An Air BnB Excursion

Raising his mug…

Guy: Here’s to the driver of this trip—me. 

Antonia: Driver? You barely managed to reverse into the driveway without flattening the hydrangeas. 

Guy:  Tactical parking. Hydrangeas are resilient. Anyway, I might not need a conductor on the bus.

Antonia:  It's not a bus thank God. It's only car. You wouldn’t get far. Remember, I’m the navigator right? Without me, you’d be circling the Parnell roundabout forever. 

Guy:  Roundabouts are just polite mazes. I enjoying going round twice. 

Antonia:  I picked this 1950s cottage so you could relive your glory days—when buses had conductors, not contactless cards. 

Guy: Back then, people respected the driver. 

Antonia:  And if I hadn’t collected the victuals, you’d be surviving only on tea and biscuits. 

Guy:  Tea and biscuits are a balanced diet. Biscuit in each hand. 

Antonia:  And how can you drive the car without my managing the cat. She’s eyeing your mug like she wants to drive the bus herself. 

Guy (to Afogato):  Don’t even think about it. You’re too short for the pedals. 

Antonia:  I’ve orchestrated this trip so you can feel special. Though honestly, the cat thinks it’s her birthday. 

Guy: Three cheers for Afogato, the actual passenger of honor. 

___________

Voice-over
It seems Guy wouldn’t make it far without Antonia along as navigator, accommodation organizer, cat controller, historian, chef, memory maker, celebrator… and therapist.

A Regency Birthday

My Dearest Emma,

With the utmost delight I write these lines to you on the eve of your birthday. How swiftly the years have flown, and yet, each one has only served to enhance your grace and charm.

I am on my way to join the celebrations, the coach and horses depart before the sun will set tomorrow so my arrival will be after darkness has fallen.

Arriving thus the night before the event in good time and eager to join you all in a celebratory feasting, in a lofty mansion. The event promises to be filled with games such as charades and musical chairs which reminds me that I hope you will perform airs, so be sure to bring your music. The prospect of such merriment fills me with the greatest anticipation. May your day be as radiant as your smile and as joyous as your laughter.

Sincerest Felicitations,

Jane A. 

I do humbly wish thee a right merry birthday...

An Elizabethan birthday…

Huzzah, to all those whose day of birth is this. May thy years be many and fortunes fair! Let this day be filled with laughter, and accompanied by cheery songs like “Now is the Month of Maying”. Rompish games like charades, goblets raised to the roof, marshmallows toasted to the stars, the path paved with puns as we binge-watch the comedies of life. 
__________
Voice-over
The madrigal may not be March but May is near enough. And although the King's Singers are modernly attired their origins are close.

Happy Birthday in Lower Sorbian

A dessert dish arrives…

Barry: Amazing! The felicitation is in Lower Sorbian. How did you know my ancestors were from the Lower Sorbia?

Henry: A little linguistic forensics. 

Barry: Well, that’s your field. Hmm. Diacritics and all.

Henry: Admittedly, it took a few goes to get the chocolatier to write the diacritic of š right. I looked up both Lower and Upper Sorbian greetings to make sure I got the right dialect.

Barry: You’ve made this birthday unforgettable. Thank you.
_________

Voice-over
Both Lower and Upper Sorbian dialects are quite distinct, yet they share a common origin. It’s like two siblings who grew up in slightly different homes. 

When 77 = 14

Another Birthday...

Ingrid: Happy Birthday. How old?
Ross: Fourteen.

Ingrid: Huh?

Ross: Well, do the math. 7 + 7 = 14.

Ingrid: I like that. So next birthday I’ll be six years old. 4 + 2 = 6.

_______

Voice-over

Die Manipulation von Zahlen. Anything to reduce the age count as the numbers get higher.

On Not Combining Birthdays

An apology…

Ricardo: Sorry I couldn’t make it back in time to celebrate. My birthday! The trip was unavoidable, couldn't reschedule.

Antonio: Of course. Life has its own plans sometimes. Don't worry about it. But I was thinking, since Maria is turning eighty next week, we could celebrate your birthday together with hers. What do you think?

Ricardo: Great idea. It would be nice to have a joint celebration with Maria. But I'm not sure if she would appreciate it. Turning eighty is a milestone.

Antonio: Yeah. Maria's eightieth birthday is a special occasion. Wouldn't want to take the spotlight off her. And worse, custom dictates that if we celebrate your birthday with Maria's, you would also become eighty years old. Some silly superstition.  Leaping from 65 to 80 would hardly be the best birthday present one could wish for, would it. 

Ricardo: Ha, ha. Nope, aging as rapidly as that I’ll pass on. 

Antonio: Maybe after the heat of summer in October. Nights are cooler then.

_________

Voice-over

Not clear where the superstition comes from, but when two people celebrate their birthdays on the same day, it is said they both become one year older than their actual age. A playful belief. Superstitions often lack a logical or scientific basis and are based  more on cultural traditions and beliefs. They can also be influenced by personal anecdotes or stories passed down within families or communities. Over time, such beliefs become ingrained in the collective consciousness.

Celebrating 102

But the guest is absent…

Pietro: It’s his birthday.

Antonio: He would have been turning 102.

Pietro: He was … something else.

Antonio: In the best sense.

Pietro: Part of him is in all of us.

Antonio: Yet the sum of our parts don’t add up to his whole.

Pietro: We can’t all reach a hundred.

Antonio: But he was an influencer right to the very end.

_________

Voice-over

No ordinary Guy.

76 Trombones

One fine morning…

Antonio (singing): 76 trombones led the big parade

With a hundred ten cornets close at hand.

They were followed by rows and rows

Of the finest virtuosos

The cream of every famous band…

Ariana: What’s THAT all about?

Antonio: A song about trombones we used to sing at morning school assemblies. 

Ariana: And the significance?

Antonio: I’m 76 today.

Ariana: Congratulations. For the birthday. Not sure about the singing.

_________

Voice-over

Seventy-six trombones came from the 1957 show The Music Man by Meredith Willson. Judy Garland’s later rendition of the song is on YouTube.

The power of being quietly spoken

Softly falls the memory…

Leonardo: Would have been her birthday.

Isabella: She was a wonderful mother. Medical training during the war. Did all the other things too, like sewing and gardening and bottling. 

Leonardo: Un momento di silenzio per ricordare Giovanna.

Isabella: I remember her as always being quietly spoken.

Leonardo: She didn’t like noise. She often used to say, "Empty vessels clang loudest."

_________

Voice-over

She had a quiet way with words too. Rephrased metaphors, sometimes combining Plato and Shakespeare.

Happy birthday

Brent recalls…

...

Brent: It was a year ago this all started.

Norbert: And...?

Brent: It all began on the first of a new month. 1st February, 2007. I said White Rabbit.

Norbert: As usual. I bet that was what you wrote about.

Brent: It was. It was. Just like today.

Norbert: I've no idea why...

Brent: ...I say White Rabbit every month? It started as a joke, developed into a superstition, now I have such a fear that if I forget to say White Rabbit first of a new month I'll die.

Norbert: And you think that you can live forever this way?

Brent: When I begin to forget, it's all over.

...