My Art is Beer.

I write about beer not for the glory, as it were, nor the accolades. I write not for free beer or swag, although I have indeed received both and hope to receive more in the future because free beer is always a lovely thing. No, my friends, I write about beer for my very survival and that is what we are here for today.
  This whole thing started long before social media became full of people touting this beer and that, staging great shots or trying to be the voice of beer. I signed up as Robby Bacon Strips (my favourite food), a simple Instagram account that morphed into talking about beer, fate then gave me the Drunk Polkaroo and now it has become so much more than I could have imagined. Unlike most of the beer focused accounts you see today, I began as a fat guy sharing his very not interesting life with some of his work and outside pals, watched it grow as the beer pictures took over more and more of what I was doing and finishing today with a blog, videos, Facebook and Twitter where my words go out to thousands of people I've never met. But it was not, nor is it my intention to be anything but who I am and that guy is hanging on by the very words he writes every day.
  My beer reviews seem much like anyone else's, maybe a little wordier or the fact that I still give a score to every beer makes them slightly different. My pics still fun, but there are people out there killing it in the staging department. I see events and brewery meet ups that I don't go to and smile at my friends having a good time even though I cannot or am unable to join them. I am not a good organiser, my work schedule leaves me just enough time and energy to split between my beer and my small family. So I will not be the man who creates a tour or an event but I may join you on yours if I can get my anxiety to shut up or my depression to let me out of the house.
  It is through my beer that I can communicate with the world. It is in the reviews, the videos, the Tweets and Facebook posts that I live my life while struggling to come face to face with the loneliness that depression has given me. Leaving the house for anything but work can be difficult at times, so my lifeline to sanity is through craft beer and the wonderful people I encounter. There have been a few negative and destructive people along the way, but I simply block them, deleting their very existence from my world and I move on. I have little time for angry people or those who attack others, they have no place in our community. Dialogue and proper discussion, even heated disagreements can and do happen, but respect is always our watchword. Being critical of a beer can be done without being an asshole and the same is true of each other.
  I am never sure of what I will write every day when I sit down at the computer or with a beer. It is the people I know and the liquid I encounter that inspires me to do what I do and I want to thank everyone I've met along the way for their encouragement, kind words and friendship, virtual or in real life. Someday I will find a way to repay all of your kindness but for now I will keep my words flowing and fight the good fight with you against crappy beer. It is an honour every time someone tells me they loved what I wrote or takes the time to look at anything I've created. I am only a regular guy but having a way to express myself, even if no one is watching gives me hope that I am doing something right.


Cheers!


Polk

In Defense of The Hammer

I was out and about on Tuesday and when I was coming home from Toronto, crossing the Skyway bridge, I started to think about all the times I hear and see people slamming my hometown, Hamilton, Ontario. So many times, especially on social media, I will see people posting about how they can't wait to get out of this city, how all the people here are losers and so on. I am struck by how they feel. I am not sure if they realise that it isn't Hamilton that does

Time to de-Christmas the house. Booooooo!

Christmas was over two weeks ago and the Polkaroo household still looks like we await St. Nick's arrival. I hate the thought of putting away all my decorations for another year, but realise if I don't act soon, it is going to seem like I am just lazy instead of festive.


It's drier than Nevada by now

Growing up, my mom always took down everything by New Year's day so we could have a fresh start. I really think it was because there were 4 kids in my house going back to school and my saint of a mother needed her house to resemble some kind of normal before the tornado of a new semester took over the place.

We grumbled and half heartedly helped take down our growing collection of Christmas baubles and went back to the dreary days of winter. I always thought I wanted to leave the decorations up longer to keep that happy spirit alive, but in reality, I was just putting off stuff that had to be done.

Putting aside my aversion to taking down what I put up only a month and a half ago, I begin the process of hauling the 30+ boxes of regular household knickknacks to replace the assorted holiday gee-gaws. Trudging up and down the stairs, I start to envision a future where we do a minimalist Christmas. Maybe a bauble or two and that would suffice.

Why do we need so many damn decorations?

We don't even have kids.

 This is ridiculous.

I really hate taking down my Christmas stuff.

When I start to wrap the breakables, it brings a smile to my face as I put away certain ones because they mean something a little more. A musical Santa Mom and Dad fixed for Grampa.

It still plays music too

 Mrs. Polkaroo's ever expanding Christmas village that is starting outgrow its spot.

The picture doesn't do it justice, it is growing quickly.

These things remind me of why I decorate for this holiday only. The act of doing it reminds me of the excitement of childhood and who wouldn't want to relive Christmas Eve and morning as a kid one more time. When I take it down, it helps to put those feelings away until next year when I get to do it again.

New this year!

The process of re-decorating and hanging our assorted picture frames, paintings and wall ornaments is a nice way to consider what we have and if it really is necessary. I know no one needs any of the stuff we have, but they contain memories and feelings from what they mean to each of us. I am forever deciding if this piece or that has had it time with us and needs a new home. It usually ends up that I donate some stuff to charity and make room for new memories that we will acquire in 2016.

I have always been the one who decorates, it is just something I enjoy and Kat doesn't seem to mind. I have made all the picture frames in our house (and there are a plethora of them) full of pics from our few and precious trips to the Caribbean.


