a Hindu tradition marking the completion of 60 years).
Although she doesn't use the term for obvious reasons (Norwegian, duh), my mom has been practicing Swedish Death Cleaning for decades -- like seriously, she started in her 40s or 50s and she is almost 80 now. I am the oldest of four, so I have always had "first pick" (another Scandi tradition), but I've never been OK with that particular tradition for various reasons. So I asked her to tell me what she would really love me to have -- and shortly thereafter, I was gifted a ring and necklace that I have been wearing most every day for about 20 years. There is only one other thing that I admitted to coveting and would like to have, which is a beautiful corner cabinet my grandmother owned. It traveled from Gram in Norway to my mother in Texas, and one day I'll figure out how to get it to our house in Indiana. But mom wants to see us enjoying the gifted items while she is still around, and is slowing culling the rest so we are not overwhelmed when the day comes.
Not a fan of obits, personally. They always make the person out to be saintly, even when they are not (kind of like the neighbors of serial killers -- "well, he was always such a kind, quiet guy"). I love your dad's idea of writing my own, maybe I will one day. But not today.