6000 posts later...still here

 

We still out here...

6000.

That seems like a lot.

Is it though?

There is almost a decade of my life where there are no photos of me in existence. I was absent from the kind of life where people took your picture, save a mug shot...or an errant background capture at the family Christmas party where you showed up because you needed something to keep you going...life isn't always pretty, I've lived ugly for a lot of years...the scars are deep but they push up sometimes....that's why we have beer. Joke or not, a couple, three beers is an okay time to let the past go and the ache of what was lost goes away for a little while. I get maudlin sometimes, but I like where I have come to, where I've overcome and where I may go, I'm not done yet, but sweet jebus I like a few pints to take the edge off and I know that's not exactly the message in the echo chamber of beer instagram that's kosher or acceptable...but here I still am, intact, pouring another pint and telling y'all I love ya because I've seen the bottom, clawed my way back up and I'm here for anyone who needs a hand up or a shoulder to lean on. I don't know, I'm just a regular dude, maybe a little more into beer than someone should be but at my heart I'm a blue collar, simple man who just wants some love to find its place in the world and the emptiness to stop feeling so vast...thank you for all the indulgence you've given me, I'm trying to earn every moment you deem me worthy of having...

Polk

Set Adrift on the Memory Bliss....

 

A couple pints and I'm set adrift on a memory bliss...

In the mid 90s I was completely lost, emotionally and more, feeling the need to recoup and recalibrate my life. I returned home to my parent's place after a less than stellar couple of years and began hanging out at a local bar called Shuffles, a pub filled with the riff raff of East end Hammer life, myself included.

On occasion I would get to drink some beers and shots with a couple of my Uncles. To me, mid 20's broken hearted Polk, they were sage elders, bringing wisdom from the mountain top, along with whiskey shots and pitchers of beer. It wasn't many times, I drank alone or with whoever hung out the longest in the bar a lot of the time, but the image remains of getting to hang out with them and feel like I wasn't some dumbass kid who had completely fucked up his life at that point. I felt like I belonged and along with some other old drunks who'd taken me under their wings, I felt accepted. It was a weird time between loves and as life changed so did I, moving on and leaving behind that sacred temple of cabbage rolls, perogies and $5 pitchers of Canadian...but sometimes I reminisce about those days and smile a little at the time I had.

Then the other day I was thinking of those real good times and pondered just how old my late Uncle Tom and, (still with us, cheers!) Uncle Lloyd were back then and realised that not only weren't they old then, I'm damn near the age they WERE then now... when I though they were old guys drinking with me.

Seriously.

I'm the old guy who should be dispensing life wisdom at the local pub, listening to stories of love and loss and life and offering insights into a world the young folks are just dipping a toe in. I know it's a silly thing, but I feel a very real connection to them and all they taught me, whether they meant to or not, because it's lasted almost 3 decades and that means something to me. 

So when this is all done, or maybe before, I'll think I need to find a local spot to hang out, spend some time doing what I do best, drinkin', thinkin' and helping the next generation find their way forward.

To my Uncles, I say thank you....love you...

Polk

Inspired by Real Love

Be good.

Do good.

Drink good.

Gateway City Brewing dropped this tasty treat in collab with North Bay Pride and thanks to a good pal, I can enjoy it here in August still celebrating all the things we were supporting in June and should keep going all damn year. Real Love is a 5.2% Golden. lager that brings a solid biscuity toasted malt body balanced with a floral and grassy feel, a touch of rye spice on the finish, bitterness an object of affection as this one is terrific.

 Love is love and everyone deserves to be happy with who they are and who they love. Other people's religious beliefs should only apply to the narrow minded people who espouse them, the rest of us want to see a future where the bigotry, racism and homophobia of the world's religions disappear like they will as humanity sees truth and love over all. I'm a big believer in humans who see other humans ahead of doctrine and covenants with invisible deities...sky daddies need not apply. 

Reality comes strong as we move forward in this life,  being good to each other because it is the right thing to do, not to avoid punishment in the after life. I'm here to make the world better because I'm a human and I think everyone deserves a chance at happiness without compulsion. Believe what you will but leave everyone else alone to believe what they do to, your right to use a fictional book ends at your own life. Other folks aren't your problem but I will be if you try and impose your arcane beliefs on anyone. Be good and do good because it's the thing that makes this time on earth a little easier for everyone...just my two cents. Weird Tuesday flex but it's what the beer inspired so here we are...

Love from Polk.

Cheers! 4.5/5

Sunday Garage Beer Truth : Thinkin''bout Drinkin'

 

Outdoor day drinkin' on a rainy Sunday means hangin' out in the garage and listening to hurtin' country tunes while the pints flow nice and easy.

I know it's not kosher on social media to enjoy the drinking part of drinking beer, but after another 60 hour work week and another 50 hour one staring me in the face, a couple, three beers to take the edge off is a-okay by me. Let's stop pretending that beer isn't fuckin' beer and admit that part of the draw and shine is that it makes us feel a little bit less shitty about the things in life that try to bring us down. Should we indulge or over indulge all the time? Of course not, but let's stop with the nonsense that beer doesn't alter reality and we kinda like that...it's not popular but it's fuckin' true. Be nice to each other, but please be nice to yourself too, sometimes we are our own worst critics and we deserve a break from time to time. Enjoy your beer, enjoy however many you want to as long as you can live the rest of your life too...I know I do.

I like me enough that what other people think doesn't matter because I know I can pour another beer, raise my glass to the heavens and not give a shit...I also know I should maybe have a couple less a week, but I feel okay in my own skin and that's not for nothing. I don't know, it's such a tough thing, its way easier to talk about moderation and non alcoholic beers and all that stuff, but that's not me and I'm not gonna lie because that's just so easy to see through. 

Once again, this is just me rambling through my mind and things I think about. I don't want to glorify getting hammered, I rather enjoy that two or three beer buzz more than anything and hope you know, despite the folks who think otherwise, that I'm good with me and mine right now, but I'm always trying to be a little better every day. 

Beer me.

Polk