The Sea of Today

These uncertain times are difficult to weather. Each morning as I rise and put on a happy face please know that hidden behind the mask is a scared little boy who worries about the future, just about every day. Not in a sense of doom and gloom from destruction, but more from the standpoint that this is an end of an era that I’ve ever known. It’s true that I’m adventurous in spirit and I do believe that I will make it out on the other side, its just that the rules are shifting and morphing under my feet without any understanding. I feel that my aspirations are slipping through my fingers and that the harsh reality of now changes everything. The dissemination of information is not accurate or different day-to-day and we are left throwing the preverbal darts in the dark, grasping to understand. Anyone with foresight knew this would be the outcome. Luckily, I’ve always tried to do my own thing and believe in what I have to offer matters, all the while there’s been the understanding of the ‘norm’ that I can always count on and it’s that ‘norm’ that is shifting.

I believe that America will come out of this much better off than even before it all started, but it won’t be the same America that I grew up in. This is the natural wildfire that helps clear and forge a new beginning. No one wants to be stuck in the middle and only a few are strong enough to fight it. I believe that our alternative energy, education, economy and healthcare will be a more inline with the European ideology of community. The corporate greed and financial scams will be a distant fragment of our history. I feel that I’ll be interviewed one day by my children’s children for some school assignment about my recollections of this period in history. If anyone knows me, I’ve always said “history is something you live, not read” and this couldn’t be a more true statement today than when I was in high school. Maybe it all comes full circle and that’s why I’m so passionate about documenting all that I witness. Some historians believe that change comes from studying history, yet I think history is cyclical and it’ can’t necessarily be altered. We just understand the triggers of these cycles. Granted, this is only one man’s opinion.

The excess and expectations are shifting, even in my own household as I learn and realize how I impact my surroundings and my pocketbook. This shift is rippling across our nation and as difficult as it is now, we will be better and stronger because of it. New resources are cropping up all over the place and the restoration of communities has begun. It all just takes time, so in the meantime I will do what I always do. Find humor in every day, laugh and move forward but realize that I too am scared.

Twin Lakes Brewing Company

Cruising along Route 52 in Greenville, DE, just outside of Wilmington, is a 252-acre farmhouse rooted in American history and dotted by twin lakes. The significance of this farm is not just merely the fact that “it’s been kept in it’s original state for over 100 years, or that George Washington once tied his horse to a pear tree on the property” — although, it could be that the watershed has been protected and is perfect for brewing beer. The fresh water, according to their website,”has never been treated and has no additives. We get our water from a deep rock well that has operated on the property for over 200 years. The water is perfectly balanced, PH and alkalinity. Other than filtering, to remove any particulate, the water is not processed at all.”

On a recent visit to Twin Lakes Brewing Company they had the Caesar Rodney Golden Ale, Route 52 Pilsner and Greenville Pale Ale on tap. If you were lucky enough they kindly pulled a tasting from their secondary fermentation vessel with their Vice Presidential Ale. I find that the native west coaster in me does enjoy a heavily hop forward beer and the mid-Atlantic brewer in me is learning to enjoy the malty characteristics. The pale ale was an extremely well balanced beer with the citrus & grapefruit hints typically found in cascade hops, yet they were not overbearing unlike the love of a mother. The golden ale was quite reflective of the style and had a warm and smooth malt flavor merged with a slight hop tang. If a more traditional pilsner is inline with your beer buds then the Route 52 would provide pure drinking enjoyment. As for the vice presidential ale? You need to taste it for yourself; let’s just say that Twin Lakes Brewing Company is awfully proud of Delaware Joe. Given the history of the farm and its location, it would make sense to me that their next creation should be a colonial porter. If just for the fact that the American porter style is rooted in the area and it was one of George Washington’s favorites.

