And History rolls on.....

Can't say the last few months have been a bed of roses...they haven't. I lost the child I thought I was going to have. My doctor said it more compassionately (she's a real and rare gem) but it basically came down to this; I had everything required for a successful pregnancy...except for an actual baby. I spent New Year's miscarrying. NOT the way I wanted to start the year.

And seven days later I lost an uncle. I'm hoping that this is my final dose of tragedy for the year. I've earned a little peace, really. I know life doesn't work that way. There's no way to bargain with fate, no way of metering the tragedies that come. I cling to the good events and small blessings to keep me going.

On the brighter and admittedly more recent side, I attended my first ever Brewfest. Oh, what a blast! For the price of a membership in the California Homebrewer's Association, one gets a pass and glass and samples of various brewclub experiments. I may be in a minority here, but I mourn that beer has alcohol in it. I didn't drink nearly as much as I wanted to because of that irritating side-effect. They had something for every taste. There were sweet meads and orange blossom ales (and an orange-blossom mead with a divine taste and a kick like an ornery mule), double IPAs to savor and red ales...I even got a lambic, which (to me) tasted like a fruit punch on the wild side. The very, very, very wild side. Unfortunately it is an acquired taste that I have no intention of acquiring, but I liked being able to try it.

Yes, I brew. I mean, I knit, crochet, maul wood, make soap, garden (badly), raise kids, cats, and spouse (well, we're both works in progress!), read voraciously, practice sewing, and dream about getting my own tig welder. Of course I brew too! Better than snail ranching (my mother...and a long story...) Right now I've decided to pursue the elusive true red. It will take a while as I'm just a kitchen brewer. I brew for taste, and irregularly as I'm the only one who drinks it. Okay, I'm usually the only one who drinks it, but sometimes my friends find out there's a batch aging in the closet and then it's everyone for themselves .

And for the cousin who is, so far as I know, the only person besides myself who will ever read this blog -- Hi, Angela!! Hope you made it home in one piece!

PS -- everything I wish someone had told me while I was in high school. There's good stuff here even for us old, decrepit critters.
http://paulgraham.com/hs.html