THANK YOU

Troy's Work Table Publishing wishes to thank everyone who helped make 2019 a wonderful year of art and poetry for TWT and the Inktopodes.

Thank you to Puyallup Valley Dental Care for hosting the "Strange Gliding Things" show in their gallery for three months.

Thank you to the Washington State Fair for accepting four pieces of Inktopodes art for their 2019 Fine Arts Show.

Thank you to the Maplewood Elementary PTA for allowing Troy's Work Table Publishing to have a table at their annual Holiday Bazaar.

Thank you to Creative Colloquy for accepting my short story "Endured, Uttered" for publication on their website and allowing me to read it as part of their Summer Soirée. Thank you for accepting my poem "Warpaint Melville" for publication in the forthcoming print version of Creative Colloquy, volume 7.

Thank you to those of you who purchased Inktopodes art and cards this year.

Thank you to those of you who purchased, read, and/or listened to my poetry and writing.

THE LAST MEAL

The Last Meal is a holiday that is truly a personal holy day. It is a time to reflect upon the past year and prepare for the one that will soon arrive.

This year, each member of the family wrote down private confessions, personal sins, and things they wanted to leave behind in 2019 on pieces of paper that helped start the fire for the grill. The combination of briquets, cowboy charcoal, and damp Italian prune and black walnut branches gave the steak for The Last Meal a rich, peppery, smoked flavor.

The Last Meal for The Child: carrots and peas, pasta and cheese casserole.

The Last Meal for The Wife: Dungeness crab.

The Last Meal for TWT: wood-smoked tri-tip steak and Alamos Malbec.

Food was followed by board and card games before "nine o'clock New Year" and viewing Solo: A Star Wars Story.

LONGEST NIGHT

Coastal Redwood bonsai at Pacific Bonsai Museum, Federal Way, Washington.

—

Longest Night. Winter solstice. A personal holy day.

This year was celebrated by attending A Bonsai Solstice at Pacific Bonsai Museum, one of my favorite winter events. It was a night of looking at these artful tiny trees, some of which were illuminated by spotlights and some of which were in dark and had to be illuminated by flashlights or phones that viewers brought. I really enjoyed experiencing these trees in a shadowy, still, and somewhat silent atmosphere.

As The Wife remarked, this was a "good Advent event." It was a time of patience and quiet and slowness.

—

Now the night continues with reading short horror stories by Brian Evenson. His collection Song for the Unravelling of the World is unnerving and creepy, yet compelling.

Here I am hiding in the dark!

ADVENT BEER CALENDAR • THE FIRST 12

The first twelve beers of the 2019 Kalea Advent Beer Calendar.

—

I'm really enjoying my Advent beer calendar. It's allowed me to try beers I normally wouldn't otherwise (mostly German lagers) and even allowed me to discover a new favorite style (rauchbier). Here are the first twelve beers, ranked from my favorite to least favorite on a scale of one (no thanks) to five stars (excellent), along with brief tasting notes.

1. Hösl Märzenbier. Smoky. Nutty. Broth. Wine. Dark fruits: cherry, fig. Light caramel. Bark. Honey. Apple. Complex. Shifting. Complex. (Day ten.) *****
2. Erlkönig Hell. "Clean" and airy nose. Floral. Fruity. Grassy. Light spices. Solid and refreshing. Sweetness that dries a bit. Excellent. (Day six.) ****½
3. Perlenzauber German Pale Ale. Hay. Grains. Citrus. Hint of berries (especially as it warms and on finish). Biscuity. Familiar. Very Good. (Day seven.) ****
4. Bürgerliches Brauhaus Altbairisch Hell. Grain. Grass. Hint of banana. Light grape. Light apple/pear. Clean and refreshing. Very good. (Day nine.) ****
5. Ladenburger Weizenbock Hell. Hay. Cloves. Hint of banana. Sage. Thyme. Hint of raspberries. Yeast. Light orange. Light caramel. Very good. (Day eight.) ****
6. Schnaitl Jubiläums-Sud. Grains. Caramel. Floral. Some sweetness. Honey. A hint of figs and dates. Very good. (Day three.) ****
7. Hohenthanner Schlossbrauerei Blau Weisse. Grains. Sage. Cloves. Banana bread. Light citrus. Light grass. Saison-like. Very good. (Day two.) ****
8. Kress Bayrisch Zwickel. Caramel. Nutty. Hint of vegetal notes. Underlying sweetness. Biscuit. Very good. (Day five.) ****
9. Grandl Bavarian Lager. Wheat. Lemon. Hint of brine. Light spiciness. Brief sweetness that dries out quickly. Very good. (Day eleven.) ***½
10. Käuzle Helles Lager. Grains. Grass. Spices. Good. (Day one.) ***½
11. Graminger Kirta Dunkles Weissbier. Broth. Cocoa. Sage. Cloves. Red grapes. Hint of wine. Earthiness. Vegetal. Hint of alcohol. Okay. (Day twelve.) ***
12. Memminger Gold Bavarian-Style. Light. Not a lot here. Hints of spices and flowers. Light sweetness that dries a bit. Okay. (Day four.) ***

ADVENT QUIET MORNING

"Annunciation to Joseph of the Root of Jesse," multimedia* collage, 2019.

