I was doing a little last minute shopping at Best Buy the other night, and resolved that I would stay there until I found everything I needed or they kicked me out.  In one of my many treks, back and forth across the store, I passed a man in an electric wheelchair. 
   I finally finished my shopping and noticed this on the way out.

Picture is at a bad angle. It was much steeper in person. I'm firing my photographer.

   I am not the brightest bulb in the bunch, but I did put two and two together and decided this was the gentleman in the electric wheelchair’s vehicle.  I have loaded plenty of equipment onto trailers, and was scared to death every       time.    I couldn’t help but be impressed and amazed, imagining that courageous man, driving his wheelchair up that steep, treacherous ramp. 
  As I was driving home, it occurred to me that he probably isn’t in the chair when it is loaded.

   It’s finally here.  Christmas.  All the stressing out is over; trying to find this toy or that purse, spending as much as I can without putting us into ruin, getting everything wrapped and not being late, etc., etc…  You know, everything that’s so important around Christmastime.
   So I’m sitting here complaining, and tediously untying all of these little gray plastic coated wires, that are perfectly tied around each specific point on all my daughters new toys, holding them to their boxes, when I start thinking…Who tied these?  I start looking at the knots and how many there are on one toy, and how many of these toys are sold world-wide?  Manyof the toys we buy are manufactured in China, probably in sweat shops, and I think about the fingers that tied the wires, that I am now undoing.  Probably a cute little Chinese girl, not much older than my daughter, but an expert at tying little wire ties together, in the way she has been meticuously trained.  Her little calloused fingers, making knots, that we will soon undo.  She doesn’t even imagine the fleeting pleasure that will be experienced, due to her tedious, abusive labors.  I don’t think she get’s Christmas off…or any time off.  She works, eats, sleeps, then does it all again, day after day.  She probably wouldn’t be upset because 1 of her 30+ toys wasn’t exactly what she wanted.  She would most likely be satisfied just to see her family again.  Kind of puts it all into perspective…Merry Christmas!

(I started writing this post on vacation, back in August, but I just now got around to finishing it.  May it remind you of warmer and younger days.)

 12:47 P.M.-Vacation- Day 6

   I’m in the shower, zoned out.  Memories lead to memories lead to more memories and Bam!  This flood of emotion hits me smack in the face.  I dig deeper into my thoughts and I suddenly realize what vacation really is.  I always thought vacation was just a good time, a chance to do fun things, and go to different, exciting places; and vacation is all of those things, but it can be so much more.

   My mind wandered off, like it always does in the shower, and I remembered a few days back, when I took my daughter out into the ocean for the first time.  We went out into the crystal clear, emerald water until it came up to my chest.  The look on her face was so beautiful.  She was exploring a new frontier with her Daddy, and I with her.  She has no idea that the water is as deep as three of her.  She just knows that her Daddy has her, and she is experiencing a whole new world.  While amazed and in awe of the moment, I am scared at the same time.  What marine life is lurking around us?  We both have on sunscreen which makes her very slippery in my arms, and she’s squirming away, trying to do this her way, what if she slipped?  But, I know, I’ve got her.

   (Back to the shower)   So, the memory of my daughter’s and my amazing ocean experience, triggered deeper memories, from long ago.  My Dad hanging out in the ocean, neck deep, holding onto me, bouncing through the waves.  Or my mother, lying on a float, letting me hang onto the side.  That’s when it hits me, I am them now!  I’m playing with my daughter out in the ocean.  But if I am them, then who have my parents become?  They’re not my grandparents!  My grandparents were always old to me, (sorry Granny, if you happen to be surfing the web and read this, I don’t mean ‘old’ in a bad way.).  I think we have this chronological, mental snapshot of our parents, and they never really age.  Sure we see them age physically, but they are always that ‘person’ that we decided they were, some time long ago.  I think we do the same thing with our perception of ourselves.  I know how old I really am, but that is not the age I think I am.

   This revelation in the shower threw a lot at me at one time.  Any ‘1^st’ moment shared with my daughter is at least a 4.0 on the emotional Richter scale.  Realizing that I have taken my parents’ place and they are taking the place of my grandparents is a 7!   That’s over thirty years!  Think about what has happened in thirty years!  I am in my thirties, (barely on the downhill side, thank you), so that is basically my entire lifetime!  If you look at it from my parent’s point of view, thirty years puts them in a very different place.  My thoughts drift to what these changes mean:  Many of them are not good.

   So, all of these thoughts and emotions swirled together and opened up my eyes, (not to mention dampened them).  This life is ZOOMING by!   In our everyday lives we’re always running back and forth, fighting to keep our heads above water:  Working, paying bills, not paying bills, going to daycare, going to the doctor, buy clothes, use clothes, wash clothes, put away clothes, buy more clothes to replace old clothes…

   You need to take a Vacation.  You have to give your mind the time to pull away from it all and slowly wind down until you finally get to the point where you can see things for what they really are. 

Go out into the water. 

Keep your head above water. 

Keep her head above water.

Help people that are struggling to keep their heads above water. 

But most of all, be glad you get the chance to swim.

2 Turtle Doves
12% ABV
The Bruery
Placentia, CA

Dark chocolate brown with a creamy tan head.
The aroma screams turtle, more than turtle doves; chocolatey, nutty,
caramel-toffee malt and King Bee tobacco.

