Subtitle: This year, June 8, 2016, was my 50th birthday. To celebrate, I had a picnic down at Stewart Park with some friends. It was nice, though it was surprisingly cold, like in the lower 50s (°F), plus the wind was blowing off the lake adding an extra chill. So by the end, everyone was cold and miserable; but, as David Letterman might say, "It was a good sort of cold and miserable."

The day before, I had "hit the ground running" in a bad sense of the phrase, wiping out on a sidewalk dashing in the rain. Here's what I looked like when I got home from the urgent care/convenient care/doc-in-a-box place. At Frankenfest, because of the lighting, the bandaid on my chin covering the 5 stitches, isn't that obvious in the pictures unless you look at it. My black eye and swollen cheek are even less obvious. The events of the previous day made it pretty easy for this to be a much better day. Basically, as long as I avoided slamming my face into cement (which I did avoid), it was a better day. I didn't mind setting the bar low, it's nice to have achievable goals.

Thanks to Bez and Rana for sending me photos. I forgot my camera. Apparently Jeff H and Sue didn't make it into any of the pictures.

I had a fun time. 20160608_195417_003: Frank, Laurie, Rob, Brendan, Kristen, Emily, Todd, and Rana, as we kept near the BBQ grill. Note how many people are wearing hats, ski caps, and layers. 20160608_200110: Frank with Laurie and Shoshe in the background by the Table of Many Desserts. When we arrived, we found a group leaving the pavillion, so we grabbed it. I figured it would keep us dry. Turns out it didn't rain, and it didn't do much to keep us warm. 20160608_200156: Frank taking some watermellon. Jeff T had given me the birthday hat, which I wore (it kept my sub-hat below it in place). 20160608_200700: Frank blows out the candles on his cake while a hint of Bez by my birthday hat, Lauren, Emily, Shoshe, and Todd look on at the candle-blaze, enjoying the warmth it provides. 20160608_200702: Post-candle-out-blowing. Frank, Bez, Lauren, Emily, Jeff T, and Shoshe look on at the extinguished heat source. IMG_5565-header: IMG_5565: Bez took this panoramic shot of the pavilion. Lauren, Garret, Todd, Laurie, Rob, Dianne, Stephanie, me, Emily, and Jeff T. People do look a bit cold. IMG_5567-header: IMG_5567: Another panaormic pavilion shot: Garret, Todd, Laurie, Rob, Dianne, Stephanie, Rana, Jeff T., Lauren, me (only the birthday hat is visible), and Emily.