So it goes.

While reading Christopher Morley’s Book of Days for 1931 last year, I came across this quote.

Between thirty and forty, one is distracted by the Five Lusts;
Between seventy and eighty, one is a prey to a hundred diseases.
But from fifty to sixty, one is free from all ills;
Calm and still – the heart enjoys rest.
I have put behind me Love and Greed; I have done with Profit and Fame;
Strength of limb I still possess to seek the rivers and hills;
Still my heart has spirit enough to listen to flutes and strings.
At leisure I open new wine and taste several cups;
Drunken I recall old poems and sing a whole volume.

- Po Chu-i (A.D. 772-846), translated by Arthur Whaley

Po Chu-i conveniently doesn’t mention the forties.

I most certainly have not put behind me Love, although I recognize Profit is a lost cause.

Wine, old poems, and song? I can get behind those with enthusiasm.

So here goes nothing. I’m grateful to all of you, my friends, for
enriching my life. Here’s to another year! And to all of you who have
wished me happy birthday: thank you!