Right from the start, Greg is half kicked in the ass.

Jen?  “Ehhhhh…I’d say about 40%”

The beers:

To start, we share a Lagunita’s Hop Stoopid bomber. (“A bawmuh, kid.  Like it’s owuh jawb.”)

Then, Jen  has a  Southern Tier Gemini and Greg, Ommegang Three Philosophers.  There was also a Sam Smith’s Winter Ale in there somewhere.  Lots of beer.  “Well, we’re anticipating a 40 – 50% chance of kicked-in-the-ass.  Back to you, Ron.”

The topics:

We start with gratitude.  And whiskey.  (Yep.  After all that beer.)

We open a gifted bottle of Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection 1838 Style White Corn Bourbon.  This is a mash bill that would have been used through the infancy of the state of Kentucky, just after our yinzer forefathers moved from Western PA to the newly minted “Kentucky,” when Thomas Jefferson offered, in essence, the very first corn subsidy.  1838 is the year Woodford Reserve erected its first distillery, and indeed it is the oldest distillery in the state of Kentucky.

And holy shit is this bourbon good.  Triple distilled in a copper pot still, 45.2% alcohol by volume (90.4 proof).  The mash bill is the same as the typical Woodford Reserve expression, just with the white corn that pays homage to originators and innovators, Dr. James Crow and Oscar Pepper: 72% corn, 18% rye, 10% malted barley.  (Today’s bourbons use yellow corn which is cheaper and more ubiquitous.  In the late 1700’s and 1800’s, and indeed in 1838, white corn would have been the grain used by Pepper and Crow.)

We dream of hiking mid-winter through snowy forests (…Cook Forest to be precise…), breathing the clean, crisp air that seems to alleviate allergies and chest colds, with flasks of high proof spirits.  Specifically, one flask with this very bourbon and another with Wigle Landlocked Spiced and Oaked…which is akin to rum except using Pennsylvania buckwheat honey instead of sugar or molassas, then spiced with a giant tea bag of sorts, then aged in used whiskey barrels.  Put THAT in your pipe and smoke it.

Kate licks her coot-coot, which transitions us into our second topic:

New Year’s Resolutions.

The resolution that Greg eventually stated in last weekend’s post, “Driven to Resolution (2015),” was not his initial resolution.  Here you’ll hear the initial musings of what would have been a self-serving, shitty resolution that placed Greg firmly in that false, judgmental position of superiority that he seeks to extinguish.

“You need to have more acceptance.”  That’s literally what she (Jen) said.

Acceptance.

To not only strive toward breaking free of fear and judgment but to also acknowledge and accept oneself, and others.

Jen’s personal goals, as gleaned from the conversation: To improve myself, to stop feeling like a victim, to bounce back, to empower myself and take control of my life, take control of my health, be more patient and accepting, to cherish the good things, be more present, and celebrate all that’s positive.

Big stuff.  Good stuff.  Doable stuff.

Musically, you’ll note a “Thank You” sandwich, with Led Zeppelin up front and Dido at the close. Not Dildo.  Dido. Thank you.

We present to you, “Gratitude and Resolutions.”