Response to Advent Quiet Morning.

*Sidewalk chalk on concrete board, papercut bond paper, and Sharpie on transparency.

—

This morning, I facilitated a series of related readings for Advent Quiet Morning. Each of the three sets of readings—"Emmanuel," "Annunciation," and "God with Us"—followed a pattern: a brief passage from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a reading from scripture, a short piece of creative non-fiction, a poem, and a prayer. After each set, participants were able to stay where they were or scatter throughout the sanctuary and adjoining spaces to respond to the readings in silence, prayer, in writing, or in artwork for fifteen to twenty minutes.

The readings represented voices from different faith traditions within Christianity—Lutheran, Catholic, Orthodox, Methodist, Episcopalian, Non-denominational, and Agnostic. That wasn't planned but it was a surprise that was rather welcome, as these poets reflected upon the Annunciation and the Incarnation and their various writings overlapped and echoed one another, finally seeming as though one voice was speaking.

—

The sanctuary was filled with candlelight from the candle trees on the altar, the Advent wreath, votives, and a couple of larger candles, which meant the sanctuary was also filled with shadow. The sanctuary was filled with the scent of black cherry incense. The sanctuary was filled with silence once each reading ceased.

—

Halfway through the first silence, in the midst of shadow, as I was walking from one room to another, I stopped. I stopped because I had a holy vision, the first I've had in probably twenty years. Unlike earlier visions, this one was primarily auditory.

Behind me somewhere (through the shadow and the stone walls of the sanctuary) the darkness was peeled back and there was a brief glimpse of the light of heaven accompanied by the singing of what I assume to be choirs of angels. How does one "see" light that is behind one's self? How does one hear song in the midst of silence.

The only other noises I heard throughout the morning were traffic along the road at the side of the church, the currents of the furnaces, crowing of the neighbor's rooster, cawing of crows sitting on the telephone wires above the road, and the calling of gulls sitting atop the church. None of which even approximates the singing of angelic choirs.

—

Fortunately, the vision didn't last too long, although it's brevity didn't quite match the amount of time that passed in "reality." And I was able to continue with the following readings with a vigor and vitality that I cannot claim as my own.

—

For the rest of the day, I felt "off." I longed for additional quiet. I took a nap. I felt groggy. After dinner, however, I was able to finally respond to the reading with artwork that I couldn't do during Advent Quiet Morning since I needed to "keep things moving along."

I initially intended to only chalk a piece of artwork, but things changed during the process of creation. Working from the narrative of the annunciation to Joseph, chalked angel wings also served as fiery leaves of a tree growing from the skeletal stump/root of Jesse. Angel and tree and child and vision of Emmanuel mingle with one another.

Quiet breeds quiet. Vision fuels vision. Response begets response. Amen.

—

The set lists.

Emmanuel

• Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
• Matthew 1:18-25.
• "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" by Linda Gregerson.
• "Mosaic of the Nativity" by Jane Kenyon.
• Prayer.

Annunciation

• Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
• Luke 1:26-38.
• "A Sky Full of Children" by Madeleine L'Engle.
• "Annuciation" by Scott Cairns.
• Prayer.

God with Us

• Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
• Psalm 146:5-10.
• "I Praise, I Exalt Your Name: Psalm 146" by Daniel Berrigan.
• "Where Does the Temple Begin, Where Does It End?" by Mary Oliver.
• Prayer.

AUTUMNAL ROUNDUP

I went and gathered a few beers for late-autumn enjoyment as I wait to crack into my beer Advent calendar.

It's a mixture of old favorites and a few new beers to try.

Silver City Old Scrooge Ale.

Ommegang Three Philosophers Quardrupel.

Boulevard The Sixth Glass Quadrupel.

Reuben's Brews Holiday Gose.

Deschutes Jubelale.

Oskar Blues Old Chub Scotch Ale.

Breckenridge Nitro Chocolate Orange Stout.

Crux In the Pocket Barrel-Aged Rustic Saison.

