Ale for the Soul

Happy Thanksgiving!  Hopefully your holiday was filled with time spent seeing family and friends.  Relationships rekindled and strengthened, blessings recounted, memories made, and so much more.  While the rest of the world moves on to "Black Friday" shopping, my goal is to maintain a spiritual posture of thanksgiving for the many blessings Father God has provided.  The day was spent at the A.A. support group for their Noon meeting and subsequent meal.  As usual, there were quite a few people in attendance and more than enough food to go around.  I even took two containers of food to friends who quite possibly don't have anyone with which to spend the holiday.  Following this time of fellowship, I headed to Greenwood Cemetery in order to contribute to the Find A Grave website.  After a few hours spent working on taking pictures and setting up memorials, I felt fulfilled and satisfied with how the day was spent.  There was another individual o...

About a week ago, I saw a posting on the museum's website stating they would be permanently closing at the end of the year.  Wow, really?!  What came to mind first was that some Trump-deranged, left-wing, liberal lunatic finally got their way in rewriting history by deleting the ugly scars on this nation's heritage.  Of course that is not what really happened.  This particular museum has always been a stalwart in presenting the truth of history by displaying both sides of the conversation.  The good, the bad, and the ugly all belong to the forum of open discussion.  The basis behind the closure posting was strictly for financial reasons; however, there has been a recent turn of events.  On Thursday, I headed out to the Civil War Museum to pay my final respects to such a wonderful icon in American history.  After paying the entrance fee, I had to comment on my feelings about the impending closure.  The young lady behind-the-counter then gave m...

On Saturday, September 30th, I attended the annual Party on the Porch sponsored and hosted by the Amon Carter Museum.  I attended this function about twelve years ago with a friend and his family.  For whatever reason, the festivities fell off my radar till I saw a banner for it a few weeks prior.  Deciding it would be good for me to get out, even if it was alone, I requested a ticket and downloaded it to my phone.  The best part of the shin-dig was it's free of charge!  Yes, you read that correctly.  Both Party on the Porch and the Museum itself are funded by a perpetual trust established upon the death of Amon Carter himself.  (Take that, you other museums who charge an entrance fee!  Because of the lack of admission, I am able to frequent the art gallery as often as I can.)  Free parking for the event was available across the street at the surface lots of the Health Science Center.  (Another plus to showing up for the event.)  Th...

The phrase, "caught slipping", is an old one that simply means a person is left holding the bag or having something pinned on you that was completely out of your control.  A group of friends meet for dinner.  As they leave one-by-one, the last person seated at the table, very unaware of what is going on, is now stuck with the bill.  Or a group of robbers pull a heist.  As the police bust in, everyone makes a dash for it except one person who was caught offguard and doesn't know what to do.  Unsure which way to run, he is easily and quickly apprehended by authorities.  Both of these are examples of getting "caught slipping".  For the previous four months, I feel as if I've been caught not knowing where to go, what to do, or how to respond.  In June, I left a job with Ole Grapevine Cigars & Tobacco Shop thinking I had another gig lined up with JR Cigars.  Literally right before training was scheduled to begin, the company's human resource d...

Many have inquired about the meaning behind the blog's name.  A lot of thought was given to selecting a title for the site.  I wanted a name that brought a soothing and healing aspect to both myself and the many readers who visit.  For me, pouring my thoughts out on "paper" was very cathartic and liberating.  As a result, names such as Balm of Gilead, Spiritual Release, or Ultimate Trascendance were considered.  Alcohol has been known to be used for medicinal purposes.  Red wine is good for the heart.  Whiskey warms the body.  Everclear makes for a great antiseptic or to sterlize surgical instruments.  Thus Ale for the Soul was born.  Even though I was very much a lager drinker, ale had a better tone or ring to it.  Certainly I'm not advocating for inappropriate alcohol consumption as a means of escape from life's struggles, trials, or problems.  As a former alcoholic, yours truly knows that lifestyle doesn't work, or at leas...

In the time I have lived in Fort Worth, I have had no luck in making this place home.  I always think of the wonderful life I had among friends in Houston.  Places to eat, favorite hangouts, a wonderful church home, city parks, museums and theatre plays, and so much more.  Even though it seemed like I was changing places of residence every six months, I still had a couple of places of retreat to use as an oasis.  The first was Molly's Pub, an Irish bar located a block off El Camino Real in Clear Lake.  I could walk in any given time of day, and the outside world, along with its accompaying stresses and worries, would slip away.  Camaraderie, conviviality, laughter, and plain, old-fashioned fun would be the order of the day and easily found inside.  Molly's Pub was my Cheers.  Another place of oasis was found near Baybrook Mall close to the Olive Garden.  There was an undeveloped patch of land with two dead end streets that would fool people i...

A little over one week ago, I gave notice of resignation with the cigar shop where I was employed.  There was nothing wrong with working there, except the usual dysfunction of having to work for a living and in dealing with humanity at-large.  The only novelty of the situation was the fact, as a part-timer, I was working more than the manager.  Yes, you read that correctly!  Yours truly was working roughly thirty-five hours a week while the manager would only clock in for approximately twenty-five hours a week.  (He would get paid for forty, which means he was stealing from the company.)  Knowing this was a sore spot for me and the other staff members.  Nonetheless, I would carry on in the daily discharge of my duties.  At the end of the month, I will begin working-from-home for JR Cigars.  Thankfully the job is full-time, offers benefits, and has a good rate of pay.  Until the start date of June 26th, I am taking a much-needed three-wee...