Some birthdays are quiet, as if biding their time until some more spectacular number. That was certainly the case with my 49th, which was sent just with Andy on a quiet late summer weekend in Boston. The weather was the greatest gift – sunny skies, but not too warm, with nights perfectly comfortable for walking home. We arrived on Friday night, and all of Southwest Corridor Park was in bloom to greet us – starting with this lovely red rose.
The park has been giving a gorgeous show all summer, and it shoed no sign of slowing down, unlike the gardens at home. It felt more like the height of summer rather than the start of the final month of festivities. There were just enough puffy clouds in the sky to make for a beautiful overhead.
Oe the eve of my birthday, I’d gotten Andy tickets to see Kristin Chenoweth’s new star vehicle, ‘The Queen of Versailles’ at the Emerson Colonial Theatre, where it was making its pre-Broadway run. Ms. Chenoweth soared, and there was praise in the material – a few judicious cuts here, a little letting out there, and there may be magic headed to the Great White Way.
My birthday itself was mostly a calm and quiet affair, with Andy providing the exquisite ‘Angeliques Sous La Pluie’ by Jean-Claude Ellena for Frederic Malle, which has been on my wish list for years. It was a fitting choice, as this one reminds me of summer evenings in Boston from long ago, when I would wear a sample of it when I needed something light for the heat.
We took several strolls through the Boston Public Garden, which is always our favorite haunt, and ended up stopping for brunch at a place overlooking the garden. Without a plan, without fanfare, without a printed agenda, my birthday was mostly winging it with my husband, and I couldn’t have planned a happier day.
We meandered through the garden, exiting near the duckling statues and walking through Beacon Hill. I found a birthday hat to greet the fall (more on that later…) and, more thrillingly, managed to find the elusive peach ice cream that Suzie and Chris had failed to procure time and time again.
After dining at Wink & Nod later in the evening, Andy and I walked back to the condo through a gorgeous clear night, and if I have to face a 49th year on this wretched planet, at least I can do it where beauty is still a balm, and love is still in the air.
