Yes, cats, plural. We have a new addition here in the Silver Twinkie, and he is a very, very gregarious red-headed Libra with a Sagittarius Ascendant. We’ve named him Cesare.

He’s into absolutely everything, with all of his senses, and wants to get up close and personal with all things new, be they people, food or other sundry items found in the Airstream. He’ll make a toy out of anything at hand and never gives up trying to play with our resident Virgo, our dear, sweet Brundlefly.

To her credit, Brundlefly has been reasonably tolerant of the new addition to the family, not biting hard enough to leave marks and only hissing twice or three times per day. Her Scorpio Ascendant has puffed her up with jealousy, so I’m careful to give her all the loving to which she’s become accustomed, and then some. She’s so very much the embodiment of her sign right now that one feels very privileged when she comes and sits in one’s lap, even moreso if she then begins to purr.

Cesare is, of course, oblivious. He’s very, very busy figuring things out and just really doesn’t wish to be bothered until he’s done with whatever he’s investigating, playing with or sniffing to within an inch of its life. His new life is an endless series of amusing items to be befriended and won over and this includes Brundlefly, who, aside from us, is the center of his Universe. He loves her, wants to play with her, snuggles up to her when chilly or sleepy or simply feeling amorous in his neutered-male sort of way.

She, for her part, is quite clear that all of this activity this will take place on her terms and on her terms only. As I write this, the negotiations are ongoing.

The contrast in personalities is making me painfully aware of my own tendencies for a short temper and overly critical point of view. I watch Brundlefly growl and hiss and generally expend an enormous amount of energy on accentuating the negative points of the new addition. It makes the times she accepts his snuggling, or seeks him out for a snuggle during a mid-afternoon catnap marathon seem positively effortless and carefree. In turn, I examine my own habitual routines of doing just that, ignoring the beauty of the paradise about me, wherever we may happen to be, and instead concentrating on the one semi-annoying piece of news received in that week’s mail drop. More damaging still, I watch Best Beloved wilt with resignation as this ongoing cycle generates more negativity and less joy in the moments we share out here on the road.

It’s enough to make me come to this month’s column with a great big Mea Culpa and an apology for Best Beloved that I know won’t make up for anything in the long run. But Cesare, who is worming him way beneath my arm and shoulder at this very moment, has a lesson for me in all of this: Persistence in Positivity. No matter how many times I place him on the floor, he is back up on my keypad, purring, ready to engage and play. No matter how many times Brundlefly swats him away, he finds a different vantage point from which to stalk and pounce in an attempt to begin games anew. No matter how cold it gets at night he snuggles contentedly beside us both, a low rumble always in his chest. No matter how harshly we call his name to chide him for playing with the garbage r some other such nonsense, he responds with a raised tail, wide trusting eyes and a loud, steady purr.

In short, he is all joy, all the time. And I could do with his reminder to stick with my initial thoughts and impressions of the spring season, to follow his example of striving to find the positive in every moment, even if it is fleeting and rare, and greet my days and my Best Beloved with persistent affirmations of joy in the moment and with the company.

It is on this note, dear readers, that I give you a very simple and delicious recipe for a springtime cocktail that I have affectionately named the Cat Toy. Enjoy with someone you love who loves you back with an unconditional joy that reminds you to savor every moment of every beautiful day.

CAT TOY
1 part Triple Sec or Orange Cointreau
Splash of vanilla vodka
2 parts pineapple juice
1 part sour mix* (Make your own! MUCH better than purchased!)
1 part orange juice

I garnish this with a piece of fruit, an umbrella and a gummi worm, the combination of which truly resembles a moderately expensive cat toy.

*SOUR MIX: a mixture of 50% simple syrup (equal parts sugar/water) and 50% fresh squeezed clear citrus (lemon or lime)

Enjoy!

Cheers~Charon, The Most Dangerous Beauty Alive
theswordswallowers.com
oddangel.com

Charon Henning is one of a handful of female sword swallowers in the world today. She’s performed on carnival midways and at wine tastings, on theater stages and grassy lots.

Charon also reads tea leaves professionally, a skill she inherited from her grandmother on her mother’s side of the family. Tea-leaf reading is a wonderful and elegant form of entertainment, suitable for many time periods and venues.

