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The most wonderful time of the year?
Aug. 15th, 2025 04:14 pmToday I want to talk about birthdays. I'll start with this very informal survey - weigh in if you wish:
What is the best time of year to celebrate a birthday? Summer or winter? Is it better to have a birthday close to a time when everyone around you is celebrating (like Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving or a major national holiday? Or conversely, is it better if it falls on a day when nobody feels like celebrating?
Amongst my family and friends, there is quite a flurry of August birthdays, my own among them. On balance, I think I'm glad I have a summer birthday. Growing up, it meant I didn't have to go to school on my birthday. During my 9-to-5 years, I was quite often able to arrange to take holidays that included my actual birthday.
The downside to that, of course, was that if I actually wanted to throw a party and invite my friends and classmates, chances were good that they'd be out of town. Or if they were in town, chances were that I wouldn't be.
So anyway, although I got invited to a fair number of parties in my youth and childhood, I was into the double-digit ages before I held a birthday party of my own.
By that time, we were all starting to consider ourselves far too mature and sophisticated to play silly kiddy-games like musical chairs and pin the tail on the donkey. A popular option amongst teenybopper celebrants in those days was to go out somewhere, like to a show, and then perhaps enjoy a special meal somewhere.
The very first birthday party I ever had occurred in 1965, when I and a small group of friends attended that year's blockbuster movie, The Sound of Music:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059742/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_cst_sm
60 Jahre später gehe ich nach Österreich (und zwar Graz und Salzburg).
Next month, I'll be taking a trip with Western Alumni to Austria to tour various sites where the Sound of Music was filmed. And maybe enjoy a concert or two, sample some wine and Sachertorte, see some sites associated with major Austrian literary greats like Musil, Broch and Zweig ... there's quite a bit of "at leisure" time in the schedule, and I'm really looking forward to it.
Prost and stay tuned!
What is the best time of year to celebrate a birthday? Summer or winter? Is it better to have a birthday close to a time when everyone around you is celebrating (like Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving or a major national holiday? Or conversely, is it better if it falls on a day when nobody feels like celebrating?
Amongst my family and friends, there is quite a flurry of August birthdays, my own among them. On balance, I think I'm glad I have a summer birthday. Growing up, it meant I didn't have to go to school on my birthday. During my 9-to-5 years, I was quite often able to arrange to take holidays that included my actual birthday.
The downside to that, of course, was that if I actually wanted to throw a party and invite my friends and classmates, chances were good that they'd be out of town. Or if they were in town, chances were that I wouldn't be.
So anyway, although I got invited to a fair number of parties in my youth and childhood, I was into the double-digit ages before I held a birthday party of my own.
By that time, we were all starting to consider ourselves far too mature and sophisticated to play silly kiddy-games like musical chairs and pin the tail on the donkey. A popular option amongst teenybopper celebrants in those days was to go out somewhere, like to a show, and then perhaps enjoy a special meal somewhere.
The very first birthday party I ever had occurred in 1965, when I and a small group of friends attended that year's blockbuster movie, The Sound of Music:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059742/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_cst_sm
60 Jahre später gehe ich nach Österreich (und zwar Graz und Salzburg).
Next month, I'll be taking a trip with Western Alumni to Austria to tour various sites where the Sound of Music was filmed. And maybe enjoy a concert or two, sample some wine and Sachertorte, see some sites associated with major Austrian literary greats like Musil, Broch and Zweig ... there's quite a bit of "at leisure" time in the schedule, and I'm really looking forward to it.
Prost and stay tuned!
