Hello insomnia my old friend

So what do you do in the wee hours between 2 and 4 am when you cannot sleep? That is to say, what do you do when you actually care about not waking up your neighbors. (This is so freaking annoying, even the damn cats are asleep!)

Well, you can peruse the discussion boards of Ravelry for any interesting new threads. And since there appear to be over 400 members currently online, a little over a 100 of which are in the United States, you could even sit and watch the radar and get a few more rounds done on a cable hat. (Nothin' like a little eavesdropping while you knit - right?) You could surf the internet, check out the latest videos on YouTube, get caught up on blog reading and commenting.  Heck, you could even post to your own blog!  Now there's damn fine idea!

Funny thing about blogging is you never know who's going to check out your blog and whatever you're putting out there on the great world wide web.  I look at my site stats once a week or so and see visits from people all over the United States, Canada, even some from other countries occasionally.  And in the time that I've been blogging, I've made a few blog friends along the way.  But it seems like an interesting twist that the majority of them live on the east coast, and particularly in areas where the weather is so freaking far from anything I want to experience.  I mean, I may kvetch about driving an open golf cart in the rain, not having insulation in the walls of my house, or losing power and freezing my hiney off during the night, but relatively speaking - these are just inconveniences or annoyances.  So I admire these folks, for battling the elements as they try to go about their daily business.  'Cause wow, I just couldn't do it. Not in a million years.  I am just not built for cold climates.

And although I complain about some of the less than wonderful parts of my island life, I do like living here.  I chose this place and I do appreciate everything it has to offer, even if I don't always remember to say that!  I'm going to try and counter the whines & wimpers with an equal or greater amount of the positive aspects of this body of land completely surrounded by water that I call home.

One thing I learned quickly after moving here is that this place is very wet.  And by that I do not mean precipitation.  I mean as in "more bars in one square mile that you have probably ever seen in your life".  (Ah the joys of being a tourism destination!  Ehhh...it is what it is.)  But seriously, islanders, real born & raised islanders, can drink like nobody's business.  (And according to the ad appearing on our local cable access station we also have an amazingly large amount of AA meetings for such a small town.  But I'm sure that's just a coincidence.) A few years ago when I was still working at the Casino Ballroom, one of the local high school all-class reunions was held there.  An all-class or even multi-class reunion is not unusual for a small school, my high school had one a few years back too.  But at this event, on this one night, generations of islanders from the most recent crop of graduates all the way back to their grandparents were drinking together.  Of course there was food, and music, and dancing too.  But all I can remember from a blur of a very long night is filling tray after tray with empty glasses and beer cans, it seemed like we were clearing the empties off the tables mere moments after the cocktail servers set 'em down full. Out of a few years in that job and countless events worked, that stands out as one of the most exhausting - on par with New Year's Eve. 

So knowing all this it should come as no surprise that along with having our own endemic plants and animals, it's only reasonable that we should have our own cocktail - right? So without further ado, I give you (insert drumroll here): 

The Buffalo Milk

According to all local lore I've gathered in the past ten years, this particular concoction originated at a bar & restaurant located at the Isthmus, at the west end of the island.  You can get it anywhere on island now, but some people still think the best ones are made where the first ones were.  (And maybe they've got good reason for using the slogan "the west end is the best end".)  It's basically alcoholic dessert in a cup and ridiculously popular on hot sunny days, when it's gotta be the worst thing to be consuming.  I can't imagine what the calories are but if you've got a mind to give it a try, here's a recipe for you:

• 1/4 shot Creme de Cacao, dark
• 1/4 shot Creme de Cacao, white
• 1/2 shot Kahlua
• 1 shot Vodka
• 1/2 shot Cream
• 1/2 piece Banana
• Nutmeg
• Whipped cream
• Ice

Blend ice with cream, banana, and alcohol until smooth. Pour into glass, top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of nutmeg.

If you decide try it - let me know what you think!