Old Friends

Be forewarned - There is a photo a man's butt crack in this post. Please remove children from the room, lest they see it and have nightmares.

Last night I made a trip to New Hampshire to visit with old college friends. We don't see each other more than a couple of times a year (at best). It's really tough to see them again, because you remember how close you all used to be and you start to miss all those wild and crazy times you used to have.

Today I'm taking a break from reviewing beer to post some pictures from last night, and reflect on how the hell 13 years has gone by since I first met these people!



First off, I have to say we've come a long way in the beer department. We've grown up a lot since the days of Natural Ice by the gallon and "Edward 40-hands" (a game where you duct tape a full bottle of 40oz malt beverage in each hand and must go all night with them like that).



My buddies have traditionally been big Coors Light fans even years after college. I too enjoy a Coors from time to time. Not to say they didn't occasionally drink craft beer.

I was impressed to find a mixed 12 of Harpoon unfiltered beers and a bunch of Flying Dog in the cooler. Very nice boys!



Here is Juan, the gardener, doing some weeding. OK, so his name is actually Mike and he's our friend. He was my roommate (one of the 8 or 9 I had over the years). There was a time when my wife and I disliked Mike. He was a piece of work back in the day. To his credit, he joined the military, bravely served our country in Iraq, and came back a changed man - for the better. We love Mike now and have a good relationship with him. Funny how time and experiences can completely change us all!



This is our host's crazy-ass dog. 7 months old. Insane and has enough energy for 14 puppies, but a good dog regardless.



The lovely Michelle. In charge of the food because of her "full on double rainbow" Portuguese cooking.

Note: Someone told me yesterday that "awesome" has been replaced by "full on double rainbow", thus the wording above.



This is the guy. Steve. Life of the party. If it wasn't for Steve, I would have never met most of my closest college buddies. He pulled me into my first ever party and insisted I hang with him and his friends. For a kid who grew up in a small town with only a couple of friends, it meant (and still means) the world to me to have found such a great group of friends. I hope that all of my readers have experienced friendships like this.

Note the T-shirt Steve is sporting. To date, he is my only customer at the LIBA Store. I was stoked to see him wearing it.

And without further ado, the aforementioned butt picture is below for all of you to behold. We were goofing around trying to come up with a submission for the favorite summer beer college. While you won't see this particular photo in the collage, you will see Steve in a less compromising pose when I publish the collage on Monday.