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These are both worthwhile and amusing.  Seriously, take them to heart.

I know it’s hard to believe, but this picture accompanied a story entitled “The Worst-Dressed Cities in America”.  The only criticism I can offer, and it’s a minor point, is that these delightful shoes are not red.

I have to say that I pay next to no attention to horse racing but if you are one of those who do, this is surely one of the big days of the year for you.  To help achieve the proper frame of mind, and provide a rationale for filling that mint julep cup a second time, I offer the most famous account of the Derby ever written, in my biased opinion.  It appeared 42 years ago and caused a new term to be coined since the English language had no way at the time to describe this writing style.  Lots of bad language, but it can’t be helped; it flows out of him like water until the words become just other adjectives.

From Wikipedia:  “Faced with a deadline and without any coherent story for his editors, Thompson began tearing pages from his notebook, numbering them, and sending them to the magazine. The resulting story, and the manic, first-person subjectivity that characterized it, were the beginnings of the Gonzo style, the style that Thompson came to epitomize through the 1970s.”

The following excerpt from a review on Amazon of Thompson’s book “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” sums up my reaction to his writing.  “Most of the time there was a total disconnect between the cognitive parts of my brain and the parts that were in charge of making me laugh.”

I spent five days in New England last week, split between three entirely different venues.  Had a very enjoyable weekend with Patricia in Darien, then rented a car on Monday and drove to Burlington to see Julia and friends, followed by Tuesday and Wednesday with the gun nuts in central New Hampshire, who are very nice people even if they are packing.  I’ll write about them in another post.

Traveling from Richmond to northern Vermont in late April is like stepping back in time by several weeks.  Here we’ve mowed our lawns several times, the irises are past, and the peonies are in full bloom, while there they are just beginning to show green through the browns and grays.

After the five hour drive from southern CT, Julia knew just how to help me relax.  We picked up Alec along with a handful of bottles of his homemade beer and made ourselves comfortable on J’s front porch, sipping the surprisingly drinkable beer, admiring the view, and exchanging pleasantries among ourselves and with anyone who happened by, since the porch is about five feet off the street.  After a while we were joined by Amelia, who may go to Chicago with Julia in the fall and is delightful to talk to because her soft laughter reminds me of the sound of a small brook in the woods.  Soon after, Arielle from Bethesda arrived flashing her dazzling, infectious smile, followed by Luke, pumped from a workout and still lamenting his near miss in casting Sarah Elizabeth as Magoo in a video that is just burning to be made.

Unfortunately, J’s other roommates were working and Max wasn’t due back in town for another 48 hours, so it was just the six of us for dinner.  We headed over to Waterbury for some barbeque and beer at the Prodigal Pig, endorsed by no less an epicure than Alec’s Mom.  More importantly for those readers not fully alert, Waterbury is home to The Alchemist Brewery, makers of my all time favorite beer.  Imagine my shock when we arrived and were told there was a 90 minute wait for a table – in small town Vermont in late April on a Monday evening!  What were those people doing?  The weekends are for going out, they don’t know when to stop.  So we traipsed up the street to AM’s #2 choice.  The food was fine but what I remember is that Heady Topper.  The first sip is such a surprise, a big blast of hops overlaid with citrus, more grapefruit than orange to me.  Never had a beer like it.  And the flavors linger to be savored, so you don’t want to be too quick with that next sip.  One 16 ounce silver can is just right, the marginal enjoyment of another would be so much less than the first.  This marvelous nectar is nearly impossible to find outside of Vermont, which only adds to its allure.

I have a thing against paying the walk-in rate at hotels because they overcharge latecomers, so use Priceline when I can to ‘name my own price’.  It’s easy in Burlington because there are only a couple of 3-star hotels and you can’t go wrong.  I specify 3-star, bid roughly half of their stated rate, and let William Shatner go to work.  (He cracks me up.)  So I got a nice room at the very nice Hilton overlooking Lake Champlain for $70.  I mention this only because of the contrast with my lodgings the following night in the boonies of New Hampshire, which I’ll describe in my gun factory post.

Next morning it was cold and raining, quite a contrast to the recent humid 90° days in Richmond, and Julia, Arielle, and Alec trudged a half mile in the rain to meet me for a 7:15 am breakfast prior to their 8:30 classes, bless their hearts.  We dined at Penny Cluse, our favorite breakfast spot among several very good ones in town.   Now that’s a good looking breakfast (photo taken at Penny Cluse and posted online by someone with righteous dining sensibilities).

I have come to think that one of the unsung benefits of attending UVM is learning to adjust to the things beyond one’s control – like weather that is often nasty and unpredictable from November through April, most of the school year in other words – and carry on.  Julia had rolled out of bed, pulled on Bean boots and a sweatshirt, layered on a waterproof shell and flipped the hood up, shouldered her backpack and set off in the cold rain, as had the others.  I feel that habits like these and the attitude they engender will serve them well in life.  By the way, Julia and Arielle recently were awarded Certificates Suitable for Framing for being top students in their major.  Congratulations, you two.

The lines below are from today’s Monday Morning Quarterback, the widely followed weekly football column written by Peter King.  In the final section of his column he often writes about a new beer of two that he’s discovered.

“Ate lunch Friday at Eastern Standard in Kenmore Square, and I have to give the place credit for the most exotic beer menu I’ve seen. I had the Ayinger Weisse, a wheat beer from Germany, that was light and delicious; and Heady-Topper, an incredibly rich and flavorful double IPA from a tiny brewery, Alchemist, in Waterbury, Vt.. It’s served in a 16-ounce silver can that an Eastern Standard employee fetches each month in Vermont. He brings back around 15 cases in his Dodge Durango. Now that’s a restaurant with a dedication to the best beer right there.”  Peter King

Julia and friends introduced Patricia and me to HT on a visit last fall.  The Alchemist’s original site was devastated by the floods of Hurricane Irene and they had just opened in a compact little building off the main road past Ben & Jerry’s on the way to Stowe.  When we pulled in, the dirt parking lot was empty and I was sure the place was deserted.  It didn’t even look like a business, more like a hastily constructed wooden structure suitable as a meeting hall for a small VFW post.  There was no signage at all.  If we hadn’t been with locals, we never would have stopped and  I remember thinking, this place is never going to make it.  And then we tasted the beer.  We had a sampler glass, $1 for 2 ounces, and I’ve never tasted such hops flavor.  It was a revelation and a memorable moment of a very memorable weekend.

As they state on their website, “we focus on brewing one beer perfectly”.  What great satisfaction that must give them and in the process they are gaining a following.

I’m late to this party, but if you have clear skies where you are tonight go outside after midnight and look up.  Better yet, take a blanket and get comfortable.  It’s the annual Lyrid meteor shower.  Unfortunately, there is 80% likelihood of rain in Richmond so I am out of luck, but perhaps some of you can take advantage.  By the way, I hope the voice-over in the video is computer generated because it’s too weird for a human.

Julia is going to spend the summer in Richmond!  My heart leaps at the thought.  I will get to see her everyday at work, though not in the evenings since she would rather live out of her car than move back in with a parent after college.  Miss J will be shaping up accounting procedures for The London Company from June through August before heading to Chicago in the fall.  Peter will finish his research project in Claremont CA by the end of July and spend the better part of August with us, and I am told my second favorite daughter, Sarah Elizabeth, will be in town for all of July before heading off to Wales to coach lacrosse for a year.  This is a very SE thing to do; she hasn’t played lacrosse since approximately 6th grade.  It’s going to be a great summer.