Charon loves being on the road seeing new places and meeting new people. Want to catch Charon on the road for her live show? View her tour schedule here. Or, book Charon’s talent for your next event!

It seems that the transition from the thoughtful and ordered daydreaming governed by Aquarius to the highly emotional and occasionally volatile aspects of Pisces has hammered many of us between the eyes with slews of interpersonal and immediate environmental mishaps, catastrophes and other sundry difficulties. And waiting in the wings later in March is, of course, another chaotic transition into the just-as-volatile-in-a-different-way demeanor that signifies Aries. (cool appletini painting $650)

One would think that with the past month being absolutely filled with much gray, dreary, cold and inhospitable weather, the best course of action would be to curl up in bed with a good book and stay there.

Until Spring.

While I highly endorse this course of action it was neither practical nor desirable for me to do so, and while I’m sure many of you found the same to be true, I’m sure you also found that Mother Nature sometimes takes it in hand to give a bit of an assist to the notion of staying in bed. When we push too hard, do too much, cram too much activity into too little time and space, there are consequences. Sometimes these are dire, but more often they are inconvenient and just plain yucky.

In short, dear readers, I got sick during the cusp in February. Completely and utterly miserable with throat and sinus wars raging I was unpleasant to be near from the standpoint of noise pollution alone, not to mention feeling as though there was a cubic yard of cotton stuffed in my head, neck and chest cavity. Organic or conventional notwithstanding, Best Beloved reminded me that the surest way to get rid of my “congestion cotton” was to employ a tried and true recipe for the Hot Toddy. (photo)

I put great stock by this one. This recipe helped me heal my throat following invasive surgery (swordswallowers have bad days at work too, after all), and my swordswallowing mentor, Red Stuart swears by it as well. I have used it to great healing effect for friends, family, colleagues and neighbors on and off the road. I still have friends contact me to clarify this recipe for them every winter during flu season. It is powerful and it is effective. Use wisely.

The Cocktail Sword’s Hot Toddy

In a coffee or tea mug mix the following:

1 jigger of rum or whiskey (personal preference on this one … )

1 teaspoon of lemon juice

1 tablespoon honey

Fill with boiling water

Drink it while it is as hot as you can stand it without burning your lips. The heat and steam will work wonders for throat and sinuses, the honey and lemon will open breathing passages and the liquor will relax even the most irritated of muscles about the affected areas. For an extra effective cold-arse-kicking concoction, add a ¼ to a half a teaspoon of ground cayenne pepper to the mix. It will make you sweat whatever sickness is lingering right on out.

***gwen advises boiling chopped ginger in the water, and using that water in the toddy. if your throat’s been sore, it will be no more!

When you are recovered and strong and feeling frisky around the imminent arrival of Spring on the Vernal Equinox, some celebratory mixing is most definitely in order. Apples are a favored food of mine this time of year, with all the Eros and Eve implications that go along with them, and I found that while I was working part time behind a bar, the apple was favored among my clientele as well. Washington Apples were a favorite cocktail in the DC Area among lobbyists in particular. Others preferred a lovely spicy piece called the Indian Summer. By far the runaway hit, probably as people geared up for getting out of doors (and for yours truly, the carnival season), was the Appletini. I always did my level best to give my Appletinis a bit of tartness in addition to a bit of circusy sweetness and judging by the number of repeat customers I had who drank almost nothing else during my shifts, I seem to have hit on a wonderful flavor combination.

The Cocktail Sword’s Appletini

2.5 parts Vodka

2 part Sour Apple Pucker

1 part cranberry juice

Half part Midori

A splash Butterscotch Schnapps (optional, but good for that circusy touch)

So dear readers, a recipe to help get you back on your feet and another to sweep you off of them again, just in time for the fiery shifts that Aries brings us in preparation for some Springtime goodness. Enjoy in good health!

Cheers~Charon, The Most Dangerous Beauty Alive
theswordswallowers.com
oddangel.com

Charon Henning is one of a handful of female sword swallowers in the world today. She’s performed on carnival midways and at wine tastings, on theater stages and grassy lots.

