Friday night Rambling' Polk

 

Friday night by fire light... S'up Fuckers.

Things are okay, 

We keep on keepin' on and do the good things we gotta do to keep the world upright around us 

Masks? No problem.

Vaccines? Double up baby!

Listen, I know a lot of folks don't want to be political or rock the boat, but at the end of the day, this is just beer pictures and fancy words about it...life better be more than what we see on the internet or that's the saddest fuckin' thing I've ever seen.

Unless your making your buck off selling or serving beer, it's all just smoke and mirrors boo-boo. I love the folks I've met and come to know, even if it's just virtually, but we gotta be more than sharing other people's things and memes. Find a role in real life to okay, even if it's just giving some $$ to good people doing the real work. I know when to step aside, sign a damn check and let the wonderful people who actually make a difference do their thing. I don't know, I'm heading for the next half century of my life and I just want to see the world be a little more fair, a little more open and a little better than it's been...we can be part of that change, but it's gonna take a little heavy lifting and while I'm out of shape, I'll lend whatever heft I have, real, internet or imagined to making life better for anyone who needs a hand up to fight oppression or the systemic affects of the world that let this drop out, hobo Hefner live a life with almost no effort save working 80 hours a week...

Wait... that's not cool... fuck this shit...my least favourite part of this app is that 90% of folks don't bother reading any caption, save hashtags and I haven't used those in almost a year and a half because I'm equal parts train wreck, righteous deliverance man and indifferent drunk...beer me.

I mean, I ramble a lot because I spend way too much time alone and inside my head, so you do you and fuck anyone who tells ya different...even me, I'm a mess at the best of times. I love seeing the crazy love you have for beer, it's weird and crazy and makes no sense and it is who we are...

Polk

What you leave behind...

 

Sober-ish.

Near the orbit of moderation.

Getting that 2 beer buzz...on my third beer

S'up Fuckers.

Get to know yourself this summer, have a couple, three beers and listen to the music you love. Read the books you like, sit outside and do absolutely nothing but indulge yourself on leisure and self care.

The end game for all of us, rich or poor, is the same and no one will escape this mortal coil with anything more than the memories others hold of you. That's what lasts, that's what you leave behind. When your memory fades, that's when you cease to exist...make sure they remember you for the right reasons, leave behind love and a life you can say made a difference in the world, big or small. 

You live on in the lives and minds of those you've touched, that's your legacy and I hope it's a beauty one!

Polk

7 years ago...Nickel Brook Brewing & Polk : First Contact

 7 years ago, this very day, I visited Nickel Brook Brewing for the first time

7 years ago today, I drank Headstock for the very first time and had absolutely no idea the changes that were in store for me in the ensuing years as I fell in love with beer...all over again. 

It's a silly little thing, a Facebook memory triggering a flood of feelings and emotions over what seemed like, at the time, another random status update in a life that was filled with turmoil and stress kept inside and hidden from everyone I loved. I wasn't in a good place mentally back then, but the beginnings of something special and new were being planted and the end result, all these years later, is a better person, beer drinker and friend. 

Had to share some of those old school NB labels, the trippy Headstock, a Green Apple Pilsner I have vague recollections of and of course the earliest Naughty Neighbour and Bolshevik Bastard bottles. 

I remember struggling with how "hoppy" IPAs and Pale Ales were, likening them to pine trees, before I quit smoking and discovered the citrus pith and resinous pine inside that malty deliciousness that is Headstock. It's been a hell of a ride, by no means is it over yet, but damned if it didn't make me smile to see these memories and remember those early days when every beer was an adventure and the road ahead was filled with things I couldn't even fathom....

I ponder what I'll look back on in 7 more years, but I don't think I'll ever capture the sheer joy and excitement of the beginning, but I still love me some damn Headstock any day.

I'm sure glad I took the drive that day, I'm even happier I'm out here on the patio now, fresh NB beer in hand.

Polk

Good Monster Monday

 

On my best days, I'm a Good Monster.

On my not so good days...well, I have beer to help me along.

My go-to Collective Arts Brewing  pint, (apologies to OG Ransack, I still love you too boo-boo!),, Good Monster is an 8.0% New England DIPA brewed with Citra, Simcoe, Mosaic and Amarillo to deliver peach, orange and pineapple, grapefruit pith and pine, berry notes with a lingering touch of dank.

 It is one I always grab two or three of when I stop by CA for something new, I like having it here when the moment calls for happiness in a dark day. When I need to feel like the world is going to be okay, this pint let's me know I still touch ground and exist in the normal. It's a little silly maybe, but a couple tall boys to cap a swim make a bad day good.

 I felt that darkness on the edge of town today, so I put on some of my favourite tunes, dunked myself into the chilly Grotto pool for an hour or so and enjoyed this one(x2) with an eye to letting go the negative for the happy. Don't need to get sloppy, just happy and content, a two-ish beer buzz on a hazy July Monday....golden.

 Cheers! 4.3/5

Sunday Drinkin'

 

S'up Fuckers.

