Month: January 2016

Any Port or Sangria in a Storm

by earlthepearl137

A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,

A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread-and Thou

Beside me singing in the Wilderness-

O, Wilderness were Paradise enow!

Enow?  What kind of word is that?  Somebody got away with a little poetic license on that one, but the picture he paints does help you remember the essentials on a snowy evening.

The first snowstorm of the year is coming and the Lancaster stores are literally being stormed for essentials.  Bread, milk, and eggs – No.  There are plenty of those on the shelves.  This town is hitting the liquor stores, and hitting them hard.  It was almost like a repeat of New Year’s Eve.  Everyone wanted to make sure that this snow storm wouldn’t harsh their buzz, especially since it was hitting on the weekend.  A Monday storm means you get the day off.  A Saturday storm means your weekend is screwed, unless you’re prepared.  Time to stock up on booze.

I have a reputation as a beer drinker, but, unknown to many, I rarely drink beer at home.  I drink wine.  Five liter boxes of wine, usually.  As far as I’m concerned, 5-liter boxes of wine fall in right behind the inventions of fire and the wheel, and maybe even slightly ahead of the wheel.

So, when I heard that a storm was coming, I headed to the liquor store for a 5-liter box of Rhine Wine.  When I got home, and listened to a few minutes of dire weather forecasting on the radio, I started thinking about “worst case scenario.”  I went back for 5 liters of Sangria.  I also picked up a loaf of bread.  I know the drill.  A Jug of Wine, a loaf of bread and Thou.  I just didn’t remember who “Thou” was supposed to be.   Perhaps a few drinks might jog my memory.

Now, as I write this, the snow is coming down.   I can hear my landlord (or more likely his handyman) shoveling the sidewalk in front of my apartment.  That is probably the sweetest sound that I, as a renter, can hear – somebody else doing unpleasant work, which I would have to do if I were the owner.  “Let it snow.  Let it snow.  Let it snow.”  Ho Ho Ho  ROFLMAO LOL .

I’m also listening to my top 181 MP3 files on the computer.  They’re playing in A to Z order.  Right now, I’m up to the Earls singing Remember Then.

I do remember then.  The 60’s.  Well, I sort of remember them.  At least, I remember them better than I remember the 70’s.  That decade is a blur.  I remember a lot of the good times, and now, I can even find the humor in most of the bad times.  Most of them.  Well, some of them.

Whoa.  I drifted off for a spell there, thinking about those days.  The computer “juke box” is already up to G.  Garth Brooks is singing “Friends in Low Places.”

Well, I’ve got Garth beat.  I’ve got friends in cyber spaces, and I hope you’re all safe and warm, and enjoying your port in the storm.

Peace & Love, and all of the above,

Earl

Sweet Little Sixteen

by earlthepearl137

“…All the cats want to dance with Sweet Little Sixteen…”

 

 

In 2015 American Pharaoh won the Triple Crown. So, it is only fitting that I had my own Triple Crown this year.  I celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas early in 2015, and I completed the triple by celebrating the New Year early, too.  Normally on December 30th, I celebrate the anniversary of my friends Marianne and Tres.  This year I also celebrated New Year’s Eve on that day.

I’ve been poking around the apartment for the past month or so looking for the kitty litter buckets and cardboard boxes that contain my December storage items, which include my Christmas decorations.  I still haven’t found anything, but I did find my “January” storage items which included two New Year’s hats and some noisemakers.

I thought it would be interesting to go out on the town on the evening before New Year’s Eve wearing the Happy New Year Hats.  What would the crowd reaction be?  This would be fun, I thought, but I couldn’t do it alone.  I needed an accomplice.  Immediately I thought of Debbie.  She’s crazy.  She’ll do anything.  So, I invited her over to play Scrabble.  We put the hats on and proceeded to get drunk.  Then we went to the Alley Kat.

The reaction was great.  Even though just about everyone told us that we were a day off, they quickly joined in the fun.  It turned out to be the perfect ice breaker.  The Alley Kat is more of a restaurant than a bar.  Most people go there to eat, not converse with strangers, so it was a bit unusual to have everyone at the bar joining in the conversation.  Pretty soon we were taking selfies together and wishing each other a “Happy New Year.”  There weren’t a lot of people, but that was nice, too.  You don’t need to be packed in like the sardines in Times Square to have a good time.

I would like to point out that I was not drinking from the water glass which you see in front of me in the picture.  I don’t want to tarnish my reputation as a party animal.  My beer was just out of the frame.  That’s Debbie’s water.  Knowing that she has to drive home, we both make sure that her last few drinks of the night are water.

We left the bar at 11:30 to watch TV and sober up some more.  I don’t think we made it until midnight, but that’s one of the benefits of celebrating early.  No pressure.  The next night, on the real New Year’s Eve, I was content to sit quietly and watch the ball drop on TV without feeling like I was missing out on something.  I had already celebrated the New Year on Australian Time.

I hope everyone had an enjoyable New Year’s Eve, and I hope you all have a Happy, Healthy New Year.

Happy Sweet Sixteen.

Peace & Love, and all of the above,

Earl