Homebrew For The Nearly Heartbroken
Just like the old kids song from my youth, the cat did actually come back. Not “the very next day” but she eventually found her way home. Gabby disappeared over a week ago Saturday night. A whole gut wrenching week went by before last Friday afternoon, when she came rambling back inside and let out a great cry to let me know she was back. Hazah! Of course there was much joy and rejoicing, as well as deep surprise for I was certain that she was a goner. I had visions of her being hauled off into the night by a feisty coyote with an appetite for furry pants. The disappearance was a total mystery and very uncharacteristic for Gabby as she likes to keep it close to home and sleeps soundly in our bed every night. The misses and I had flyered the neighborhood and taken all the steps we could think of to locate her. Nothing produced results. I’m still waiting for a full explanation from Gabby as to what she was doing during her holiday but she’s playing her cards pretty close to the chest and I don’t think she’ll me forthcoming with the details I require for resolution on this one.

Last night, ‘The Alfred Street Neighborhood Homebrewing Company’ gathered to complete the bottling phase of our latest Special Edition – Patty’s Chili Beer. Hot Damn. This one is an absolute winner. Brewed using only the finest Anaheim chilies, this dark beauty will be the perfect beverage for toasting the cool grip of Autumn. The beer must now do its magic in the bottles for about two weeks before it can be freed from its container. There was also talk of the next batch, which may turn out to be a pumpkin beer, delivered just in time for Tofurkey Day.

In other news…I’ve been catching up on my ‘baby’ reading materials. Interesting stuff. I’ve learned that I need to be reading out loud to the wife’s belly so the little Cramped Commander will begin to recognize the sound of my voice. Ah, but what to read? Beowulf? Pound? The Financial Times? These are heady questions where my decisions may have ramifications down the line that I’m not sure I’ll be able to defend. With that weight on my mind, I decided to start with the really heavy stuff – just go right for the jugular – and so I pulled out Jack Handy’s Deep Thoughts. I’d like to share one with you right now:

If you ever fall off the
Sears Tower, just go
real limp, because
maybe you’ll look like a
dummy and people will
try to catch you because,
hey, free dummy.