My rendezvous with a pumpkin beer

On Thursday, Jason asked me if I would  drink a pumpkin beer with him after work the next day?

While I am not a “tea-teetotaler” my alcoholic consumption in a  year is probably less than   4 or 5 drinks….

and then to clinch the deal he adds, “By the way,  there’s a quote on the bottle by Thoreau about pumpkins, and it IS pumpkin season “

“What the heck I told him...bring me one…..”

So Friday after work I had my first pumpkin beer.

The taste  wasn’t half bad/ pretty mellow as far as beers go…about 1/3 of the way into the bottle he tells me…“By the  way, this stuff has an 8% alcohol content in it, so it has more “kick”than a regular beer…

Boy he wasn’t kidding…

Within a couple of minutes  I was feeling no pain. It took a good 2 hours before the effects wore off.

I haven’t had a hangover in 30 years..don’t miss those days one bit.

Looking back, the  turning point for me, came when I began dating my future wife.   We were out for pizza one night…I looked across the table at her and thought, Boy ,she would probably drop me like a hot potato if she knew some of the stuff I was doing…..

The decision was  simple…I walked away from the booze, the weed and the little diet pills and never looked back.

Today my drink of choice is coffee.

Starbucks French Roast if you’re looking for any gift ideas

It’s  legal, affordable and I don’t wake up with a splitting headache.

Our kids grew up in a home where heavy drinking was not the norm.  There was  too much heartache in both of our families related to alcohol.  I was telling my wife about the pumpkin beer Saturday night…told her  how thankful I was she rarely drinks…

I am of the persuasion there is nothing wrong with an occasional drink.

The issue for me is control.

I’m completely convinced the bible does not teach total abstinence.  You have to really do some linguistical   contortions to come to that conclusion.

On the other hand, alcohol is so subtle in its ability to enslave a person.   I’ve watched it happen to at least three people near and dear to me.

Early in our marriage wife and I made a decision to not drink  unless the other person was there or  on rare occasion, we were at some kind of family gathering.

We were both on the same page with that idea….I’m not talking about being sticks in the mud, I’m talking about setting up simple boundaries so as not to get sucked into something you’d regret later…

I’m in construction.  Stopping @ the bar on the way home at the end of a long day was what we did.

Before I was married I did it regularly.

Now, not a chance.

I can still remember sitting in The Office  watching Dave, a family friend  make lovey-dovey eyes with  some young lady 1/2 his age.  Pretty sure it was someone from work.  He had no idea I was there…his wife was a good friend of my mom…..

I told Jason on Friday,  when I’m out  in public, the last thing I want to be is fuzzy headed.  I want to be on my game.

I was telling my 25 yr old son about all of this yesterday….I told him, there is a part of me that would love to make my own wine, or even moonshine for that matter.  I am intrigued by the whole  fermentation process.  My grandpa even gave me the family recipe for moonshine. My concern is, I would like the stuff.

 

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Tags: addictions, alcohol, attitude, Christianity, faith, family, house church, Life, occasional drink, personal, spirituality, thoughts