random truths – Day 1,052 (Thursday) – accidentally dry

January came and went, and late in the month, I realized I was doing “Dry January.” Just not on purpose. I used to like drinking red wine in the winter because it seems to raise my normally low body temperature, and bonus, it’s probably less expensive than the gas to heat The BungaLowell. Lately, I just don’t feel like having it, and never think to have an alcohol beverage anymore.

The refrigerator is stocked with no-so dark beer in bottles and cans, Soju, Prosecco, Champagne, and Finnish Long Drink in three varieties. I don’t feel like having any of that, either. They all feel like summer drinks and I’m either too cold or not in the mood for any of them.

Tea, baby.

Since the fall, it’s been a whole lot of herbal tea, thanks. Ginger and turmeric, ginger and lemon, and Raspberry Zinger have been in heavy rotation, box after box, month after month. The tea usually involves steeping one tea bag and when the mug is empty, it’s refilled with water and reheated with the original bag. This repeats until it’s mostly clear hot water, but at least I’m hydrating. Sometimes I’m tired of the full flavor after the first mug anyway, so the reduced flavor is not an issue. Or I'm too lazy to really care. 

Oddly, unlike most recent winters, hot cocoa has not been in the regular rotation, and nobody is more surprised than I am. There is some delicious spicy hot cocoa mix in the cabinet and maybe when I get around to buying some more milk I’ll climb back onto the cocoa wagon. We’ll see. 

Maybe the lack of interest in cocoa and alcohol calories is because I’ve been too busy eating calories in solid form like chips and candy and there is just no room for drinking calories, too. Thank goodness. If only the chips and candy and cookies and cakes had been healthier, low calorie snacks, my pants might still fit. Or, like my former father-in-law Ducky used to love to say, “If 'if' was an ass, we could all go for a ride.” Then he would laugh his booming laugh and all the kids, kids-in-law, and grandkids would collectively roll our eyes.