Nice One

That birthday was far nicer and less of an emotional roller-coaster than I'd expected as the day dawned.

It wasn't a particularly nice day in San Francisco. A freezing wind knifed through the city, chilling us to the bone. As we walked the dogs around Holly Park, the smaller of them was literally blown sideways at one point by a gust.

My close friend called and suggested lunch. We are healing a misunderstanding, a simple mistaken impression, but these things can take time, particularly when there are other issues bundled up with them.

The kids are great to me. The big ones called and emailed; the little ones brought presents and a cake.

But probably the biggest surprise was the impact of social media. Facebook tells your friends when it's your birthday, and all day long, people posted greetings on my "Wall," sent me emails, and/or wished me well via g-chat.

There was a languid, natural pace to all of this. Just another little message every now and again, much as might happen if we shared a village, and bumped into one another in the normal course of our day.

As I've become slowly more active on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, I've begun to deeply appreciate what these services provide -- company.

It is an age, generally, of greater isolation, alienation, and loneliness than is healthy for human beings. Yesterday, thanks to social networking sites, I escaped those feelings, and ended the day instead feeling bathed in love and affection.

It probably doesn't get better than that, and why should it?

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