38 years..

The thunder sounds like not-so-distant artillery in the distance. Wind and rain blow outside in the usual South Florida monsoon this time of the afternoon. Whats new....

I just put my first load of wash into the dryer just down the balcony to the left, and dropped in some whites that desperately need whitening. Bleach really doesn't cut it. It just sterilizes the whole mess of socks and underwear. ( a habit I picked up in the service ) I have three loads to do. As well as a lot of housekeeping chores to fulfill. The laundry I'll do, the housekeeping I'll blow off. I'm chronically lazy when it comes to housework..

I'm a guy, Bite Me!

I sit. here at my desk next to the sliding glass door and listen to the cars running down the rain soaked streets, the tires making a telltale squishy, "whoosh" as they pass. Off to the south I can see blue sky and yellow clouds on the horizon.

I wonder what it's like in the Keys right now..

I wonder how the rum runners taste at the Tiki bar in Islamorada...

I wonder what the wind smells like in Florida Bay.

Sigh.

I could have thrown caution to the wind ( as well as a few hundred dollars ) and just gone down there. But why? I hate going places like that alone. Just like I hate eating in a restaurant alone. For some reason it just seems so empty to do it. Nah, I'll wait until there's something to really celebrate, with someone worth celebrating with..

I sigh, and run my fingers through my graying hair as the groaning air conditioner struggles to pull the tropic humidity out of the air. I raise the scratched glass to my lips and take a drink, as I wipe sweat off my brow.

The 18 year old Macallan scotch in my glass exudes a warm, biting fragrance. It also makes my face flush with every sip. It's not as smooth as I had hoped it would be for 90 dollars a bottle. But hell, is anything you buy these days?

I sit and study the amber liquid for a moment, pondering it's birth.. 18 years ago .. Jesus, I'd give my left arm to go back there. I was 20 years old, and had it all... But that's all whiskey under the bridge. Whats gone is gone, and we can't get it back. We can only decide what to do with the time left to us.

So here's to a new beginning. Here's to healing, and happiness, and remissions, and graduations, successes, promotions, safety, and inner peace.

For ALL of us.