Quarantine Diaries XXIII
Monday April 20th 2020
I’m really not sure what to write about today. Whether to focus on the day’s stresses or pleasures, or pull out one of the many random thoughts bouncing around my addled brain. Should I regale y’all with the frustrating saga of our dripping shower and the total bloody nightmare we’re having trying to fix it? Or should I go into detail about today’s gorgeous nature walk in Austin’s picturesque Pease Park? Perhaps my adventures drunk-cooking a rather excellent jambalaya (adding shredded crab sticks gave it a really delicious texture) are worth noting? Or is today the day to talk about my sense of existential disengagement that most likely comes from reading way too many dystopian novels? Hmmm. Really, I’m just grateful for a day when there are so many thoughts travelling around my brain that aren’t just abject misery and helplessness, but also aware that these distractions each have an expiration date and I’ll probably be in tears again sometime in the foreseeable. In the meantime, I shall squeeze every drop of energy, be it good or bad, out of today’s adventures – even if this life we’re living right now isn’t real life, every moment that we can pretend is some kind of normality is a moment that isn’t completely infused with misery, and I will take each one of those that I can get.
Lagunitas Waldo’s Special Ale
Waldo has to be up there with Best Beers Ever. We know this because of the speed and regularity with which JB drinks it, and trust me, there is no palate more discerning. Waldo is a prince among beers, and one of its most fun characteristics is the difficulty in defining its taste with any degree of precision. Part Strong Ale, part Barleywine, Waldo has a terrifying drinkability for an 11.7% beer and an uncanny ability to go with pretty much everything. We bought a 6-pack as soon as it was released with the pure intention of saving at least two for Waldo Day (4:20 – I’ll let y’all check out the Lagunitas website for the full story), but the temptation proved too much for us and we had to do an Emergency Waldo Run this afternoon. If you factor into this equation that JB never, ever encourages me to buy 6-packs of anything, never mind requests them himself, you may get some indication of quite how good this beer tastes. Fortunately we were able to replenish our supply and were soon happily quaffing this truly very special ale in our balmy garden – and bloody hell it goes fast. In some ways, Waldo is the perfect beer for quarantine drinking as you literally never get tired of it. In other ways it’s probably a good job availability is limited because it tastes so damn good you don’t even realise how pissed you’re getting – oops. If you have never had a Waldo, get it quick before it’s gone – 2021 is a long time to wait. And buy some extra – you’ll be needing it.
Craft Beer Amethyst 