Thirty-one seven

My favourite number. The combination of the three and the one and in that order makes me happy. It’s my birthdate. This is my first Southern Hemisphere birthday. In all my (more than I care to admit) years and to my (not as sharp as it was) memory, it has only once rained on 31st July, almost always a long, lazy sunny summer’s day.

Looking outside today, the sky is ridiculously blue, I can hear the ocean. The weather is turning rainy later, but right now I could still be a summer baby. Until I go outside, and the wind reminds me where I am. But from the warm cafe it looks like it always does on this day.

In Australia the calendar is upside down, Christmas may be all wrong, but my birthday is going to be all right.