Does one come home and do the chores, vacuum, sweep the garage? Is there a check of the foundation after the winter for cracks or for dead branches in the flowerbed that will rot, both attractants to termites? Regular termites are a problem with old homes, though not as much as the exploding ones (thermites). They can do some damage.
There's things that need doing, but. . .
D. - "You do know what night it is, don't you?"
Me - "Oh!, And I'm here drinking a lukewarm diet 7 Up and contemplating chores!" (Warm diet 7 Up, for the uninitiated, tastes like alpaca spit with lemon, but I was out of Green River.)
D. - chuckling.
"First Monday of the month. . ."
Everyone has their favorite adult beverage. There are as many different types of alcohol as there are people.
When you think of beer - you think of sports and cookouts, gatherings of college friends and more sports. A beer is what I would have out on the patio with the grill, at the pub after a long bike ride with friends on the Monon Trail. It's pretty hard to screw up beer unless you make it light and throw fruit flavors in it.
There's wine - it can be an elegant pairing to gourmet meal or a girls night out flirtation of the senses that can quickly lead to tacky shopping purchases and regrets involving Ibuprofen or an attorney.
There's Bourbon - some is quite good , it's 5 a.m. duck blind and coffee, summer porch and old steam engines. Then, there's there's some that tastes like whiskey that's been in a bar fight, suitable for a toast to "hey no one's lobbing shells at us right now".
And there's Scotch. Scotch is what grownups sip on quiet evenings, sitting around a fire, after a days hunt, for man or beast. It's life contemplated, sitting in a library or den, raising a toast to fine ladies and gentlemen, history and bravery, protectors and conquerors.
Scotch Whisky is something to be savored without hurry, the bottle then put aside to carefully wait while you live out the adventures that will be told over its next sup. You drink to enjoy it, not to get a "buzz", the beverage not being the sort that usually ends up with you wearing the cone of shame the next morning.
I should probably be doing chores, I say to myself, but the tapering glow within my mouth disregards the thought, invulnerable to rebuke. For once in a while you just have to do Scotch Night.
Some of the night's selections were as follows.
The Tomatin - a nice choice in the less than $30 range, pleasant, but were it $40 a bottle I'd probably not buy.
Ardmore - very nice with a splash of water to soften the oak.
A favorite for the evening though was the Dailuane 10 year old, an exclusive from Binny's in Chicago, "the" store for single malts in the Windy City.
I would agree. It's quite lovely, with black tea surfacing with a hint of smoke over time, tastes told over stories of dried fruit, spice, surrounded by the barest ambiance of sherry.
A sip, some chatting with friends and colleagues perhaps, a toast or two, smokey offerings of thanks for all that is life. It's a much better way to spend an evening than chores. Besides you can save your Bud Light Lime to extinguish any flaming invasive insects..
- Brigid
