Day 365: Seasons in the Sun
How do you measure a year? Seasons continue to change, and the world keeps turning. Does it feel it's turning a bit slower at times, faster at others? Cut off from almost all social interactions and the recreational activities we've come to hold so dear, we've adjusted to what we know as the "new normal." The past year has both felt like a brief minute and a lifetime all at once, but will time look familiar again? When we emerge from the isolation of our caves, will the sun be too bright?
Hello, my thirsty readers, and thank you, as always, for taking a moment out of your day to join me yet again. I don't get a chance to hop on here and share my thoughts, my adventures, and my drinks with you as much lately. Life, as they say, has a way of catching up to you. I knew I needed to take a moment, sit back and reflect on the year which changed all of our lives.
There was this strange, almost surreal feeling when the announcement came. "Governors in at least 19 states have all announced policies that place restrictions on bars and restaurants." The headline came on a Sunday, and suddenly, service would be suspended by Tuesday. I had no idea, that the night before I would serve my last bar guest for the foreseeable future. Millions of Americans were suddenly out of jobs, while businesses scrambled to adjust to a "takeout only" model. There was nothing left to do, but sit and wait, keeping ourselves and others as safe as possible.
That was the moment I decided to take to my keyboard. If I couldn't bring cocktails and a little escape to people in person, I would do it virtually. I had so many cocktails I'd never published before, so I saw this as the best use of my time. Inside my own little "shaker bubble," I remained somewhat shielded and safe from the chaos around me. That's when people I know began to get sick. First one person I knew died, than another. The severity, beyond this professional setback, became very real. I knew then, this wouldn't be over for a long time, and we'd better get comfortable. This ride, my friends, was far from over.
As I write this now, in the United States alone, we've lost over 530 thousand people to this virus. The same virus our former president called a hoax and horribly referred to as "kung flu." You may have the compassion in your hearts to forgive this human, thirsty readers, but this is a grudge I'll keep with me, probably for the rest of my days. It's not all doom and gloom though. There is one bright light which came from the downright dangerous division he caused. Over these past dozen months, we've learned. We've learned about ourselves, and strangely, we've learned about each other, though through the lens of news feeds and social media. We found ourselves again, even when we didn't know we were looking for them.
Things seems to be looking up. Though it may be a bit premature to think we are "out of the woods" with this virus, I for one and feeling a bit more positive than I have this whole duration. As these seasons change, we seem to be coming out of the cocoons we've created. I don't think anything in our lives has ever made us appreciate the "freedom" we've experienced. We took everything we had for granted. Let this be a lesson to us. We had it all. "We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun, but the wine and the song, like the seasons, have all gone." Not to worry though, I brought the rum!
Seasons in the Sun
.5oz Overproof Jamaican Rum
.5oz Aged Barbados Rum
.25oz 151 Guyanese Rum
1oz Amontillado Sherry
.5oz Fassionola
.25oz Don's Spices #2
.25oz Ginger Syrup
1 barspoon Honey Syrup
.5oz Lime Juice
.5oz Grapefruit Juice
Cocktial Coupe
Shake and double strain into a chilled coupe.
Garnish with cut ti leaf.
*If you haven't picked up on this, from my other cocktails, this one is essentially a combination of some of my absolute favorite ingredients. It's perfect for warm weather sipping or a return to society.*
It feels like a strange plot point from a classic novel, "a year in exile." It's been a year to remember, a year where we changed. It's been a year when the world finally began to change. I believe in us, and I believe in what we are capable of moving forward. The human race has achieved such incredible feats in it's duration on the planet. We aren't finished here by a long shot. We have art to create, wrongs to right, music to feel, flavors to experience, and I don't want to miss a single minute. No matter where you are today, we can work together, we can be the change we want to see in the world, and we can keep shaking.