THE FIFTH DECADE
By Eddie Elwood

Introduction

As I sat in the little booth - well, when I say 'booth', I actually mean office - peering out of the window at 'old Dutch' ditching his daily beer bottle into the glass recycle bin, Mr Tingis was prattling down the phone at me in his inimitable version of the English language, something about a sick heifer. I was momentarily distracted by the realisation that the pen in my hand had taken on a life of its own and had found its way to representing some ficticious cigarette protruding from my mouth. The snap back to real time hit me with a jolt, as that particular pen had probably been used by a hand that had been places few hands ever wished to venture! Oh the joys of country life, the joys of farming, the joys of cows calving and sheep lambing and all the other wonders of nature that arrive every year, everywhere. Things like the first green flush of spring grass, things like short nights and long sunny days, things like the arrival of the Swallows and things like... birthdays!

Another year had been and gone and the past really was catching up with me in a most alarming way! More and more I found myself mentally wandering the avenues of time gone by, searching for answers to long forgotten questions and for causes to present time effects. Does life really begin at 40, do you think? I was about to find out!

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