Did not take as long as I expected

Looky what I got for my birthday!

And right in time for the Wichita Falls trip, too!

I am in love, absolutely madly passionately in love with this gorgeous little device, although apparently it doesn't do PCs, at least not without erasing all the songs I already put on it from the Mac. Well, you can't fault the little guy for having good taste.

And do you know, it really does have the effect on you that those iPod commercials show, except that real people look kind of stupid dancing without a soundtrack. But that's why I get my own hotel room.

And here is my birthday self-portrait:

I have some pretty nice legs for a 37-year-old goddammit.

So I got to break in the fancy schmancy new iPod with a few miles' brisk walk around the cute little fakelake in the park next to the hotel. I was not allowed to go walking on the trip to San Angelo. Here, though, it looks like I'll be able to spend as much time on the trail as I please.

It's very pretty; Wichita Falls is a more attractive town than I'd anticipated. It's so pastel. The dirt is pink and the trees are a muted shade of green; and even in the mid-afternoon light today, the sky was washed over with cirrus clouds, so everything looked cool and pale and soft, though it's dry and flat as a pancake up here.

The path around the pond is gorgeous in the evening light, especially; the pavement is dusted over with pink, the sky was reflected in the water, the pond is full of picturesque waterfowl, and it was a beautiful sunset. Even the goose dookys looked like pastel little green-and-cream nonpareils of yuck.

All in all a highly satisfactory birthday, though if I don't get some "Happy Birthday" comments on this post I will be totally bummed. And if I can't get a snake for my grand entrance, it will ruin everything!