The Respite 7

Stone’s Enjoy By 10.31 has super juicy grapefruit flavors, with a surprisingly restrained bitterness on the finish. There’s also some mango that shows up as the beer warms and that addition is definitely a welcome change to the one-dimensional IPAs I’ve had all year. It’s definitely trying to live up to it’s freshness date and the devil in me wants to try some on 11.14, to see how significantly the beer really changes. As it stands though, it’s pretty good-although the scent qualities are quite restrained. I can still put a few of these down if I want, because there’s enough sweetness to keep the whole thing sticky-ed together.

Which is good, because it’s the only beer I get today. I’ve been sick for 4 out of the past 5 days and when I get sick I quit drinking. Sometimes because I am taking NyQuil, sometimes because I just want to make sure my body recovers as quickly as possible but the specific reasons don’t matter.

The point is: today was the first day when I woke up and could tell I was feeling better, so I’ve gathered the remaining strength to have one beer at Bailey’s. Because I don’t want to push it and get sick again: I’m trying to get well, don’tchaknow.

It’s tempting to pour a lot of meaning into this beer, because it’s the only one for the day. It could be a symbol or “really matter” because of reasons. But when the beer becomes a symbol, how do I pick one? Because now the pressure is to have the perfect beer, instead of the one I have chosen. That’s just too much pressure.

It certainly helps that I picked a good beer. Hell, I chose the Drink By in part because of its reputation and taking a risk on what is my only beer of the day didn’t feel like a wise decision.

However, I choose to look at this moment as a reminder to appreciate what is in front of me. There isn’t the future beer. The beer of the past has been drank and moved on. There is this beer, that I can have because I am not sick anymore. That feels good, after four days of being ill.