Impressions from an outdoor birthday party in February

Hello again

I don't think my friend Ch. would ever have imagined, when she was 25, say, that a quarter century later she would celebrate her 50th birthday out of doors. But that's exactly what happened last Wednesday evening, in a suburban village north of Berne, when some 50 people congregated to wish Christine all the happiness in the world for her second half of the century. Oh, and as I already told you: welcome to the club, my dear Ch.!

Here are a few impressions of how we managed to see each other despite a notable absence of electrical lighting:

so-called 'Finnish candles'...
... and torches ...

We had mulled wine and apple juice -- heated in large pots hanging from tripods set above large round iron bowls full of crackling logs. The same ingenious system was later used to heat two kinds of soup (cream of celery and cream of pumpkin) and to boil water for tea and coffee.

I wish I had been warned of the highlight of the evening, the fiery show masterminded by a young man swinging burning pads about. The noise was impressive, and the wheels of fires burned themselves into our minds' eyes. Gorgeous! Thank you so much, Ch.