Going out on the town and treating yourself to great food is an added bonus to living in the city. Since we have been in Florida, we have had wonderful and exciting meals. Sushi is one of the treats we seldom shy away from. With sushi we often order a glass of plum wine. Its sweet robust flavor is a refreshing cleanse of the palate between succulent bites of seaweed, rice, and crab laden with bits of crunchy tempura and eel sauce. We enjoyed the plum wine so much we wanted a bottle for home. Good help being hard to come by, the attendant at the liquor store placed a bottle of Sake in the bag. The bottle looked right at a glance so I didn't think a thing of it. We got home to find our plum wine was in fact Sake! Ahhh, Sake. That's not bad. I like Sake. It is often served warm in a set of crockery shot glasses and decanter that would remind you of a teapot. We marveled at the bottle for a few days and then forgot about it. Then as fate would have it, I noticed the bottle setting next to the computer while I was having a late night mahjong contest. As I went about matching tiles, I ventured to sample the nectar. The night sailed by and the samplings grew, as regular as the tiles disappeared from the mahjong board. I lost track of time and games played, all the while the Sake bottle grew lighter and lighter until only one last taste remained. I turned up the bottle and let the last remnants wash down from the far reaches deep within. After a long moment it was clear the bottle would yield no more. Another dead soldier. As I ventured on with play, it grew nearly impossible to find the most obvious matches. After some time I realized the futility of my efforts and put the computer to rest for the night. I cleaned up the table and kitchen in preparation for bed. Nothing seemed out of the norm and I went about my work feeling the warm glow of the Sake. Everything was ready except a final outing for Prin and Sugar. Leashing them, we ventured out into the night. After the dogs had done their business and walked around to their satisfaction, we started for the door. All at once the world rocked up on one side like a great earthquake was tearing the world apart and I was thrown nearly 6 feet from where I had been standing. I was bracing myself against the back of the pick-up truck, as the world reeled around me. Suddenly the truck rose up, as if annoyed at my presence and tossed me back the other way. I was able to catch myself just before losing my footing and remained upright. The dogs were looking at me now, wonderment reflecting in there eyes. We struggled about for a bit, making our way to the door. The ground buckled and heaved at every step, and threatened to undo my efforts. Finally the door reached out to me and played at my attempt to find the latch. I was quick to outsmart it and in no time the door flew open and dogs, needing no encouragement, jumped inside. Just then my mind turned up a memory of a TV show I had seen long ago of a man making his way down the streets of Tokyo after a night of merriment drunk from drinking Sake. He was falling down as much as possible all the while slurring out some old Broadway show tune. I briefly thought about singing at that moment. Still having my wits about me, falling through the doorway I elected not to sing, as the hour was wrong. I had great fun getting ready for bed and as my head hit the pillow the world slipped away. As suddenly as my eyes shut, they opened to the sunshine of the new day. My head was awash with a dull thud of numbing pain and confusion. Oh, the misery of it all. I can tell you that I have indeed learned something I could not have learned any other way. I never would have believed a little Sake could take your feet out from under you. I would like to tell you that I have laid in a case of Sake and will be sampling it from time to time, but the truth is I do not think I will ever drink it again.RJ over morning coffee :-)
