Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, hummm? "Don, it's time to wake up," says Kandy. I opened my eyes, and thought, wait, did I just cheat on my diet? Oh, no, okay, it was just a dream, shew, that was close...I thought for second that I had blown my whole effort of giving up alcohol for one year...but everything was okay-it was just a dream.
Today is Monday, a fresh day, and I'm writing from the bar at the Black Rabbit Restaurant at McMenamin's Edgefield; a place that had become my office away from the home office for a while before Makenna arrived in my life. There were at least two days in the past five years where I had breakfast, lunch and dinner in this office, and the lunch and dinner were wet. Breakfast was dry. And today it's coffee and oatmeal as usual.
Yesterday, I was cooking dinner, some poached salmon with quinoa and broccoli. We have this dish on average once every two weeks and lately, my recipe had to change because I used to marinade the fish for one hour in white wine seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt, crushed garlic and ginger, chopped basil, and red pepper flakes. In the past, I'd usually open the wine, pour four ounces into the cook, then put four ounces in the marinade. By the time dinner was ready, we'd have a glass of wine for Kandy and myself left in the bottle and sometimes, I'd have to open another bottle of wine. Often I thought, "gee, this would be great if I lived in Tuscany!" Many times, I'd ask myself if I had a drinking problem and often I'd rationalize that other cultures have alcohol as a daily ingredient and that I was just mis-planted in the wrong country. Everyone wants to be Italian...right?
Talking about cooking and wine brings up many happy memories. Just yesterday, while in the kitchen, we were watching a cooking show on PBS Create TV and they were pairing wines and cheeses. Kandy and I both thought, ummmm, that sounds good right now. I must tell everyone that Kandy has been very supportive in my 1 year in the forest (a year without alcohol) quest. Prior to my decision she'd had pretty much stopped drinking during the week and at home for the most part. My diet is pretty much a harsher level of her diet. We have a wine collection of special bottles, around $25 to $55 values, that we keep in our central hall closet on a rack. We don't have a cellar, but this space keeps a constant temperature as it's centrally located and insulated with linens and adjacent closets. It fluctuates maybe 10 degrees throughout the year with the heat and air conditioning on in various seasons. With this wine in the house, there is no temptation or allure to drink. I'm committed to my year's journey and look forward to the times ahead.
Reflecting back, I often wonder if my life would have different had I not started drinking, or hadn't started drinking so young. Could alcohol have contributed to some of my earlier setbacks? I flunked 7th grade and had to make up two classes in summer school to continue into the 8th grade. Upon graduation from high school, I think I had a 1.9 Grade-Point Average. I jokingly tell people I was "Valislacktorian" of my senior class--which means lowest GPA you could have and still receive a diploma. My homeroom teacher wrote on my last report card that she predicted that I would eventually outdistance everyone, and I think she meant geographically, not in a matter of success.
That makes me think of my travels around the globe, and how about 11 years ago, while based in Iceland, I decided to start a beer bottle-cap collection. We had one of those bailer-bar pasta storage containers, you know the type with the tall, hexagon-shaped glass with the wire-hinged lid on top. It was unused and I just started throwing cool bottle caps in it, only one of each original and the container is almost full now. Collecting these caps was fun, and often I'd dump them on the counter, while having a new beer of choice, and reminisce over each cap. I could remember the taste and where I was when we got each one. I also have saved almost all of my wine bottle corks over the years, only the ones with real cork and with unique stamps. In the case of the wine corks, I actually saved almost "all" of them. A few years ago, I purged many duplicates to save storage space, and even now, I have several shoe boxes full of wine corks, as well as a drawer in the kitchen with a full tray-box. But bottle caps and corks aren't my only drinking trophies, there are more.
I also collect pint glasses with pub logos on them. Last year, I collected two "Double-Mountain" brewing imperial sized (20 ounce) glasses with the ultimate shape for aroma and character. I'm referring to the beer's aroma and character, not mine. I think the folks at Samual Adams brewing came up with this design and it's awesome. And along with my big beer glasses, my big wine goblets are my favorites too. Maybe size does matter, as I love bigger glasses to enjoy my favorites drinks. Except my coffee, because I don't want it to get cold too quickly. With a cup of mud, 10 ounces is just fine!
Well, more later about this subject, so be warned! I do miss drinking and evaluate my future of alcohol each day. I'm not counting days, but I am tracking how much time has passed since starting this worthwhile journey. The video below probably sums it up best. Bye for now,
Don (Aviator)
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