It was one of those events attended out of obligation. A fundraiser. My wife was involved in running the thing, so there was no way I was getting out of it. To be fair, though, I didn’t have any plans so it wasn’t keeping me from doing anything. So, I shut up and played along. You know what, I was glad I did because I got to cross an item off my bucket list. Admittedly, it was a smaller, fairly unimportant item, but it was and item nonetheless. I got to try absinthe.
If you’re unfamiliar, absinthe is “a green or sometimes colorless distilled liquor with high alcoholic content that is flavored with wormwood (sometimes), anise, and other aromatic herbs, such as fennel. (Thank you Merriam Webster).
And what the fuck is wormwood, you might be asking? Well, according to the same source, it’s “a European plant (Artemisia absinthium) that has silvery silky-haired leaves and drooping yellow flower heads and yields a bitter dark green oil used in absinthe.”
For the record, I’m not a huge drinker. I have my favorite brands of beer and I’ve been known to enjoy a glass of scotch or bourbon every now and then, but I don’t drink that much week to week. Nevertheless, I’ve wanted to try absinthe because of the aura surrounding it. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, it was once outlawed because it was thought to be hallucinogenic. As such, it became associated with the drug and/or counterculture.* In recent years, however, that reputation has begun to erode and now it’s just another alcoholic beverage served at swanky parties (and the occasional fundraiser).
Unfortunately, I didn’t care for it, or maybe I needed to try a different brand with all the accessories I’ve been led to believe one should have it with (i.e., the sugar cube, the fancy contraption you put the sugar cube on, the special glass, mist blowing in from somewhere, etc). In the sample I had, I could really taste the anise and that’s a flavor I typically don't enjoy.
Okay, so now that I’ve recounted that experience, the other thing to investigate here is the phrase bucket list (i.e., a list of things that one has not done before but wants to do before dying). From where does it arise? I’ve scoured the books in the Butter Lamb Reference Library’s holdings and couldn’t find anything. (I’ll keep looking ….) So far, the best explanation I’ve come up with is that it must be associated with the euphemism for death, “kick the bucket.”
I’ll have more to say about this in the future, I’m sure.
* To see what I mean, type absinthe into your favorite search engine and look at the images that come up.
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