WAVES

Milwaukee Avenue, Puyallup, Washington.

NEW YEAR'S EVE BEERS

I attended a recent tasting at 99 Bottles that allowed me to sample four New Year’s Eve beers. Each was a corked-and-caged beer that would be a wonderful ale to welcome in the new year.

I scribbled down the following notes in my miniature composition book.

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Timmermans Oude Gueuze, a Gueuze by Timmermans Brewery.
Clear light yellow, almost champagne-like bubbly. Sour, paper, lemon nose, followed by a tart lemon tongue. Good and sour.

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Delirium Tremens, a Belgian Strong Ale by Brouwerij Huyghe.
The same color and appearance as Timmermans. The nose is of fine paper and apple juice. The taste is a bit funky, with Seabreeze antiseptic (and perhaps the spice sage, but Seabreeze was my first impression). A trip to The Wife’s spice cabinet confirms the sage.

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Lozen Boer, an Abt/Quadrupel by De Proefbrouwerij.
A darker pour than the prior two, with a light brown body, but still bubbly. The nose is anise and (wallpaper) glue. The flavors are the same, with the addition of beef broth, freshly tilled soil, and sugary canned pear syrup. All in all, the most complex and my favorite of the bunch.

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Deus Brut de Flandres, a Bierè de Champagne by Brouwerij Bosteels.
A rather bubbly yellow-orange body. Clove and sage on the nose. Clove, sage, and tobacco leaf on the tongue. Not what I was expecting, and a pleasant surprise! A close second for me, right behind the Lozen Boer.

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While any of the four would be pleasing to explore further in a full tasting, rather than in small quantities, I decided upon Lozen Boer as the ale to welcome 2012. I will share those notes and thoughts after the cork is popped.

O LITTLE DOG of BETHLEHEM

O little dog of Bethlehem...

WINTER LIGHT

Winter light, an hour before sunset. Watching squirrels.

VÖLUSPÁ

"The sun will go dark, earth sink in the sea. From heaven vanish bright stars. Steam surges and life's warmer, high flame flickers against the very sky."
—from the "Völuspá," as found in the Poetic Edda and quoted in the Prose Edda, by Snorri Sturluson, translated by Anthony Faulkes.

FROST and THORNS

One-hundred-twenty-second Avenue East, Edgewood, Washington.

ALL THE HEROES ARE DEAD AND BURIED

"All the Heroes Are Dead and Buried," TWT's contribution to Les Sar'zine issue #4, the "Heroes" issue, is now printed, folded, cut, published, and ready for tomorrow's release date. 120 copies are available in five snazzy colors—Asgard (rare, 6 copies); Midgard (uncommon, 30 copies); Jötunheim (common, 48 copies); Niflheim (uncommon, 30 copies); and Ragnarök (rare, 6 copies).

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Eight new related poems from TWT:

"Just Another Day in the Life of the Pagan King"

"Dark Days Are Coming and the First Is Likely a Thursday"

"This Is the Slow Collapse Into Fire and Ice"

"Your First Glimpse of Hel Is Like a Gateway Drug"

"All the Heroes Are Dead and Buried"

"The Wolves Linger Just Outside Your Front Door, Growling"

"Heroes"

"The Colds of Hel Are Just a Foretaste"

Five new commissioned pieces of artwork from The Child:

"Mjölnir"

"Bifrost"

"Fork-moon"

"Spearflake"

"Fenris-wolf"

Plus "Heroes" books from eight other writers and original artwork from our "Heroes" artist in each issue.

$15.

Les Sardines.

THE WOOD

One-hundred-twenty-second Avenue East, Edgewood, Washington.

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"By the way, the town where Asklepios’ sanitarium existed, I read now, is up in the mountains. Probably the climate was and is cool and moist; I read it’s heavily wooded. I bet the stars are quite visible there. It’s the place I yearn for. Out of memory."

—page 37, The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick by Philip K. Dick, edited by Pamela Jackson and Jonathan Lethem.

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"[Beowulf] went in front with a few men, / good judges of the lie of the land, / and suddenly discovered the dismal wood, / mountain trees growing out at an angle / above grey stones: the bloodshot water / surged beneath..."

—page 99, Beowulf, bilingual edition, a new verse translation by Seamus Heaney.

FALL BERRIES

Red: One-hundred-twenty-second Avenue East, Edgewood, Washington.


White: Riverwalk Trail, Puyallup, Washington.


Red and Shadow: Riverwalk Trail, Puyallup, Washington.

FOG

One-hundred-twenty-second Avenue East, Edgewood, Washington.

Fog, seagulls, frost-covered moss covering a roof, chimney—the same as last year, December 01—less poetic, perhaps.