LY #72 The Party of Memory

Photo under the influence

Got a bit squiffy last night on a couple of terrific dark beers at the Broken Top Bottle Shop.  I enjoyed a glass (not a pint) each of Lovely Cherry Baltic Porter from Bend Brewing and Old Rasputin Imperial Stout from North Coast Brewing.  Both smooth, rich, not too hoppy and high in alcohol content.  I had three sliders to soak up these happy brews.

The occasion was a party for the 20+ years group at COCC.  Ron Paradis held the first such party a couple of years ago when he hit that mark then didn't have time for a reprise last year.  So there we were again, the oldsters, some older than others, and some retiring sooner than others.  Many of us somewhat nonplussed at having reached our advanced years of service.

It was a pleasant couple of hours with much "how things have changed" discourse, including comments about the current crop of students and the problematic levels of chaos in upper level administration at the college.  (The perpetually sunny Ron, of course, as public representative of the college, would never critique our students or administration, rest assured.)  As we talked about students, we also recognized that some of our "they were better back then" simply has to do with our age.  But, of course, we're not the only ones to perceive a certain level of entitlement in the current youthful crop.  And the distraction associated with perpetual mediated living is now a cliche.

Hal's snowflake w. flash

When I got home I was reminded again of the passage of time as my spouse and I decorated our Christmas Tree.  Many of the decorations were presents given to us at a holiday party/house warming we hosted in 1990 a few months after he moved to Bend.  Sadly, my poor memory no longer makes all the appropriate connections between the ornaments and past friends.  But each year I recognize the pewter snowflake as a gift from Hal Gillespie, who died far too soon after that event.

If I weren't going to work in a couple of hours I'd be tempted to raise one more potent glass to the memory of all who are gone but remembered in the darkest time of year.