I can report--in an Admiral Cod exclusive--that the first G&T of the summer season was consumed this past weekend in Southern California. Here in the Southern hemisphere, where the sun shines 325 days of the year, G&Ts, madras, seersucker, and white bucks make an earlier appearance than their counterparts in the North. And for that I am most thankful. For lunch we sat in the sun on the water. As you know my gin of choice is Bombay Sapphire and has been for many years. Its striking blue colour reminds me not only of my beloved's eyes, but also of native Baltic seas for which my northern heart continues to ache. English gin produces over time a sensation of fruit bat-shit crazy, her power in my experience rivalled only by absinthe, opium, and other frowned-upon substances. After lunch we walked along the pier taking care to avoid the pigeon shit and strutting African tourists. Young surfers bobbed and weaved below us, pigging-out on crowded waves and occasionally erupting into fights, tanned blonde lads spinning in the green room. We are joyful refugees from the prying eyes of long-haired commissars from the Laguna Beach Groundnut Collective, tie-dyed and addled, whose hippy drum circles dot the coastal region tapping out a continuous death-knell to young fogey and preppy alike. Woe to those who ignore its song. In the meantime, there are cocktails to be enjoyed under the southern sun. The first gin of the season is a gift and an occasion to celebrate.
19 April 2011
First Gin of the Season
I can report--in an Admiral Cod exclusive--that the first G&T of the summer season was consumed this past weekend in Southern California. Here in the Southern hemisphere, where the sun shines 325 days of the year, G&Ts, madras, seersucker, and white bucks make an earlier appearance than their counterparts in the North. And for that I am most thankful. For lunch we sat in the sun on the water. As you know my gin of choice is Bombay Sapphire and has been for many years. Its striking blue colour reminds me not only of my beloved's eyes, but also of native Baltic seas for which my northern heart continues to ache. English gin produces over time a sensation of fruit bat-shit crazy, her power in my experience rivalled only by absinthe, opium, and other frowned-upon substances. After lunch we walked along the pier taking care to avoid the pigeon shit and strutting African tourists. Young surfers bobbed and weaved below us, pigging-out on crowded waves and occasionally erupting into fights, tanned blonde lads spinning in the green room. We are joyful refugees from the prying eyes of long-haired commissars from the Laguna Beach Groundnut Collective, tie-dyed and addled, whose hippy drum circles dot the coastal region tapping out a continuous death-knell to young fogey and preppy alike. Woe to those who ignore its song. In the meantime, there are cocktails to be enjoyed under the southern sun. The first gin of the season is a gift and an occasion to celebrate.
Admiral, As Northern Protestants observed Palm Sunday with (appropriately) dessicated and faded imported palm leaves, it's good to know Southern worshippers were celebrating a more gratifying festival.
ReplyDeleteTerrific writing, as always
Hear, hear, Good Sir! I am on the next plane to Southern Cal, for, alas, if I waited for the sun to shine in my clime, the sweet seduction of juniper berries would not be mine.
ReplyDeleteAdmiral, the sun shines 325 days of the year only if you count the sun peeking out for an hour or so during the day. My experience is that the Huntington Beach-to-about-Trestles coastline is among the most socked in, marine-layered, dreary-weathered coastline I have experienced in California, and I lived there for 13 years, in addition 5 up north. Seems that you, too, may have imbibed the mass-hypnotic kool-aid that makes all southern Californians think that their massive spending on sub-par housing, traffic jams, and terrible schools is all worth it. Try Denver - 330 days a year, with no excuses!
ReplyDelete