Reflections on Fifty

Today I find myself not only 2300 miles from home but also a year older. I took my 14 year old son and took off for Disneyland to celebrate my 50th birthday. I was born and raised in California and spent many a family vacation at the "happiest place on earth" which, considering my family, they probably weren't that happy.  Fortunately time has mellowed my perception and I wanted to go back for my Big Day. All and all, it was fun reliving memories and introducing my son to some new ones (I could hardly believe we had never taken him to the park before). Though he had fun experiencing it all, seeing Disney through his cynical teenage eyes was interesting. Like he wondered why people with infants and toddlers would ever waste their money on it. I mean it's a ton of money to get in and what a hassle wheeling those strollers everywhere and no those kids won't remember any of it. And those dark and scary rides like Haunted Mansion (hey you get to take a "demon" home with you) and Pirates of the Carribean (what's more fun watch drunk outlaws pillaging a village?) are interesting. And by the end of the "it's a small world" ride he wanted to kill someone. Yeah, I'm not really down with the whole one, happy world crap anymore either. But maybe that's a 50-year-old's perspective.