To Longer Days

and shorter nights.

We’ve just passed the solstice–an event I always note with an old roommate and friend. We got together with our wives at a restaurant called Soluna, which was packed when I got there. Actually, the bar, in front, was packed. The dining room, in back, was empty. But it was all reserved. We couldn’t get a table until 7 at night — odd recession, this.

So we squeezed into a table by the bar, looked out at the red-and-green-lit City Hall, and discussed our options, over a couple of pints for the guys and glasses of wine for the ladies. It was very good to get together; it has been an eventful year, with my friend finding a new and much better job — it was quite stressful for him, for a while.

But they get no sympathy from me. They are off, in a couple days, to Belize, a country I love, although they are not going out to the cayes, but are instead doing nature trips and visiting Tikal, then back to SF in early January.

We opted to check out other restaurants nearby, and found the civic center absolutely jumping. We figure it must have been Nutcracker crowds, as there were lots of kids out, too.

We finally got seated at a Chevy’s, and resisted the urge to drink Tequila Sunrises, in honor of the solstice, seeing as how most of us had to work the next day.  By seven o’clock the place had largely emptied out, so it was doubtless a theatre crowd that had the neighborhood so packed, but it sure surprised us. At first we were scratching our heads as to why a Tuesday night, two days before Christmas, would be so crowded.

We ha a great time, talking about current events and the demise of newspapers and movies and movie critics we like and travel and the changes of the last year. So much fun, in fact, that I forgot to tell me friend about the news segment I saw on the BBC World News, whereby the self-confessed pagan population of Britain now is up to 100,000. They had footage of a little parade led by a man with antlers on his head. Or probably attached to a hat on his head. They had a ceremony welcoming the sun back into our lives, and I can identify with that.  It was nice how the segment described them as converting to paganism because it gives them a positive, nature-based belief. I’m not ready to go that far myself, but I do like open-mindedness — and wish more of my fellow Americans practiced it, too.

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Just checked in for this quick note, and must keep moving. But did want to note that I’ve got 10 gallons of this winter’s lager in carboys fermenting now. Very promising. Also, I need to add an entry soon about our Edie girl, the little stinker. I believe she had a run-in with a skunk this morning. Stay tuned.

Merry Christmas, Joyous Holidays, and Happy Winter Solstice!