Let’s get down to brass tacks: I need to write more. The blog has been suffering from regular updates and I hope to change that by, drumroll please, lowering standards! No more need for coherent and well-organized blog posts. Nope. This’ll be the hodgpodge that is life, never in tidy story arcs and anecdotes but events overlapping and jammed together like shark’s teeth.
First: wheels. For a boy who has loved all things wheeled and mobile since he was born, a skate park is like a tennis match to a dog. Here, Number Two could watch endless ollies and kick flips and…um…flip kicks and that thing where you try to spin your skateboard as you jump up in the air but it clatters on the ground and you stumble it off and toss your long hair out of your eyes and try to act like it was all on purpose, whatever.
Manes? Yes. CH got to do a six-hour horse event last weekend, courtesy of the Girl Scouts. The woman leading it was a no-nonsense cowgirl with a tight braid and a miniature saddlebag on her belt that held, disappointingly, a cell phone. I assumed it was a whetstone or a couple rifle cartridges or a plug of chewing tobacco. When she spoke the girls listened. She talked about safety and respect and rules and her boys, a group of geldings that were gentle and had been helping girls learn to ride for years. CH’s horse, Red, started out with a full grooming session.
Let me tell you, there’s nothing like seeing a group of a dozen girls all brushing manes and tails and realizing this isn’t anything like styling the plastic cornsilk in rainbow colors that sprouts out the hind ends of My Little Ponies. But the real thing was being next to these giant animals. When they move it’s like being next to a small car that decides to shift sideways and whinny. She loved the names, the colors, the personalities. Something tells me she’ll be around animals her whole life and never fall out of love.
Finally, beers. The brew closet has been host to several new varieties, one of which is the Dos Hermanos IPA I made with my brother. It’s a true hoppy paradise flavored with Saaz, Nelson Sauvin, and Simcoe hops with a solid malty foundation. After just a day cold crashing in the fridge it still wasn’t clear but had perfect carbonation and a creamy head that chased the beer down the glass to the last sip. It has a crisp bitterness which is gentle on the aftertaste, leaving a balance of cream and fruity hops. Wow. This is my hoppiest beer and one of my best. Our best, the dos hermanos.
Writer, architect, father, husband.