The Sign Of The Eisenberg Times.

How time flies when you're having fun.

As you know, Bob and I have been privy to a few half century celebrations lately and sometimes it almost seems that the whole village has turned 50.

This latest celebration was rather nice. An open invitation to all and sundry to help celebrate his first innings of the game and it was scheduled to start at 2 pm yesterday. A time that Bob and I had marked in our social calender.

As luck would have it, by lunchtime the snow had made a reappearance in alarming proportions indeed. The flakes kept on joining their flaky cousins on the lawn and when we left for the birthday party, ten centimeters had accumulated already.

It might not seem a lot to you, but when you either slip slide down your driveway ( hoping not to connect with the gate on the way out ) or testing your car's ability to spin a wheelie up the driveway, it does become a problem. Just as well we left after an hour, because we spun our chariot's wheels three times before getting the chariot into its abode.

Anyway, we arrived to such a warm welcome and despite the elements of treachery on the roads, his place was packed and filled with a joyful mixture of conversations between the guests. Well, guests who are all friends who have witnessed the various happenings of his first innings.

Gosh, even this early in the afternoon ( it goes without saying, that the party would have only finished this morning ), there were at least 30 people there. A great testament to the Birthday boy. When we found a seat at one of the tables, it and all the others were laden with wine ( he is a vintner too ) and morsels to accompany them. Wow.

But that was merely the beginning. Caterers were offering traditional hot food, cakes had been baked in various styles and wine was flowing in abundance. To be included in such a warm and precious environment was such a wonderful thing for Bob and I.

The cherry on the top was a local special edition of the Eisenberg newspaper ( Der Schoaga ), dedicated to the Birthday Boy's life and those along side him, at the various stages of life. A glimpse into a family. A glimpse into a life of friendship and a glimpse into those seemingly mundane occasions in life, which really turn out to be the best parts of life.

Biggi