Happy Birthday

Today is my 44th birthday. At least, it is for about 20 more minutes. I was planning to write something very witty, talk about the significance of the number 44. But, atlas, the only thing I can relate 44 to is a couple of famous athletes who wore the number: Reggie Jackson, Hank Aaron, and John Riggens.

Perhaps, I will find more success examining the year of my birth. Besides yours truly entering the world on a snowy March night, some pretty interesting things happened in 1962. Jamaica, Rwanda, Burundi, Algeria, Western Samoa, Uganda, and Trinidad and Tobago all gained their independance. On May 31, Adolf Eichman was hanged in Israel. On June 25, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that prayers in public schools were unconstitutional. On August 5, Marilyn Monroe was found dead of an apparent drug overdose. On October 1, James Meredith, escorted by federal marshalls, became the first black student to enroll at Mississippi State University. For 13 days in October, the United States and Soviet Union were on the verge of nuclear war. The Cuban Missile Crisis came to an end when Nikita Khrushchev announced he would remove his missiles from Cuba. For the first time in 400 years, Neptune and Pluto aligned. President John F. Kennedy declared that the U.S. would have a man on the moon by the end of the decade.

In 1962, the Los Angelos Dodgers won the World Series. The Boston Celtics beat the L.A. Lakers 4-3 in the NBA finals. The Houston Oilers and New York Giants were football champions. The first Superbowl wasn't played until 1967. NCAA champions were Cincinnati for basketball and USC for football. Brazil beat Czechoslovakia to win the World Cup. There was no triple crown winner in my birth year.

In the world of entertainment, movie releases included Lawrence of Arabia, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Manchurian Candidate, and Divorce-Italian Style. West Side Story captured the Oscar for Best Picture. Moon River (by Henry Mancini) won Grammy awards for both song and record of the year.

Famous people who share my year of birth include Garth Brooks, Jon Bon Jovi, Clint Black, Matthew Brodderick, Tom Cruise, Jodie Foster, Roger Clemens, John Stockton, Doug Flutie, and Jerry Rice. Famous deaths include William Faulkner, Ernie Kovacs, and Eleanor Roosevelt.

I suppose birthdays are a time for reflection, about where we are, where we've been, and where we want to be. I'm pretty content with all those places. My to-do list still includes traveling to Paris, riding a mule down into the Grand Canyon, riding an elephant (but not down into the Grand Canyon), and jumping out of an airplane (but not over the Grand Canyon).

To quote a Tim McGraw song, "I think I'll take a moment and celebrate my age . . . My next thirty years will be the best years of my life."

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During the previous 24 hours, one set of twins was born. Double ewe lambs: a red lamb, with a white head and white tail; and a white lamb. The dam was #15. It's a bit of a relief that she delivered. For the past two years, she has prolapsed her vagina before lambing. I was thinking that if she did it again this year I should mark her for culling. Last week, her vagina crept out a few of times, but nothing so serious to require action on my part. I'll keep her around for another year. She's got a big udder and is a good mother. A ewe with a very nice disposition.

No ewes delivered today. Of course not! It was my day off! There was a ewe (#100) that had previously lambed on my birthday three times. She broke the string last year. Otherwise, I was going to suggest her for the Guinness Book of records.