Friday

Brews You Can Use

A sad BYCU. We take Michael to college today. Life marches on inexorably. It beats not marching, of course, but it's still melancholic. The occasion will no doubt call for a few drinks this evening, once we get back and plunk ourselves down after a long day of driving and unpacking.

Michael is number four, so we have now shipped off more than half of them, leaving us with just three. I told Number 5, Meg, that Marie and I are empty-nesters. When she protested on grounds that we still have three kids home, I told her, "Yeah, but all the cool kids are gone." She simply reminded me that I used the same line two years ago when we packed Jack away to college land.

I've been drinking a lot of gin lately. I think it's because of the tonic water I buy: Fever Tree. It simply tastes far better with gin than vodka. There's supposedly a Mediterranean Fever Tree tonic that is meant for vodka, but I've never found it. Vodka is still preferred if I'm mixing something more elaborate than tonic, but for a quick drink, gin and tonic has become my go-to.

I hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend. Just as Memorial Day is the first step to summer, Labor Day is the first step to fall.

Melancholic, indeed.