How old? Old enough to know better, young enough to do it anyway. If you know me well enough to be reading this journal, you'll be awfully familiar with that phrase. It's how I sidestep the age question, a question that can't help but pop up when one is a July-born and it just so happens to be July.

Well today I know a bit more, and I do a little less. Such is the way of things.

On July 27th, year to be redacted, a young man came into being who would eventually pick a bunny as his mouthpiece, largely because they seem more molestable than badgers or bears. Though, given this site, you might wonder about that. At any rate, it has been a long year, yet a remarkable one.

The Mistress that is Reality has put away her whip, patted her lap, and cuddled up all snuggly till we've practically forgotten the abusive past. Tornadoes, deaths in the family, financial ruin, all swept under the rug because today, dear friends, I celebrate my birthday somewhere that didn't exist only two months ago.

Today, there is a new house where the old one stood. There are new trees vying for the positions of those that fell. And there is a porch to stand on where we can watch the moon dance along the lake's surface, while a crane flies past. We're here, we're back, we have thumbed our noses at nature at her cruelest, and we have welcomed her with open arms when she came in at her most gentle.

What does all this mean? It means that tomorrow, my friends are going to come to the newly rebuilt house, sit in the newly rebuilt dining room and play some newly acquired board games while eating freshly grilled bacon cheeseburgers.

There really isn't a better birthday present I could have wished for, or even imagined. Though, if you wanna try and top it, I do accept all cards, letters, and monetary bribes.

Bunny gotta hoard. It's his birthday too, after all.