The Boozeletter - The Epiloque

About The Epilogue

The Epilogue is Keith’s weekly corner of the Southern Spirits world — a place for bourbon, whiskey, spirits, stories, opinions, and whatever else happens to be on the mind of our resident Boozologist.

Expect a mix of industry insight, bottle talk, personal favorites, lessons learned, and the occasional wandering thought from someone who has spent a whole lot of time around good booze.

No scripts. No corporate jargon. Just Keith’s Weekly Musings — poured straight.

 

I truly love so many of the wonderful clips that the internet algorithm throws into my life.  Last week I was gifted a little clip of the late great Maya Angelou talking about rainbows in a cloud.  Do yourself a favor and search for it on youtube.  I would not even aspire to attempt to recreate her incredible magic but the idea she presented resonated so strongly in me.  This concept that in our life we have been the beneficiary of so many wonderful people who have given us all of these kindnesses and that we get to keep them.  They are gifts that belong to us now and it is our job to go and give some folks some rainbows ourselves.  We have all gotten great gifts, mediocre gifts, and lousy gifts from people but the gifts that truly stay with you are the ones that are invisible.  The praise, the encouragement, the time someone sat with you in your grief, the people that believed in you, that answered the phone, that showed up in your life.  In elementary school my classmates all bullied this kid Aaron because of his religion.  One day as they were taunting him on the way down the steps I just turned around and told these bullies to eat rotten cheese, or whatever phrase fourth grade Keith had in his arsenal.  I asked him if he liked Transformers and he said yes, and then we started to watch it after school together.  His family was always very kind to me, and I felt very happy spending time in their house.  I was already considered a weirdo by then myself.

Unfortunately, he got very ill and passed away just a couple of years later and it really made me feel like the world was a terribly unfair place that was mean and cruel.  But I also thought about how you could reach out to someone and befriend them when they weren't the most liked or understood person.  It just made no sense to me to dismiss someone because they were different. What was so great about these so called normal kids when they seemed so scared and cruel? So, I started befriending my fellow misfits everywhere I went and I'm happy to report it is a great strategy. The same things that make us stand out in a crowd are what makes us good to know (most of time).
 
The other important lesson that I learned much later was the impact Aaron had on me.  He didn't want revenge against those kids.  He didn't understand why they hated him and hoped that they would stop.  I asked him to join my little squad at lunch, and he was ready to engage with them and be friends. He also wanted to make friends with his enemies.  I was the one that wanted revenge.  I could not comprehend being kind to those jerk faces and had no idea how he did it.  Every day he went to school and kept his dignity in the face of those little turds.  I learned about quiet strength and how you could just know that you were a good person despite what they said about you.  He gave me a rainbow that I'm still TRYING to use today. The gift of forgiveness and the power of dignity.  And even though his life was cut so short, what a gift he was.  I've met so many people in my life, but when I think of decency and integrity, I still think of him.
 
You find these role models, inspiring folks, mentors, jewels and gems as you move through life, and you hope you appreciate them then and now.  I've read plenty of books about booze, but the best lessons I got were from the experts that love it and took the time to share with me.  You can read a science fiction book and never travel through space.  Getting to talk and learn from the folks that make the booze is so tangible and immediate.  You see those Pot Stills at Woodford (they are so beautiful) and then Chris Morris explains why they use them instead of the more traditional column still, and you can taste the difference between that and a column still. (A column still is typically smoother but a Pot Still has more flavor) Then you drink Don Fulano tequila and you can taste that pot still difference as well, even though he uses a blend of the two types or the rustic feel of the Tapatio which uses Carlos's grandfather's smaller pot still.  These are just words until they are put into context and then the lightbulb goes off and you have another rainbow.  These brilliant folks weren't bored or frustrated with me, they were excited to see an enthusiast.  You can tell yourself well that's how it should be, but we all know that's not how life actually works so you have to cherish it when it happens. Should is one of those super annoying words and concepts that has little value in this life. I should have invested in google, netflix, started eating more fiber, and studied Chinese at age five. Okay well you didn’t so now what?
 