All right, this beer is special by itself, but do NOT open this bottle without some type of dark chocolate to pair with it.  I had it with a chocolate lava cake, from Domino’s.  Shut up!  Unless you’ve had one of these cakes, don’t judge!  It is a hard, crunchy brownie, dusted with powdered sugar, and filled with a dark chocolate filling.  For what it is, and where it comes from, it is amazing…Seriously.  I have had the cake with two chocolate loving beers, and it pairs perfectly.  Anyway, I digress.  This beer definitely lives up to the promises given by the aroma.  There’s chocolate, nuts, pepper, fig, caramel, dried tobacco…You name it.  Everything you would expect from a beer of this size and billing.  But make sure you have some delicious dark chocolate to go along with it.  If you don’t, call Domino’s!

Lips of Faith
Sour Brown Ale
6% ABV
New Belgian Brewing
Fort Collins, CO

Deep ruby, dark brown color.
Smells like sauerkraut and mustard, faint vanilla and charred Oak.

I couldn’t remember if I had ever tried a sour beer before…I definitely had not.  To quote Joey Lawrence from the hit show Blossom, “Whoa!!!” 

This beer is exactly what it says it is, Sour!  When I was a kid, we used to pick Ragweed and chew on the stem.  This beer tastes a lot like that Ragweed, super sour!  There are some smoky, woody and malty notes, but this beer is predominately acid sour, start to finish.  If you like beer adventures, climb on board!

A pickle faced Saaalut!!!

9 Plantains, (sorry, this beer is too sour to even be compared with bananas!)

Everything is going to be okay.

We’re just going to have to change our perception of what okay is.  What used to seem unthinkable, could now be reality, but we’re still okay.  Okay is just an average.  Halfway between perfect and tragic.  We may be overwhelmed with joy one day and weighed down with grief another, but we always slide back towards the middle…Okay. 

Next time something great happens to someone you know, put your hand on their shoulder, and remind them, “Everything is going to be okay.”

Sorry for the delay, but this was written the week before the Kentucky game.  I thought it was better to post it,  ‘as is’, rather than edit it to fit.  Please to enjoy…

   Congratulations Coach Richt, it looks like your plan is going to work, and what a gutsy plan it was.  There aren’t many coaches out there with the cohonas to throw a season, just to get revenge on your in-state rival.  You knew that we didn’t have the team to go all the way this year, so you worked out this plan, and it is genius!  You have lost just enough games, some VERY convincingly, to take us completely out of the minds of the Kings of the Mighty ACC.  Georgia Tech players are barely even thinking about Clemson!  Much less the poor, lowly Georgia Bulldawgs,that Tech will be forced to dress out and show up for, to be handed their win.  This weekend, while the Nuisance Pests, I mean Yellow Jackets, are out celebrating how great they are, the Bulldawgs have to barely squeak out a win against Kentucky, just in case any Jackets happen to be watching.  That’s right, Tech has an off week this weekend, so they can spend two weeks making their plans for another Co-National Championship.

Picture from www.bracestower.co.uk

Dear Talking Monkey,

I am not feeling it today Monkey…how about you?  Also, how about those…(dots) everyone seems to be using these days.  Is it just me or is everyone using more of the ….  lately.  Also, how do we know when to use three dots, four, when does it stop….Anyway, inquiring minds want to know.

Signed,
HOH

Hey HOH,

Great question.  I too have noticed the increased usage of the dot dot dot, and I am a repeat offender myself.  I believe three periods go together to represent a significant pause between thoughts.  Question marks and explanation points can be used in the same fashion to say, “I am questioning this 3x more than normal”, or “I am triple excited!”.   It is also accepted in casual writing to put as many periods as you want, to increase the length of your pause.  I believe Morris and Randy, from Sling Blade, do a great job of explaining the dot dot dot method. 

Peace and Love,

TM

Santa’s Private Reserve Ale

Rogue Ales

Newport, Oregon

Dark Amber color.

Sweet malt aroma with a touch of Spruce.

This beer is Christmas.  There are plenty of nice, warming Winter Ales out there with their heavy malt, their warming alcohol, and their cloves and spices.  All of these ales do comfort in Winter, but this offering from Rogue is a Christmas Beer.  It is huge and malty, warming and delicious, and stirred with a Christmas tree.  They used just the right type and amount of hops to remind you that this is Christmas, this is a Christmas beer.  I now understand how Santa gets it all done in one night…He’s gotta get back home to this!  I have a new holiday beer.  Go get yourself one…or six.  I’ve seen it available in 22’s and six packs.  Where are the half gallon growlers?  Now there’s a festive holiday gathering.  This is a wonderfully well balanced beer that leans toward the hoppy side. 

Saaalut!!!

9.5  Bananas!

Yellow Snow IPA

Rogue Ales

Newport, Oregon

Pale golden color, cloudy from dry-hopping.

Citrusy, piney hop aroma.

I knew what I was getting into with an IPA from Rogue, but whoooweee!  That is hoppy!  I know there is malt in here somewhere, but this beer is all about the hops.  It’s hops in the front, middle and back.  Not for the hop dabbler, this is full blown bitter.  I know there is plenty of alcohol in here, (a little tipsy after half a 22), but them boys out’in the Northwest know how to manip-ulate their hops.  Good stuff, but not for the feint hopp-ed.  As it warms in my glass, I’m starting to see where the name came from.  If you can’t get enough hops, then try this…You will.

Saaalut!!!

8.7 Green Bananas