The day after John’s 75th birthday, there was a knock on the front door. You could almost feel the excitement before John opened the door. Neighbor Logan came dancing in ahead of the still-warm cake Shawn had baked. What a surprise! They set the cake on the counter, put the candles on it, and lit them while I raced to the other room to get the toy camera. Normally it would have been in my pocket. There was no time to compose a shot. I was lucky to get everyone in it, even if their faces didn’t show.
Shawn cut generous pieces, which we enjoyed at a leisurely pace on the back porch. The dish was called “Do Nothing Cake”. I thought it was a misnomer, because it tasted like Shawn had done lots of special things to it. However, we did nothing but sit there and gobble it up. Delicious! We loved having a chance to visit with them after the busy summer we had in both households.
The story of the evening that I remembered best was Bob’s rescue. They lived in Florida at the time, and Bob and a friend were near a canal. It was a deep thing, complete with alligators and snakes. A woman driving a large car was not paying attention and drove into the canal! The men jumped in the water and tried to pull her out. It seemed to take forever for her to get the seat belt undone. She was not a small woman, and they were pulling her through the window. Her foot got caught in the steering wheel. Bob kept pulling up as his friend twisted the foot free. As soon as they pulled her out, the car went glug! glug! and sank out of sight. What drama! Isn’t it special that we live across the street from a real hero?
When John said he smelled smoke, we all thought we might need a hero on site. No, the candles had not set anything on fire. I suggested he go to the front door and sniff. The smell was there, too, and Bob remembered their next door neighbor was having a party. Maybe they had a cake with lots more candles than ours. We sat back in our chairs and watched white clouds glow behind the mountain, lit by the full moon rising. What a lovely end to John’s birthday celebration!
Mehrling Muse 
Having those youngins around helps keep us young. Love those extended celebrations.
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John’s dad had the longest celebrations in our family. His went on for a month. Our daughter came along, and she officially celebrates her birthday month. Mine, being close to Christmas, can be over and done with in half a day. Not complaining! Nobody has time to celebrate then, including me.
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Early best wishes.
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All birthdays should be celebrated for a month! It sounds like John is enjoying his. Happy birthday John! (My husband turns 75 next year. We’d like to do something special. We’ll see.)
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Aren’t you a good wife, already thinking of the next 75th birthday! Hope y’all think of something that will tickle him pink. Well, maybe blue or purple.
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That cake looks delicious! Happy times had by all from the sounds of it!
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We had a wonderful time, but that’s easy when you love people. Do you have a favorite way to celebrate a birthday?
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Food glorious food – with friends 😀
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Your young neighbor Logan often makes an appearance in your posts. He seems like such a good-natured boy. I’m glad John’s 75+1 day turned out to be such a good one. 🙂
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Logan can be hard to keep up with, but we love him. He was adopted just as we moved across the street from him. We consider ourselves unofficial grandparents, which is nice since our grandsons are 16 and 21 and live far away.
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That’s sweet. I’m often struck as I read your blog that you’ve been blessed with some wonderful neighbors.
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Yes, Bun, we are surrounded by marvelous people. We had good neighbors in New York, too, but we didn’t see them quite as often. For one thing, there are more retirees here, and we have more time to interact with each other. I hope you have some good neighbors, though it might be harder to get to know them in the city.
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