For my 40th birthday, my mother gave me 10 straight days of sun and over 9,000 cranes. We took a road trip out to the Bosque del Apache Crane Festival and went out every night to see the birds land on the lake. It was magical.



This birthday was strangely difficult for me; I don't really mind being 40, but I'd somehow imagined myself at a more stable place in life when I reached this age. I'm still in Portland, still paddling kayaks when the weather's nice and baking bread when it isn't, but I still feel a bit like a stranger here and I have yet to figure out how I want to make a living. What I'd give for a little clarity!

On the upside, I'm healthier and more balanced than I've probably ever been in my adult life, and I have the luxury of figuring all this out on my own time table. I count myself extremely lucky.