Tonight finds me writing from a very familiar place- the hammock in my sunroom in my own house.

Tonight’s topic is a little different than some of the others I’ve done. It doesn’t really concern food so much, or fine beverages. It doesn’t really concern culture either- not literature, music, poetry, or even the folk stories I’ve occasionally featured here.

I suppose- to some readers- this may seem a cop-out due to writer’s block, or a lack of inspiration. In a way, that may be partially true. I had thought of exactly one topic I wanted to write about tonight, but I decided to hold off until I had done some more research (in order to keep it from being another whiny opinion piece on a hot-button issue.)

I spent most of the day and the entirety of this evening trying to think of a different topic. It wasn’t until this very moment though- with my feet up in the hammock, keyboard on my lap- that I found what I was looking for. In a way, I’ve been looking for it for the last few weeks at least.

I find myself at home, in a slightly-hotter-than-comfortable sunroom, at nearly 10 pm. The room doubles as a lounge/bar area. Since I’ve been living in this house, this room has been my special project- decorating, furnishing, everything meant to promote entertainment and hospitality. Now I find myself the guest in my own house.

Sitting beside me is a small shot glass of very good tequila- Hotel California Anejo. It’s a bottle I spent several years trying to hunt down. I’m nursing the shot straight up and neat. The refreshing agave flavor is mellowed with age, turning the bright crispness slowly into lustrous gold.

Besides the typing of keys on the keyboard, I can hear the crickets outside. The traffic on the highway a few blocks away, and the planes taking off and landing at the airport a few miles down the road.

No music, no tv, no news.

No Facebook or Twitter, no texts. My phone is silent, and my computer is solely focused on the same thing I am- typing this entry.

Eventually I will have to come out of this room. I will finish the tequila, turn off the light, post this entry, and head off to bed- looking toward a brief rest before I must rejoin the world at large, and all the beauty, horror, wonder, anger, rage, sadness, and warmth it has to throw in my face just for opening my eyes.

Not right now though. For the moment, I have found something I have been seeking for the last two weeks, and only realized I wanted it while searching for something to say.

A moment of quiet.

They are rare, but they are wonderful, and they are free.

I highly suggest having one regularly.

Stay classy,

BHB