Fun times with my best friend.

Nothing is better than as you trudge down the stairs mid-January than seeing the fun times we've had on the beaches of Jamaica or Cuba and the hope that we may do it again. 

Almost twelve years.

Wedding pictures of course are a fixture as well, not forgetting that youthful snap from our engagement.

Oh, the matching blues.



As the house slowly returns to normal, it cannot help but look barren. Nothing can generate the excitement and colour that Christmas does, so you learn to cope. I have no doubt that part of my "blahs" of February are caused by the sharp contrast between the sparkling promise of Christmas and the regular everyday gray of our lives.

This year I approach it from a much better place and look forward to doing a little redesigning of the main floor with maybe some classy beer bottles sneaking their way onto our built-in bookcases in the dining room. Just one or four, I promise.

So much room for my beer collection!

I have long felt the depression of this time of year, but it was only recently that I began to understand it and fight back. It takes a concerted effort and the support of my lovely wife, who never gives in to the darkest days I have, to remain on an even keel. I have a much better grip on what causes my sadness and with that in hand, I am confident taking away my Christmas until next November will not put me in a funk.

Plus this year has so much to look forward to. I am off to visit some new places tomorrow and despite the chill in the air, we have committed to start our walking regimen. New shoes from the store always made me feel like I could run faster as a kid and I still get a rush when I lace up my new high tops.

But for now it is the careful wrapping of breakables, the packing of the boxes and the unhanging of funny snowmen wreaths.

These guys always make me laugh.

I put them away not with sadness, but with a happiness that comes from recognizing what a wonderful life I have and how much joy this past season brought to me. I look forward to the chilly walks and explorations the rest of winter will bring and am excited for the warming of Spring and the sun shining on my face as I work in the gardens.

Bye-bye penguins, snowmen and Santa. You will be missed and I look forward to seeing you all again as soon as the clock turns on November 12th, 2016.

Cheers!



Save a Life (in theory) with The Drunk Pokaroo

Working at Big Grocery means being prepared for all kinds of situations. Our customers come in all age ranges, shapes, ethnicities and sometimes states of sobriety. It was with this in mind that I was selected to be in the group to receive training in First Aid. This may seem surprising to you that a man of 42 years old has never had any sort of formal first aid training, but I though I had all the basics learned through years of taking care of myself, so why bother. Boy was I wrong.

I was apprehensive about taking the course, my anxiety rocketed up the charts at the thought of having to participate in any sort of group training and of course, acquiring new skills is always a little intimidating. But I understand the need for our store to have as many properly trained individuals, at least theoretically, prepared to help colleagues or shoppers should they need assistance. So in I went with a little fear in my heart.

It is a two day course with the first day being focused on CPR and the second on more basic first aid. I was pleased to learn that while I had a basic understanding of how chest compressions were done, but with a little instruction, felt more comfortable at my ability to perform this possible life saving measure. The simple methods used to keep blood flowing to the brain for people of all ages is an easy to learn skill that I honestly think should be taught in high schools. Make this very important process part of our young peoples education and I think it could help to save lives.

I noticed a couple of things about the training that I hadn't considered before and they are presented in a way to help the first aid provider feel like they can and should help someone in distress. First is the need for consent before helping someone. It is stressed that if someone is conscious and aware, you must never try to help them unless they give their permission. Sometimes you just stay with them and call 911. Respecting an individuals personal space takes precedence over your own feelings. However, if an individual is unconscious or unable to communicate, you must assume consent and provide whatever care you can until the professionals arrive.

The second thing that struck me as odd at first was the repeated urgings that when providing CPR to a person in distress, that person is already dead and nothing you do makes their situation worse, except doing nothing. This is a simple idea, that when someone goes into cardiac arrest and their heart has stopped, they are clinically dead, By providing CPR, you are trying to help keep oxygen in the blood flowing through the body by pumping it manually until the EMS arrives. I think the reason they stress this idea is that when we try to help someone and fail, we can feel a loss of self as well. The fear that we could do something wrong or would not be able to really save anyone might hold a person back from helping. One of the ways they try to make you to see that any assistance is better than none is to try and absolve your conscience of the fear that what you do did harm to someone. I like this in theory, but I wonder how I would feel if I tried to help and it wasn't enough. It is something I will carry with me to keep me focused on the person I am helping should I ever encounter a situation where these skills are needed.

 I am happy I did the course. It has strengthened my already present life skills with the proper knowledge of basic first aid. I am shocked we don't push this as a skill more young people should have and really think it should be part of the core curriculum in a secondary school setting. I understand the costs associated with providing this could be prohibitive, but surely the very easily absorbed skills of even the simplest method of CPR are worth it.
If you have already done some basic training, good stuff. If not, perhaps consider getting at least a course in CPR. It is worth it and the life you help save may be someone you love.
My new approach to doing things that are outside my comfort zone this year is a definite plus for helping me overcome my anxiety. I know I can continue to push the boundaries of who I am and by acquiring new skills or improving old ones, I make myself a better person. I appreciate what I have been able to accomplish with the help of my friends, family and co-workers and look forward to where 2016 takes me. This week is a good start, stay tuned. I promise some new beer related travels and reviews are coming too.
Cheers!

Who wouldn't want this well dressed
man saving their life.