So, over Thanksgiving, I decided to try some brown sugar bourbon. It was extremely good in spiced apple juice, though I don’t think I’d sip it neat. It wasn’t as ungodly sweet as cinnamon the whiskey, though, so I could see sipping it on its own, but why when one can add it to unsweetened hot cocoa?
It went down extremely easily, and was very warming. Given current events, I’m wishing I had some left. *sigh*
(For the curious, I purchased it at Trader Joe’s. You can also order it from a local distillery, I believe.)
Autumn means fir needles everywhere, and as the trees disrobe the rains come, cutting channels through the clutter. On its way down the hill, the temporary stream makes art.
I’m still playing with this caramel crackers recipe. I want a smudge more caramel, since our baking sheets are huge, and getting the perfect balance of choco to toffee is a matter of personal taste. Plus, I like far more salt with my chocolate than the average person, I’m told.
The kids are thrilled. Even the iterations that aren’t quite perfect are tasty as all get-out. Plus, I can no longer stomach an unlimited quantity of sugar, but they, being much younger, are under no such restriction.
Of such things are childhoods made, and love made visible.
Samhain has passed, and we’ve had a bit of rain. We’re about to have more, but the long stretch of sunny days and cool dry nights gave us some color before the grey descends. This particular tree in the neighborhood blazed for three days straight, a smokeless fire.
Me: I can’t believe I’m doing this. Louis: YOU’RE A REAL PAL. OKAY, SO IS THIS A GOOD POSE? Me: I guess? Louis: YOU’RE NOT HELPING. Me: Look, the last time I saw you, you were shooting at everyone. Louis: I SAID I WAS SORRY.
Louis: SO OKAY, IT SHOULD GO, SINGLE MALE LOOKING FOR FRIENDS. Me: Friends? Louis: YEAH, WELL, IT’S GOTTA START THERE, RIGHT? LIKES: LONG WALKS, NATURE, COLD BEER. SHOULD I PUT DISLIKES? Me: I’m not sure there’s space. Louis: GOOD POINT. ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE. DID YOU GET MY GOOD SIDE? DO I LOOK RELAXED? Me: …you look fine.
Louis: OKAY, SO HOBBIES. LET’S SEE. Me: Well, what do you like to do? Louis: KILL ZOMBIES. Me: …other than that. Louis: DRINK BEER. Me: How about reading? Do you like to read? Louis: WEAPONS MANUALS. Me: *trying to keep a straight face* Cooking? Do you like to cook? Louis: I CAN ROAST A SQUIRREL. Me: …
Yeah, poor Louis is looking for love. I’m not sure online dating is for him, but he’s insistent, and since he’s going to be living in the backyard with the rest of the crew, I might as well try to be helpful.
Walking with Miss B, I am always looking for the missed, the passed-over. Trash, forgotten spaces, detritus. I have a fondness for discarded things. I also have a fondness for things we take for granted. Like the sound-catching grooves on walls near freeways.
Look underfoot. Look in the forgotten spaces. Look at the ruined, the bent, the passed-by. Stories hide there, too.
