Birthday surprises

From Metkovic to Orebic, Croatia

From the border to the sea, a happy birthday for me.
A campout with Bosnians, Serbian, Croatians, Romas [notes on masculinity here]
A barbeque gathering beyond borders, forgetting a war of politics and pain.

Minutes before sundown, I am still stuck near the Bosnian-Croatian border;
after some racial harassment by local teens, I finally get picked up,
by a woman whose best friend in the passenger seat
also celebrated her birthday on September 7.
Luck be the ladies, tonight.

In the woman's backyard, the ocean. 

(a sunset in Split, September 8)