Let Us Entertain You

We both love to entertain, never pass up a chance. A chance came in the form of a fellow traveler in the mental health civil rights movement touring the country.



Problem was, it was a Monday night. Meaning I had to work. That alarm went off at 4:45 a.m. and I got up and rode my butt in and by the time I stopped at the liquor store to pick up beverages, it was almost 7:00 p.m., the time listed on the invitations and Corinna was already handling a full house.

Me, I'd have been stressed out if I was preparing for 30 people alone. Maybe she would have been, too, except people kept volunteering to help her and she knows how to use a volunteer when she gets one.



I got there fairly worried that my unavailability to help would have put her at wits end, but I arrived to find her in good spirits, with a house fuller than expected, the oven and stove going.

She promptly put me to making the dough for a cobbler and shortcake, and while another guest had beat me to the punch buying beer, we had enough guests that just what one of us bought might not have been sufficient. And we had a broad cross-section of brewskis on offer, everything from Boulevard Pale Ale, Porter, Wheat, and Amber to PBR and Schlitz. Six or so kinds of soda, too, including some funky Mexican ones, pretty much all of which got sampled.



The recycling bin was pretty full by the end of the party; the glass bin took about six months to fill judging by a beer I tried in February or March, empties of which were in the bottom layer when I reached the Ripple dumpster.

I'm not sure recycling glass is the greenest thing out there, it takes a shit-ton of energy no matter what, but at least Ripple is making insulation locally instead of us sorting all this stuff by color, crushing it, and shipping it to Texas for $8 a ton (what I'm told the previous method of recycling glass bottles was).

But whether it will save the planet or not, I can tell you this: it is fun to throw those suckers into the purple dumpster and hear that crashing sound as glass breaks glass.