Thought Picnic: Rest, Sobriety, and Social Sacrifice

Treasuring Rest and Sobriety

There are two things I treasure: the opportunity for rest and keeping my sobriety. I get my sleep whenever I can, except when it is interrupted by obligation or responsibility—work or other necessities.

This means that even when I do not get sufficient rest during the week, which is usually the case due to what is essentially nighttime insomnia, I make up for the shortfall at the weekend. I will have a good lie-in on Saturday, not getting out of bed for most of the morning if I can help it, and sometimes I do give my Sunday to rest over religious commitment.

It is strange that some who are aware of these irregular sleeping patterns still seem totally oblivious to this knowledge in some self-serving way. I suppose that is to be expected.

A Teetotaller With Exceptions

On sobriety, I would consider myself generally a teetotaller, though not to the point of total abstinence. I do like wine. My work experience in a brewery laboratory at the age of 15 quite literally put me off beer, lager, cider, and ale.

It is not for religious belief that I rarely consume alcohol; rather, I have seen how drink loosens the tongue, prompting people to speak more candidly. These are thoughts they once had the wherewithal to keep unspoken. Moments of indiscretion or regrettable garrulousness accommodate the emptying of the bottle into the belly.

One core principle I keep more than ever is never to drink alone and mostly to drink only with meals. This makes drinking a social activity and forestalls the advent of hangovers. I probably drink with the utmost moderation; my experiences with light-headedness have come from prescribed medication rather than from losing control, paying homage to Bacchus.

The Darker Side of Drink

Walking up through the Gay Village near where I live, many a doorway is fouled by vomit. At night, you behold the sight of people barely able to stand on their own two feet, so inebriated to the point of incapacity.

The whole thing is quite scary to me: the thought that a portion of your sensibilities is lost to a void of nothingness, your memory failing to recall any recent event.

Then imagine a sober man keeping the fully drunk company, subjected to the inanities that make you question your own sanity. As much as it is part of socialising and being a social animal, you do you; I do me. Some sacrifices are necessary to make the world go round.

A Google NotebookLM AI Audio Overview Discussion of this blog

On the palate of a Zoom call

An experience to relish

Zooming into a meeting this evening after work, I got to participate in a virtual wine-tasting activity that was more fun than one could have anticipated. It so happens that with the pandemic, people have to think of more innovative ways to socialise and even meet strangers with common interests.

Capreo, a wine distributor for over 50 wine estates in South Africa had contacted me a month ago to invite me to the event on behalf of the Backsberg Wine Estate. We have visited Backsberg thrice and have always enjoyed the hospitality and professionalism of the people there, beyond which the wines are just well suited for our palates.

A participation we enjoyed

On the call, we had up to 13 participants, the moderator from Capreo, from Backsberg, the export manager and winemaker with his oenophile girlfriend and people joining from Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Belgium, the UK, and New Zealand. We were to receive by mail 6 bottles of the wines to be tasted, those did not arrive for some of us due to postal and Brexit-related issues.

Wine tasting notes from Backsberg except where indicated. 

Backsberg Chenin Blanc 2020

Backsberg John Martin Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2019

Backsberg Pinotage Rosé 2019

Backsberg Pumphouse Shiraz 2018

Backsberg Klein Babylons Toren 2017 (Capreo notes)

Backsberg Family Reserve Red 2016

An order I had placed a month ago included Backsberg Pinotage Rosé 2019 which allowed me to participate in the discussion apart from other contributions to the general discussion about wine pairings, the wine estate, and the atmosphere at the estate.

Maybe soon in person

The session ran for almost two hours though because of load shedding issues in South Africa, Backsberg dropped off, just after all the wines had been talked about. Whilst for all of us, we would have preferred to be at the wine estate in the backdrop of the Simonsberg in Paarl, this as a second-best alternative was more than worthwhile.

I probably should have taken notes about the wines, which I did not, we would all be expected to put in an order for wines within the next week. With pleasure and the hope for a more involved experience very soon. Backsberg Cape Ruby 2017 the South African variety of port-like wine is one I would like much of, a visit is in view and the replenishment of my stock.

Neighbours and wine

Everybody needs good neighbours

This afternoon, I was ready to go out for a walk having had a soaking bath, I expected the weather to have improved. When I stepped out, it was wet and drizzling, not wishing to run the gauntlet of inclement weather, I returned indoors to watch old episodes for Columbo.

In aid of good neighbourliness and social interaction, I have met with my neighbours in the village complex courtyard for drinks, for about 6 weekends. Wine and port, biscuits and cheese, a lot of conversation, some banter, and laughs.

Today, we met indoors, a table set up in our shared corridor and two glasses of port or rather the South African variant, Cape Ruby, later, I was not tipsy, but I had enough to make me feel a bit sleepy in the head.

Sometimes, you wonder what you need to do in a day to make it eventful and worthwhile, then you realise, it does not really matter if you make the best of the moments and cherish the company you have. For that alone, we are grateful, and we can chalk it down as a fulfilling weekend.

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Beyond dwelling to possibly revelling

Things are no more the same

There are so many things two months of total lockdown have changed in our lives and I had already put myself into a kind of seclusion for two weeks already whilst the government tried to figure out how best balance their public relations against essential public health.

The many things I have missed range through socialising, human interaction, travel, eating out and basics of human touch, from handshakes, hugs, kissing, conversations with strangers and dare we say copulation, though I will have to wait a lot longer to experience the emotionally rewarding qualities of that with my beau.

Last night, my neighbour slipped a note under my door asking if I would like to meet up in our courtyard for drinks. We had over the last three months had conversations in the secluded long corridor of our apartment wing with the suggestion we have drinks together.

Our little neighbourly drinks

The weather permitting today having been quite dull for most of the day with a slight chill, it was convenient for us to meet in the courtyard, their ground floor veranda looking out onto the meeting place. She brought the wine; I brought the chocolates from Groot Constantia and the four of us conversed for just over 2 hours.

That was my first social event in months, and we think we’ll do it again next Sunday. Whilst we sat there, other occupants of the village walked by, some stopping for conversations beyond the greetings. There was one who had lived there for 26 years and we were just meeting for the first time, I having spent over 6 years in the village.

More social beings than apartment dwellers

We have a large village of 5 apartment blocks, but hardly a community that knows each other. I cannot identify more than 7 people I share this village with. This is the kind of society I live in. We were inadvertently social distancing long before it became a requirement for our safety, health, and wellbeing. We have settled into being just apartment dwellers when there is more that unites us in this situation.

What needs to change in our psyche to create more neighbourly acquaintances, I cannot say, but I have always been proactive in know my immediate neighbours. It is very likely that as we adjust to the changes that would greet the new world of existence, some adjustments would come to give the village less of occupancy of apartments and more of there being lived in by people.

Our little courtyard gathering.