Cake

I laughed. A friend was telling me the other day how for his wife’s birthday he baked a cake.
He cooks a bit and had done a fair bit of cooking in his time. But the stove was new to him. While his wife slept he prepared it all (it was quiet a big one) and then put it in the oven to cook. He knew it was to be there 45 minutes so he thought he would get some shut eye while it cooked.
The fire alarm woke him. He was greeted in the kitchen by billowing smoke. Apparently he had pressed the grill button. The top of the cake had been turned to charcoal. He did do it again successfully.
I have mixed experiences with cakes. Mostly it has gone well with cakes that were for my birthday. But not always. I remember nothing else about the birthday but I do remember the cake. We had decided having my birthday at the beach was a good idea.
Except when we got there the wind was blowing a gale.
Undeterred we spent time there. This was a happy occasion.
My cake was secure in a cake box. Unaffected by wind or whatever the elements came up with. Or so we thought. The cake ended up being symbolic only. The wind had gotten into the box. The cake was full of sand. Uneatable.
It was at the same beach my dog made a lasting impression on me. On a grassy area people were sitting on the ground in a circle with a cake in the middle. My dog was just being a dog. He saw an unattended cake. He found his way through the circle and started eating the cake. What ever plans those people had for that cake I am sure changed in that moment.
Another experience was not a disaster, but I will never forget it. It was Merril’s fortieth. She was in denial. She did not want a fortieth birthday cake. So we had a get together and brought out a cake inscribed with “not a Fortieth birthday cake.” We all enjoyed it.
Being 63 means I have racked up a few cakes in my time. I don’t know if I got one for my first or second birthday. But I also I cannot remember the cake for my 60th birthday but I do remember two other things. One person could not find a 60th birthday card so they bought a 30th card and put 2 x on it. I had invited people over saying the night would go late. Someone suggested that as I was getting older did late mean like 8:15.
The guy, Merril. and I, laugh at the charcoal cake but the one that takes the cake (literally) for me is the dog one. It happened decades ago and was embarrassing at the time, and I am sure was horrible for the people in a circle, but I always have a chuckle when I think about it.