Diamond Jubilee: Big Day

Finally, it was my 60th birthday. I had made a big trip during COVID and ended in DC at the Perry Place Refuge with friends/family PM and DV. I felt satisfied that I had just accomplished something significant before I turned 60: reconnecting with a big chunk of my own country after having traveled so much internationally.

I rank that "Diamond Jubilee" as one of the best trips of my life.

I awoke to a lovely late July day and P suggested we go to the Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens. I agreed because I had never been (surprisingly) and the lotuses were still in bloom (although at the end of their season). Luckily, we arrived before most visitors and had a pleasant visit without the stress of finding parking (usually difficult) and battling crowds.

We found some lotuses still blooming and wondered at their leaves' absolute ability to repel water (even though they are aquatic plants).

We returned and relaxed at the house. The afternoon took us on a walk to the nearby Franciscan Monastery and gardens. I always have fond memories of that place because I first visited on a sixth-grade field trip. We wandered the gardens admiring the blooming flowers (many roses). I smiled at its garden path through recreated religious sites - a Holy Land "experience" for visitors. Having been to most of the places, I could think of nothing more opposite than those mostly hot, dry (often treeless) locations and the lush garden setting at the Franciscan Monastery in the District of Columbia. I wondered what my 12 year old self would have thought had I told him "Matthew, you will actually go to those places".

Our house favorite restaurant of the time was Ambar down near the DC Navy Yard on 8th Street, so that was my choice for the birthday meal. That restaurant serves dishes tapas style as well as unlimited drinks (if desired). P and I got the hard drinks and D had normal ones (someone had to be responsible). Our meal was excellent (as usual) and I felt stuffed. They even served me up a special birthday dessert plate. We were lucky to dine out "normally" in a time when most restaurants were shuttered. Indeed, another COVID wave would sweep the country shortly after that celebration.

So my Diamond Jubilee ended: 30 days of travel in the US - finishing in DC where the adult part of my life began. In fact, during the months leading up to the trip, I stayed with my brother in York County for almost a year (to help watch over our mother in an assisted-living facility). During that time we explored the area where we grew up. I experienced an "early life retrospective" the entire year before I turned 60 - ending with that one-month trip in "America" and a celebration in Washington.

Even if it all happened during COVID, which stole so much joy from all of us, I managed to have a good time. In fact, COVID rendered some places normally full of visitors empty and other things normally expensive, cheap. It was definitely a case of lemonade from lemons.

So I was 60. No two ways about it - I was old. Middle age was over and a new season of life had begun.