Drinking in the Yard at Night: Things I Have Actually Liked About 2020, Part 2

I haven’t done much in the way of going to bars this year. I’m relatively certain that my last bar visit was when I was in Louisville for a conference, and I can at least take solace in the fact that Louisville has several bars worthy of distinctions like “the last bar I went to” and “the last bar I remember going to.” But since March, I’ve done none of that, which is too bad, since I like a good bar. As the esteemed John Greiner said the other day, “I miss drinking with people I only kind of know.”

John uttered that particular bit of wisdom while sitting fifteen or so feet away from me in my backyard one evening a few weeks ago. This summer, if you’re being at all responsible, that’s the socializing you can do—sitting outdoors, reasonably distanced from the people in your life that you’re relatively certain have not been making out with strangers at Buzzard Beach.

If there’s any solace in this, it’s that once the evening rolls in and you’ve got a bit of shade, drinking in the yard with a couple of friends is not half bad. And once the stars come out, it’s downright lovely. I’ve even learned a bit of astronomy. You want to know where Arcturus is? Get a couple cocktails in me, and I’ll be happy to point it out. When it gets to the wee hours, you can see Saturn chase Jupiter across the southern sky. I’m told there’s a comet knocking about, but there are trees to the northwest of my yard, so I wouldn’t know.

To be certain, I enjoyed a good drink in the yard at night long before 2020 rolled around, but only in 2020 has drinking in the yard at night become a health-conscious expression of one’s commitment to civic duty. And you know how I am about health.

So I recommend you get out there. The wi-fi signal is terrible, and when the wind blows in the trees, it sounds like any other year.