little tom turns one

Aquaman has more than one namesake in the village, and yesterday was the first birthday celebration  of the most recent Tom. We thought it was going to be a small family gathering, perhaps with a cup of sickly sweet tea and little else, so we took a pack of biscuits to contribute. How wrong we were. The birthday was secondary to the baptism, and half of the village had turned up to welcome little Tom into the flock. Kids and dogs were tumbling out of the doors, lining up for their free feed in a takeaway box. The fattened pig was chopped up and boiled, a flock of chickens deep fried and more rice boiled than we would consume in a year. What a shame we had just eaten...couldn't possibly, so full. I accepted a tiny square of cake presented on a fork, then almost gagged when Tom said the very same utensil had gone into every child's mouth as the plate went around. That's the community spirit.