Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Hard to believe it’s been two weeks since I’ve last posted. One would think that being in a quasi-lockdown there was plenty of time for writing. Time is there, topics are the issue. In my life right now there’s a distinct lack of new material to write about. There’s always the ineptness of our current president which supplies a wealth of material. Too many other people are doing a good job there though. No need to add to that rich body of work.

Times not dragging by like I’m in prison or watching the movie Cats. We go for walks, do some birding, I’m getting my shop up to speed and getting reacquainted with the power tools, learning to make cocktails, doing some volunteer mapping of COVID-19 testing sites. Limiting trips makes it a little more difficult to get things done. I can’t just run down to the lumbar yard if I need more wood or a new router bit. By far and large we are getting by.

There’s the ant wars too, but I’m afraid that’s a lost cause. For three days there was nary an ant to be seen on the kitchen counter. I cleaned up the boric acid no man’s land and put the counter back to normal, thinking we had won. Mistake. Like thinking you can win a land war in Asia. For a few hours everything seemed fine, a nice orderly counter and no ants. Like we finally beat them back. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, we were overrun by hordes of ants running back and forth in straight lines like they knew just where to go. I was ready to strike an agreement that would allow disengagement with honor, but Lise went nuclear and called an exterminator. They came and sprayed, but we have to wait ten days to see who really own.

No man’s land, ant free for three days.

The short lived nice clean counter.

Learning the cocktails has been interesting. I’ve taken the tack of making my own syrups, mixers, and liqueurs instead of using commercial products. Like making my own tonic for gin and tonics, or my own ginger syrup to use in Moscow Mules. I’m still lacking some equipment and ingredients to go big time, but I am learning basics. There is a science to good cocktails, including psychology. Presentation matters. If people like what they see, they’re more likely to enjoy the taste. Technique is way more important than I had thought. I always thought the James Bond “shaken, not stirred”, was hubris. But there are differences between the two techniques in time to cool the drink, amount of dilution, and the amount of air bubbles in the drink. Who would have thought?

Since my last post we have tried Gin and Tonics, Mojito, Daiquiri, Limontini, Hot Toddy, Dark and Stormy, Mai-Tai, Michalada, Lillet Tonique, and the non-alcoholic Grapefruit-Rosemary Spritzer. All good and distinctly potable. When the lockdown is over I’ll get some proper glasses and work more on presentation.