7 Seas Boobytraps Cascadia Dark Ale (not pictured).

Iron Horse Cand Hannon IPA (not pictured).

I've already enjoyed a few of these beers the past couple of days and it's helping to keep the darkness of the seasonal changes at bay a bit.

KILLING ME SOFTLY

Autumn at sunrise. North Hill, Puyallup, Washington.

The shift to autumn is killing me softly. And slowly.

"Gaining" an hour by "falling back" from Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time once again has thrown off my circadian rhythm. The sun doesn't quite sit in the sky where it should, according to my mind and body. Not only that, but the sun's light is weaker and the sun's course in the sky is shorter and closer to horizon.

Not to be dramatic, but I can feel the dark weighing down my bones. I literally feel heavier. More sluggish.

And my insomnia is acting up, as well as I'm awake and up at 5:00 a.m. no matter how little sleep I've gotten the night prior.

I'm walking and running to keep endorphins flooding my system. I'm taking vitamin D. I'm taking melatonin before bed. I'm practicing mindfulness.

The only saving grace of the past few weeks has been brilliant fall foliage, made even more so by the richer amber sunlight.

Hopefully, I can get myself back to some sustainable pattern of wake-and-slumber before the fog and gray and dark set in for the next few months.

CH-CH-CHANGES

Three years ago, my favorite beer store, 99 Bottles, closed after ten years of business. It was a sad day when the doors were shut for good because they were relatively close to me, they carried beers I enjoyed, they really knew their beer, and they hosted some rather fun and imaginative beer tasting events. Their demise was partly fueled by "big box" beer stores moving into the region—BevMo and Total Wine—as well as a state that has a lot of regressive and/or convoluted laws when it comes to alcohol.

And I guess I've been in a state of mourning for the past three years.

In addition to my favorite beer store closing, there have been a lot of changes in the beer industry over the past three years. Some favorite longtime breweries have closed (Bridgeport) and others have come and gone within a few short years (Puyallup River Brewing). New beer stores have opened (CRFT Beers of Auburn, Pint Defiance of Tacoma) but they are quite the drive, especially when distance and amount of traffic is factored in. Craft breweries are selling out to industry giants like AB-InBev (Budweiser) and Heineken International; Elysian, Goose Island, and others have been swallowed up by the giant multinationals. Beer shelf space once dedicated to craft beers has been increasingly stolen and compromised by AB InBev due to their practice of flooding the same space with the brands they bought. New beer styles (such as Hazy IPAs) have likewise taken up space that would have gone to barleywines and sours and other styles of beers.

In other words, a lot of what brought me joy in the exploration of craft beers disappeared and died. To cope, my world shrunk down to mostly what I could still find on the shelves of my local Fred Meyer, with the occasional trip to The Red Hot or CaskCades to try something new. I tended to stick with a few favorites—Iron Horse's Cand Hannon, Bale Breaker's Top Cutter, and favorites from Deschutes and 7 Seas.

But recently, I started to once again build up the stock in my mostly depleted beer cellar. I discovered an Advent calendar of canned German beers that I am really looking forward to enjoying. I cleaned out bottle caps and beer coasters I had collected over the years and reminisced, while also letting go of some of those memories to make room for new ones.

So here is to some new adventures, explorations, and enjoyment of craft beer: Cheers!

BLOOD MERIDIAN

I've tried reading Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy three times before, but I never made it more than a third of the way through the book. Today, on my fourth attempt to finish this novel, I made it farther than I have in the past.

The main stumbling block for me has always been the brutal violence that undergirds the narrative, especially the encounter around an evening campfire between white Jackson and black Jackson in chapter eight. But I survived it and moved on.

I'm glad I did, because I encountered the brutality and beauty of chapter ten. In it, I hear echoes of Moby-Dick, especially the Judge as an off-kilter character and/or madman in an indirect lineage from Captain Ahab and a pissing scene (to add the final ingredient needed to make powder for their rifles) that reminds me of "A Squeeze of the Hand" (Chapter 94 of Moby-Dick). It's a strange and hallucinatory chapter that makes me feel as though I'm just as famished and suffering from heatstroke as the group of American soldiers and mercenaries who are fleeing from pursuing Apaches across the Mexican desert.

It's quite the wild adventure, so on I trudge with Glanton, the Judge, the Kid, Toadvine, and company!

INKTOPODES • TABLING EVENT

The Inktopodes of Inktober and their friends will be at the 5th Annual Maplewood Bazaar on Saturday, November 16, 2019 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

www.facebook.com/events/895933014103462

This is the only tabling event at which the Inktopodes will appear in 2019, so come and visit them before they swim away!