Simple Pleasures-Christmas Lights & Old Fezziwig

I like beer. I like good beer. Most any good beer actually. Recently a beer connisour asked me what kind of beer I liked, hoppy? malty? dark? light? I pretty much had to say,

"Yes."

Anyway, at this time of year I love Christmas style ales or winter beers (Anchor Steam anyone?) Another favorite is Old Fezziwig, which is where our story begins tonight.

This evening, while dinner was cooking I took out the compost. I had my super warm LL Bean Jacket on and a bottle of Old Fezziwig in my gloved hands. I have to say, while I like a nice beer, I still prefer it in a bottle, rather than a glass. (I'm kinda cheap like that, and I don't mean frugal.) it's enough to make beer lovers shudder.

Anyway, I decided to see how our Christmas lights look so I walked out front. Then I noticed how nice my neighbors lights look and took a walk on over there. Well then, of course, I had an entire neighborhood of lights to look at.  I slipped the beer into my pocket and sipped it along the way.  We don't have street lights in my neighborhood so it was pretty dark except for the Christmas lights. It was so peaceful, walking and looking at the lights and drinking beer. I felt mildly self-conscious (and kind of trashy) about that as I usually don't walk around my neighborhood drinking alone.....Is it even legal to walk around drinking?  I made sure it stayed in my pocket in front of the house of our new town justice. When someone's motion light went off I jumped and once when I stopped to look at a particularly nice display and take a covert sip, I noticed a neighbor walking her dog. She had her head down. My hair was up. She walked right past me. I said a friendly hello and she didn't respond. She either didn't recognize me or felt awfully embarrassed to catch me swigging beer right out in the open like that.

I walked pretty far this evening although I would say it was a far cry from excercise.