A Half-Century!

Well, this is it. As of today, I am officially 50. I guess to be completely accurate I'd have to mark the specific hour of my birth, which I can never remember -- I think it was 6-something, but morning or evening I have no idea -- and with time zone changes and whatnot, well, it's just way too complicated! So let's just say I'm there.

Not that it feels any different from being 49. In fact I've been thinking of myself as 50 for a while, rounding upward, so it feels good to have finally crossed the line. I remember telling people when I turned 40 that 40 was nothing, but 50 would be SCARY. And it's not.

So far, anyway. Ask again when the results of the U.S. election come in.

Last night I had a rare opportunity to get together with my friend Susan, who in another lifetime hired me and was my supervisor at The New York Times. She's in town with her husband, on her way to a family wedding for which she went hat-shopping. (She bought a feathery fascinator, which is a very British thing to wear to a wedding!) I hadn't seen Susan in at least six years, and a lot has happened in the interim -- she had some serious and dramatic health problems that involved an organ transplant and a lengthy recovery. But she looks great and it was wonderful to be able to show her a bit of our lives in London. Being a blog-reader, she especially wanted to meet Olga, and brought her a new American Kong and a Donald Trump chew toy, which Susan hoped Olga would eviscerate before our very eyes. Olga, however, is unsure what she's supposed to do with Donald. In the photo above, she looks a bit terrified of him. (Aren't we all?!)