Day 215: a baby!

My best friend Jane in New Zealand has given birth to a beautiful little boy called Arlo. How to celebrate? With Champagne of course! And no, don't worry, I will not be drinking it. I will simply be sending my very good pal a bottle of my favourite French, so the new parents can toast the health of their new arrival. I always find the bringing into the world of fresh, new humans completely amazing, but this one in particular gives me pause for thought. Jane is the first in our old group of high school and university friends to have a child. It marks a step into a new zone, from a kind of extended childhood into adulthood for real. For Janie it will be some kind of transformation no doubt. And meanwhile, over here I am undergoing my own little transformation, if quite a self-centred and probably therefore quite an infantile one. So far on this journey, I have changed from a burger-munching booze hound suffering from chronic unhappiness and dissatisfaction, to a vegan teetotaler, generally pleased and entertained with much if not all that goes on around me. Surely all that has changed cannot be credited to not drinking? But not drinking was certainly the trigger. Well, I do not know how this will all end up, or where I will find myself on day 365. And for now that's enough about me. There is a baby boy who has newly entered this world, so welcome Arlo. I wish you the best of health and the best of luck on your travels through this extremely interesting thing we call life.