On Getting Old
Saturday, September 29th, 2012 11:00 pm
Alrighty then. Tonight was the 26th annual Decker Oktoberfest party. We had a good group with several new people in addition to the regulars that have been attending since we made the move to WI, but it was a small group for what our brains tell us to expect.
We said start time was around 3, which isn't terribly early for this event, but pretty much noone showed until closer to 4, which was completely fine. And we had a GREAT time - lots of laughter and terrific food and just about everything this party has ever been meant to be. But, only 20-ish people total (we're more used to 35-50), and by 10:15 everyone had gone and we'd cleaned up! Just. That is so WEIRD. In my head, this party goes til 4 am, 12 is the earliest the big exodus begins. We sit around the remains of the bonfire, swigging whatever's left in the bier garten, those who partake smoke something (cigars or ...) and finally when we can't hold ourselves upright, we stagger inside, crash, then get up in the morning to finish off the bier garten with our eggs. It's been that way for years. If the weather is good, people pitch tents in the yard. If it's amazing, we pitch our own tent and give our bed to someone else. We've actually got 3 people staying over, but they all turned in before 10.
This is the 2nd year everyone departed before 10. I am not ready for this to be the end. I drank a *whole* Red Bull this morning! I have *at least* 2 more hours of energy left! I am feeling deep chagrin. We are no longer party animals. These are not our glory days. You guys! there is SO MUCH BEER (and wine, and cider, and mead, and etc) left. Next time, we've decided to move it to the first weekend of October - too much competition with other stuff in September.
But we're also considering making it biannual (not semi). It may be the way to go to keep the spirit alive. We started this tradition in S. Carolina, where German fare and traditions were rare and exotic. The gathering was a beloved event, which had acquired it's own cohort of enablers. Attempting to continue the tradition in WI, home of many Germanic traditions, good beer, and abundant wursts of every variety, was maybe charming in the beginning, but now I fear it's become blase'.
Don't get me wrong, I love WI. I love how accessible beer, brats, cheese and companionship are all year 'round. But I miss being the one to get all my friends together in one place to enjoy it all. My Oktoberfest isn't any more special than any other event that regularly happens in the fall in WI. I imagine it's similar to what would have happened if I'd tried to stage an Indy 500 party in SC. Not the thing for a non-native to attempt.
Oh well. There's ginger-applesauce-spice cake and german chocolate brownies left for breakfast. And OMG so much beer. I've only got one load of laundry and one dishwasher of dishes to do tomorrow, so I'll be eating leftovers and watching football and reading fic all day. Life can't actually get much better than that, right?
Just. I don't want to be OLD yet. What happened to the 12-hr party?