Finding this American Farm Brewery could be a bit tricky, even with the help of a british speaking navigational aide. It’s worthy of the hunt though and once you find it you won’t forget it. The tasting room is located above the brew house and is reminiscent of the old 1960’s art studio that once occupied that very same space. Local art decorates the walls, and a fresh cheese platter accompanies their delicious beers. Comfy couches, backgammon and beer books encourage a visitor to stick around and savor a lazy afternoon of tasting. Bring friends or make new ones, this is the place to do so. There isn’t a guidebook in the world that’ll share this little nugget with you, it is truly off the beaten path and only open two days a week.

The (New) Outdoor Obession

A day on the creek

Once again we’re buried in snow, but this past weekend we had a respite from the cold temperatures and on Sunday the temp climbed to a whopping 48ºF. That was enough to get me outside after being cooped up. I figured what better way that to go for an afternoon of fishing. This is a relatively new experience for me, since I haven’t really fished much since my childhood. Of course there’s been a few trips here and there when I’ve been back in WA with Joker — who has been a tremendous help in both information and aiding in yet another possible obsession. The important thing is that I enjoy being outside and find that it’s quite calming. Of course all the lakes out here are frozen right now, so there’s not much lake fishing going on for me right now, but that’s ok. All it good time.

Keeping up with the Jones

Living in this economy is a real challenge and I’ve learned a few things about how I want to live in the future. It’s just that right now I’m not sure how to even begin to dig out of where I’m at. This isn’t a negative thing. It’s just what it is. Decisions are made in a way that one thinks it’s the right choice at that time only in the long run to realize that maybe it wasn’t such a smart idea. We’ve begun to trim whatever and where-ever we can. I’m also doing some thing that I never thought I’d do before. I make as much food from scratch. I’ve always liked to cook, mostly since the college days, and I’ve usually been a scratch cook. I’m talking about making the staples, the stuff that takes time, but in the long run is cheaper than buying it at the grocery store. I make my own bread for stuff now. Granted it’s pretty dense whole wheat so if you’ve got suggestions on how to not make it so dense, i’m listening. We always make our own spaghetti sauce, that’s just do to being married to a great Italian. I make pizza dough and store it in the freezer for those night’s where we just don’t feel like cooking. We’re trying new things out to feed ourselves, how we can stretch the food the most.
One of our latest challenges is with PECO (utility company out here). We want to give them as little money as possible. So we’ve started a game between ourselves to see how much we can rid ourselves of the grapple. We keep the heat near 61ºF and just wear sweaters more. On the weekends, our house doesn’t get much ambient light, but I still keep all the lights off, mostly cause I don’t want to pay for them. Our apartment, pretty much pays all the utilities. I think the only one we don’t pay for is garbage. We pay water and sewage. I’ve also switched out all the light-bulbs with the CFL’s. Even though they can cause issues, I see their efficiency out weighs the potential mercury problems. We only shower about 1 or 2x a week. We don’t stink, it’s mostly due to time. As many of you know we’re not much of morning people. We’d rather sleep. The good thing is that we hopefully don’t use that much water. Now, that also leads me to the best way to wash dishes by hand. The idea of filling up my sink with hot soapy water and then dipping dirty dishes into it and giving them a scrub, seems fine in the beginning. It’s when you get down to the end and the water is all nasty looking. So then I change the water, but then I wonder did I really save that much vs. keeping the water on slowly?

I guess what I’m really trying to say is that in this current economic struggle, I’m really mindful of how and when I use any resources. The biggest thing is that we can cover all the bills, but when it boils down to our grocery bill that seems to be where we struggle. There never seems to be much left over for that. So we stretch what we can. Processed food is cheap, it’s alluring and it’s plentiful. We try to avoid it when ever possible. Plus it’s wasteful. I know we’re not alone here, but that group of us is not the majority. That’ why people are fat, we have the increase in diabetes, etc. The cheap food from the dollar store are not good for us, so in the long run the cheap food is actually more expensive for us as a whole.

Somewhere along this I’ve derailed, I guess my point is we’re really working hard here to stretch food and reduce our bills so atleast there’s something left over. I work 4 jobs right now too. Three of the 4 our part-time, here and there work, that help when I’ve got ‘em.

We’re not even trying to keep up with the Jones.