There is never and never will be a shortage of tragedies. miseries and hardships.  Right now, there are devastating floods in Nepal and Earthquakes in Venezuela and Brazil, and there will be other horrific things happening very very soon.  You can take those things and add to them future predictions of terrible things happening to your friends and family and build yourself incredibly dark clouds.  You can be deeply confused about what your purpose here is and angry that life took a left turn you did NOT select at ALL.  None of this is the slightest bit unreasonable or crazy.  It just isn't very helpful to you or anyone else.  It is not about turning your frown upside down or faking it until you make it, it is about remembering all those rainbows you have and putting them to work.  It is highly unlikely that you are about to go on an incredible winning run, lucky streak, or a magic slide that will fill your coffers with the most extraordinary things that they could make six biopics about your life.  Much more likely that you're going to spill your coffee, lose your keys, say something dumb to a friend and feel like you're climbing a hill that never ends.  So that means that it can't be left up to fate and chance.  That means that you have to activate yourself and sort out the rainbows you already have. I can give you an easy first one to start your list, you are alive.
 
None of us can do this on our own.  We are social creatures.  We need help, we need love, we need encouragement, we need guidance and direction.  After that you need to listen to it.  Oh they are just saying that to be nice.  First of all, so what?  Line the folks up that want to be nice to me and have them do their thing.  I've had enough meany pants, jerk faces to last me the rest of my life.  Second of all, how dare you take that away from them!  They took the time to say or do something kind for you and you want to flush it down the toilet?  Rude!  You don't have to believe all the kind things people say about you, but you don't have to spend energy denying them either.  You could just be on your own team.  You don't have an inflated ego if you like yourself and are proud of the things you do and have done.  Just take those rainbows the people are trying to give you and put them in your pocket for safe keeping.  Then give out  a few yourself even if you think you're not good at that either.  Your best is very underrated.  You're not a grief counselor but you let them tell you about how they felt.  You can't explain the fashion that you see but you like that outfit.  You don't know what this dish is called but it is yummy.  When I taught writing the biggest block for my students was just believing they could even say anything.  Most of them had been told somewhere in their lives that they were stupid, were bad at writing, were bad students etc. and now no longer believed they were even capable of putting coherent words down onto a page.  I would have to ask them questions and then tell them to write down what they just said.  And we might have to do this for the entire essay but the next time we only had to do that a few times, and the time after that they were off to the races and could write for the rest of their lives!
 
You can't see the rainbow without looking for it.  Every year there are 12 full moons and most of us miss most of them.  I look up at the moon almost every night, but I still miss some of them.  I love a full moon, I think they are magical.  But if I don't look up it just happens without my noticing it.  I can even be jealous that other people got to see it but I never do!  Every time I look up it is never full!  Good things happen to everyone but me!  Did you look up?  Did you remember the rainbows you were given?  Did you hear what that kind person said to you?  Did you notice what they did for you?  Maybe you have no idea why they did it, but what matters is that they did.  Melissa sang Jolene for me the day after my apartment was robbed and they stole my computers which had all of my writing on it, some amazing bottles, and my VERY full piggy bank.  I found out yesterday that she doesn't remember doing that.  She sang it for me in the morning while I was drowning in despair and it was so lovely and kind that I felt better that day and I feel happy about it now eight years later.  Melissa is probably giving out rainbows all over the place and has no idea! (she is a rainbow herself!)  You probably are giving them out too.  We are giving and receiving them all the time if we pay attention.  I love writing The Boozeletter for many reasons, but what I feel best about is when it helps someone.  And maybe it has helped people who have never told me and that's great too! I only care that it had a positive impact on anyone, I don’t need any credit.  My friend Piatra is always giving very strong compliments when she sees someone fashionable and I can hear over the phone how happy she just made them.  It cost her nothing, she was just moved and shared her praise.  I could fire off the angriest rant you ever read in your life about all of the injustices in this world but I prefer not to do so. I greatly prefer trying to bring a little light each week.  I’m already starting from the somewhat absurd premise of a weekly booze publication written by a loud and opinionated weirdo that some how thousands of people read each week! The bottle I do not have is not better than the bottle I do. It just isn't. I've got a bunch of rainbows and if I forget some, I will remember more, and I will probably receive more as well! All of us will if we look for them.
 
Cheers,
 Keith