Day One Hundred Thirty-One

This gives you a sense of what I ate and drank at Daniel and Alice's party

Finally, the big day arrived: the day of Daniel and Alice’s party!

…But first we had to get through the first nine hours!

Grace and I took a walk with Don along the Colonial Greenway for about an hour. Then, before I drove Don to the train, I whipped up an omelet for each of us. We also finished the Gianelli sausage that I brought back from Oneida last weekend.

After dropping Don off, I had about an hour and a half to play with. Given how much I knew I’d be eating later, I wanted to take every opportunity to burn calories and keep my metabolism up. So I went back to Saxon Woods and climbed around on rocks for an hour. I even found a modest cave! Fun stuff.

Grace and I left at about 1:00, stopping to grab a pizza at Village Pizza and Pasta. We ate most of it on a picnic table in Saxon Woods.

We left early because we wanted to allow ourselves two hours at Campmor in Paramus, New Jersey. Wow, what a place! I’ve never seen such a huge store devoted entirely to camping equipment! We bought a two-person tent and some hiking insoles to cushion my poor old joints.

We continued west across New Jersey, turned south, and arrived at Daniel and Alice’s house at one minute after the start time of 5:00! I hauled out my cooler of beer and reacquainted myself with the folks I’d met at this same event during the two previous summers. I opened a bottle of my own Hennepin, drinking some and sharing some.

Before long I was engaged in one of the aspects of the party I’d most looked forward to: a game of croquet! I hadn’t played since the first of these parties I’d attended two years ago. I had a ball, howling at my botched shots louder than some howled at theirs, but more quietly than others. And somehow in the midst of it all… I realized that I’d just won! How about that?

John, one of Daniel’s friends, is an accomplished homebrewer. I’ve never had homebrew that can touch his. I thoroughly enjoyed a few of the samples he brought, and then it was time for dinner.

There’s a reason why I’d looked forward to this meal all year. Alice really pulls out all the stops for this party, working for days on all the food. I’m not even going to try to remember it all, but some of the highlights were the turkey and stuffing, the ham, and the stunningly delicious corn that had been prepared in a mustard marinade. Just look at the picture and you’ll get an idea of how much I stuffed myself.

As the eating tapered off for lack of stomach space, I waxed enthusiastic about Belgian beer in general and Hennepin in specific to one of my dinner companions. Soon I had made two new converts to the Cult of Hennepin: her, and another John. This second John is another delightful person whom I was happy to see for the third year in a row. His voice and his guitar playing form the backbone of the evening festivities.

Soon after darkness fell, Alice brought out the desserts: a dark chocolate pudding with various berries; homemade whipped cream; lemon meringue pie; and three different flavors of homemade ice cream. Alice, having remembered that I liked tea, brought me out a pot of Earl Grey. What a dear!

As we reveled in dessert, the music began. John started playing his guitar and singing, and in between Grace and I sang a few pieces from the Sacred Harp and Daniel sang a few Irish tunes. It was the finest of evenings.

It had been a long day, and I was fading by around 1:00 AM. I must report that at around that time I did something I’m not proud of. I couldn’t bear the thought of the last two slices of pizza going to waste after my eat-whatever-I-want day ended, so I went to the car and grabbed a slice. Eating it, on top of everything I’d just had, for the sake of cramming one last thing into the day, was an abuse of the system. I’m not going to flog myself over it, but I am going to be mindful of it so that I don’t make it a habit.

I just remembered something else that happened before bed and which counts as a minor triumph. Seeing as how I hadn’t touched any of the Tröegs Hopback Amber I’d brought, I was going to cram one more beer into the day. I even brought a bottle and glass upstairs with me. But reason won out in the end, and I didn’t open it.

So Grace and I were one of the last of the guests to retire. We said good night to Daniel and Alice and John, and went upstairs to one of the spare bedrooms. We fell asleep feeling grateful that we didn’t have to fiddle with the tent, and blessed for having been a part of such a glorious gathering.