Sunday.

Drinkin' in the driveway, retreating to the garage when the rain drops fall a little too hard. 

It's been a weekend, good times, family and love and all that jazz. 

But a Polk needs a recharge and sometimes one day off don't cut it...but it is what I have. 

So despite a ledger of work, inside and outside the house, I binged watched 5 episodes of Mad Men, it's our thing right now, don't @ me, it's in its time and place and Holy shit watching it again 13 years later brings a whole bunch of new revelations about it and the changes in me to the table. Whenever I hear contemporary white dudes wish they could be in that timeline because it was "easier", I know I once felt that way, but I grew the fuck up and saw the world for what it was. Privilege doesn't mean you didn't have struggles, it just means your gender, sexuality or race wasn't one of them. Get over your bullshit, it's a tired trope boys, nobody cares. 

This got ranty, I mean, it went where it went and I'm okay with that too, I am who I am. I sit here with a beer in hand thinking about ways to make it a more equitable world, a more fair and honest place for good people to get their justice and peace. I know I'm lucky as fuck, I stumbled into a life I didn't know was possible and I wake up every day and look around in wonder that no one has come.by to escort me out. But I know my brothers and sisters don't all get that same feeling and until they do, I'll stick around to fight the good fight and to lend whatever credence this little profile can give to the causes of righteousness and honesty and equality every damn day.

Be fucking better, make this blue planet a little more level for everyone and do your part to see it through the eyes of those who haven't had the advantages given easily through birth or luck. You can make a change and a difference...

Let's go!

Polk

I go on...

 

No beer, no sunglasses, no barrier between you and I.

I'm closing in on half a century faster than I can imagine, quicker than I could think possible and when I look around me, I'm struck by the incredible luck that has landed me here. I've screwed up more times than I can count, blown chances and been down for the count so often, I'm never sure when things are truly good or bad, I'm waiting for the next shoe to drop and the cycle to begin again. 

I've seen my entire life get thrown aside, had the heat turned off in the dead of winter and my phone cut because I couldn't afford the bill. I've borrowed from Peter to pay Paul and then borrowed from Paul to pay back Peter. I've seen shit go down and been right to the fucking edge of walking off the ledge and never looking back...

But still I am here.

That message of never losing hope, of seeking help when you need it and of looking for some way, any way up from the depths of darkness mean a lot to me. I have been to the precipice of the abyss, stared right in the eye of the devil and turned back to live another day. 

I know a lot of folks are just about beer and how awesome things are on this app, I get it, I know that feeling. But after almost 6 years of doing this every day, I know that it means nothing without the truth of real life behind it. People question my "ratings" of a beer never stop to think maybe I'm just real fucking happy to be alive to enjoy that beer and damned if I'm not gonna embrace that feeling to the limit. I've made and lost friends because of silly shit, I've said goodbye to people I love a lot but who felt I was such a mess they couldn't stick around to watch and I can't be mad at that, because I'm not easy, I'm not going to change and I'm here until the time comes that I'm no longer here...

Take care of yourself, step back and make sure you're okay, I'm always here to talk, I'm always here to help make it less hard to be a person on this little.blue ball we call home. Beer is great, but you gotta be here to enjoy it, so stick around and let's see what happens next.

The darkness is real, but you and I can step back, lean into the light and try to make it work, life goes on...as do I.

Polk

Oh Canada...

 

By the light of the setting sun, this Canada Day hits it's apex as I can hear the fireworks go off around the normally quiet neighborhood I call home. 

Should I be angry that they callously celebrate a national holiday amidst so much sorrow for the Indigenous people who have called this land home long before any of our ancestors did? Or do too many of them live in the ignorance we all claimed to just weeks ago. The stories and truth about residential "schools" have been out there for a long time, but we turned a blind eye to the heart wrenching truth because it wasn't taught to us or it didn't cross our paths. We didn't have to live it because we live in privilege and no government ever tried to dismantle our family in the name of assimilation. I don't know, I'm angry at the church and the leaders who enacted these policies, but more than that I'm angry at myself for my own lack of understanding when it comes to the depths of sorrow experienced by the First Nations people in my name. Can we do better? Of course we can and while I know some things we see are purely performative, business and influence often meet at the corner of opportunity and social development, but I won't be so cynical...yet. What we know now needs to be actionable going forward. Money talks, donate to Indigenous charities, support Indigenous creators and educate yourself more and more. The Truth in Truth and Reconciliation is out there and we have a part to play in making tomorrow a better Canada for everyone. I've been thinking, I hope you have been too. Let's do the heavy lifting, next year can look a whole lot different but it's not gonna be easy. Stay the course, the winds will blow heavy and the news will be tough but together we can be better and do better. My own ignorance was no excuse, but now I must act and my dollars will tell that tale, my voice will direct that song and my life will be more blessed because I stand with those who deserve righteous deliverance. Tax the churches, end the court battles and enact all the recommendations of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission.

Done..but not done at all.

Polk