Birthday

 January 25, 2024---my 89th birthday. 

A day, and a number of years, greeted with very mixed feelings. Happy to get the birthday wishes from the three boys--Daniel, John, and Julian--from Karen, and from Clare--on behalf of all the British relatives

Of course, I am happy to be alive: I am very, very, happy and grateful for the 26 years I have had with Joan: and I guess I am fairly lucky with my health. The pacemaker keeps ticking way: at the last overall check-up I was fine: no recurrence of sciatica (I do the prescribed exercises every day): no recurrence of the blocked small bowel, which took me into hospital for four days: and I am able to walk a fair distance each day--my aim is four miles, but often I exceed that by a couple of miles or more.

On my mental health, perhaps I am more than a little worried. The degree of my forgetfulness is a bit disturbing--the long pauses as I struggle to find a name or a word, or what day it is, do get me down. Lying in bed the other night I tried to think of the California town where we got together with John, Dan, Karen, Julian, and Sharon a couple of years ago. I could not bring it to mind. And here I am again, not being able to remember it.

So--stock-taking over, Cutler--GET ON WITH YOUR LIFE !

I forget how many birthdays I have had here in Sydney. But on each occasion Joan has taken me to dinner in the revolving restaurant at the top of Sydney Tower. And we did it again yesterday. The complete revolution of the restaurant takes about an hour, and we were there for about two hours, seeing all the lights come on all over Sydney. Staggering views...out to the sea to the east, out to Botany Bay and the airport in the south, and to the far entrance to the Pacific in the north at Watson's Bay.