She used to bring out the potato chips and one beer for Grandpa on Saturday nights in the summer. Or on any hot afternoon that warranted relaxation. They would sit at the picnic table strategically placed on west the side of their white 2 story farmhouse. Their cattle at the bottom of the hill in the distance. Their corn and bean fields surrounding the homestead.
After Grandpa washed up, they would sit and share that beer with a few Kitty Clover potato chips. Sometime salted peanuts. When my sister and I would visit for a week in the summer, we had lemonade with them and played with the farm cats. We loved the spring kittens and chasing them in the grass.
But the big show in front of us was the love Grandma had for Grandpa. They had for each other really. On their farm land, middle of nowhere and yet everywhere, with a long days work behind them, they enjoyed that beer together. The dainty lady and her man in a feed cap. She giggled like a school girl. Old people in love I thought to myself at the age of ten or eleven. Hm. Who knew. I'll forever keep the mental picture of a Grandpa's large suntanned hand and her dainty hand wrapped around that tin can.
Fastforward to last weekend. Hot day. Sitting on the deck enjoying the company of Jim's brothers and sisters. BBQ scents, kids on swingsets laughing in the distance. I had planned for Corona Lights with limes. Some beer drinkers in the crowd, must be a good hostess.
Cindy, my sweet sister in law, introduced me to this. Dark Side Vanilla Porter by Empyrean Ales. Really perfect on a hot day. SO tasty. Dark beer yes, but light. The vanilla is present but subtle and entertains my taste buds. Quenches my thirst. Been waiting all week for it.
Tonight I grabbed myself one. With a lime wedge. Sitting on the deck watching Jim grill steaks and thinking about Grandma and her Saturday night half a Schlitz.
Hope you are having a wonderful weekend.
P.S. This is my 450th post. Wow. Never knew I had so much to say. Cheers!
