Ale for the Soul

In addition to celebrating fourteen years of sobriety away from alcohol, I had another cause for joy in the expiration of the legal obligation at midnight on the 18th of August.  After four years of a forced vacation and the subsequent ten years of supervision, I am no longer bound by the dictates of the State of Texas.  This doesn't mean I no longer have a black mark on my record, but rather I am now able to nagivate life more freely without the involvement of the powers that be.  In the following week since having that burden lifted from my shoulders, I have been continuing to unencumber or divest myself of the pressure to maintain compliance with external forces.  Initially upon release from the puppetmaster, so to speak, I wanted to take a month vacation to celebrate such a joyous occasion.  In addition, I had absolutely determined and every intention to execute a move out of Fort Worth for a place of my choosing.  Neither of these have happened nor look as if they will come to

 August 18th is a special day as my brother and I share a birthday.  He turns the corner on 33 years of age while I am only now entering what I shall call the pre-teen years.  Of course I'm talking about two different types of birthdays.  For my brother, his birthday represents the chronological progression of time, while mine is still a measure of time but in regard to sobriety from alcohol.  When life changed for yours truly, I had no capacity to envision what may be in store for the future.  The first three and a half years were spent on a forced vacation, an environment that really didn't allow for seeking out an alcoholic beverage as I had greater concerns to contend with.  It wasn't until I moved to Fort Worth that I asked myself where I wanted to go with this sobriety stuff.  Figuring the sober life hadn't been too terribly bad, I figured it was worth taking and running with it.  Leaving the garbage heap of life behind me, I could now decide on the course traject