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COLUMN BY MATT PRANGER

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Oh, Four-O is here

posted 08/27/01
My wife seems to be making a fuss over my upcoming birthday. (See silly ad on this page.) I turn 40 on Saturday, Sept. 1. While I appreciate her kind-hearted intentions, I don’t understand the fascination with the "Big Birthdays." I really don’t see what the difference is between 29, 30 or 31; 39, 40 or 41; 49, 50 or 51; 59, 60 or 61; 69, 70 or 71. Aside from not being eligible for certain insurance, Sept. 1, 2001 just means another year has gone by for me.

When I was younger, I didn’t feel this way. There were some major B-days worth celebrating, including:

  • 14 -- Learner Permit. "Learner" applying to both me and my mother. We learned she was much more likely to celebrate more birthdays if she didn’t teach me to drive. She kept trying to put her feet through the floor, as if we were driving a car out of "The Flintstones."

  • 16 -- Driver License. The ability to roam in my ’62 Chevy Biscayne. Given the rusted-out floorboards, Mom’s braking method would’ve come in handy. She could’ve kept the ’Cayne from skidding that extra foot and hitting the car of the clunker-head who sat in the middle of the intersection and watched the ’Cayne slide for more than 200 feet.

  • 18 -- Legal Age. The right to vote and to run away to Alaska if I desired. Glad to be gliding in the Biscayne, steering clear of the dozens of presidential candidates attempting to pull another "Carter" in the Iowa Precinct Caucuses.

  • 19 -- Drinking Age in Iowa. Learning the head-thumping hard way that a toast-happy fellow college senior wasn’t tipping his glass of schnapps at the same rate. Develop an aversion to cinnamon schnapps and cinnamon in general, even Lavoris mouthwash.

  • 21 -- Officially an Adult. OK, an adult in the eyes of all the United States. No longer have to sneak into rockin’ blues clubs in Illinois. (Those tall upperclassmen were good for something.)

Since turning 21 I’ve also had several wonderful birthdays. My B-days often coincided with the three-day Labor Day weekend, when many wanted to cut loose before summer slips into fall. I finally ran away to Alaska and worked on a salmon processing ship. In Seward, the crew commandeered a lounge’s tufted orange Naugahyde organ and sang happy birthday on my 25th. When I returned to Alaska, during my first day in town, my new boss at The Skagway News added my birthday to a previously planned bash. And islanders have honored me several times during some special beach barbecues, potlucks, picnics, roasts.

Maybe I’m not anxious about my 40th birthday because I’ve been extremely fortunate. My friends and family have showered me with some great times in the first 39. And I bet No. 40 will be just fine.

***

Bacon: Larger than life in the Big Apple


Islanders visiting New York City might do a double-take when they glance at a Calvin Klein billboard at Broadway and Houston. A six-story tall photo of Daryl Bacon, a 1999 Friday Harbor High School graduate anchors the right side of Klein’s latest plug for jeans.

Bacon, son of Frances and Dan Bacon, is also featured on billboards in Los Angeles and Tokyo and is appearing in advertisements in some major magazines. He’s modeled in Europe and is currently looking for more work in New York.

***

Making hay in comfort

Islanders’ autos have become increasingly more upscale since I arrived here more than a decade ago. Seeing a top-of-the-line Mercedes was rare back then. Philanthropist Paul Whittier, one of San Juan Island’s wealthiest residents, regularly drove an older model Honda Civic. Now seeing a Porsche, BMW, Lexus or a Hummer squeezing in parking spaces on Spring Street is fairly common. With the increase in luxury vehicles there seems to be less of "The Island Car" -- a vehicle that might rattle apart at the high speeds of the Mainland -- traveling our two-lane roads than in the past.

So, it was reassuring to see a Ford Excursion – the automaker’s fanciest SUV (Suburban Unnecessary Vehicle) – with a baler or some kind of farm implement in tow on Friday Harbor’s Second Street last week.

SAN JUAN ISLANDER © 2008

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