Charon also reads tea leaves professionally, a skill she inherited from her grandmother on her mother’s side of the family. Tea-leaf reading is a wonderful and elegant form of entertainment, suitable for many time periods and venues.

Charon loves being on the road seeing new places and meeting new people. Want to catch Charon on the road for her live show? View her tour schedule here. Or, book Charon’s talent for your next event!

I’d like to think we’re in good company. Our human nature makes a perfectly fine and reasonable cause for toasting, don’t you think? Perhaps next year I’ll resolve to get over my growing sense of perfectionism (which, if you saw me typing this entry, you would understand completely. Bless you little spell checker!), but right now I truly believe it is time to let myself off the hook, and for all of you to do the same.
Every day is a good day for new beginnings. We don’t need it to be a Monday or a holiday to start a new project or change a habit. We can empower ourselves by truly stopping to consider our needs and then making desired changes according to the way we understand our minds, bodies and spirits to work. We know them best, after all.
I have had a lot of time to consider this while on the road. I spent the first part of 2010 in the desert, replete with all the silence and saguaros that I could stand, and was able to take the time to step outside of my long-held notions of self in order to find out what changes I truly wished to make, in what order and how important each truly was to my health and happiness.

It is heady stuff, and good food for thought on long hikes to the rare spots of water hidden in the mountains. Once back to the familiar and safe environs of my Silver Twinkie, though, I tend to ruminate on the lighter side of things, and perhaps have a laugh at how very human I am after all.

When I am struck by the humor of such things, and when I need to stop taking myself so very, very seriously, I have been known to put together a lovely and wonderful concoction called the Sake Martini.

In this particular martini manifestation, sake is substituted for vermouth, and being a white wine as well, brings a soothing and feminine quality to a cocktail traditionally associated with drab-suited businessmen seeing just how quickly they can ingest them before returning to the office or, more tellingly, before returning home. While I admire business savvy, I am very particular about what I consider good business savvy. Speedy consumption of good spirits is bad business, IMHO, so the only traditional element I retain in my mixing of martinis is the classic main ingredient: Gin.

[If you prefer vodka martinis I won’t hold it against you, but I’ll forever and steadfastly maintain that you aren’t drinking a martini. You’re drinking vodka in a martini glass.]

Gin is a tricky alcohol in the wide and wonderful world of mixology, and I think it’s probably safe to say that most first time gin samplings end in unmitigated disaster due to it’s very potent, as well as pungent, nature. To further complicate matters, juniper, gin’s reigning ingredient, is a fiery and masculine sort of plant, ruled by the sun. Additionally, the Brothers Grimm identified it with extreme feminine angst (most often applied liberally and vengefully) in their myriad works, so the foundation plant that allows us to have gin has enjoyed a rather confusing and powerful reputation for many generations, one that lingers on our psyches to this very day.

This is why I am particularly fond of one brand of gin amongst all the marvelous offerings out in the world today. Above all others towers the Great Shining Black Pillar that contains none other than Hendrick’s, a gin touted by its makers as both “ridiculously good” and “loved by a select few”, and with good reason, dear readers.
Hendrick’s methodology with one particular ingredient not only calms the fiery rage of sun-ruled juniper, but also makes their gin the perfect foundation alcohol with which to blend an appropriate cocktail for the turning of the Solar year AND the transition in Pisces within the first month. They have added a generous amount of the cooling and calming flavors and effect of cucumber. Being ruled by the moon and having a watery disposition, as well as being best planted during the turn of Pisces in the heavens, cucumber makes the very best partner for the vivacious juniper, and with it, Hendrick’s creates a flavor absolutely unique in the world of gin.

Your choice of sake in the matter is strictly yours. I sometimes prefer unfiltered for a sweeter drink, and it creates a lovely and wonderful snow globe in the martini glass that I’ll get lost in from time to time. Filtered is my main squeeze, though, and I mix them 2 parts gin to 1 part sake in a cocktail shaker full of ice.

Shake, strain, enjoy. It’s a simple as that.

And now, gentle readers, I believe it is time for me to get down to the business of figuring out how best to salvage 2010 from my ridiculous initial batch of resolutions and plotting something more realistic and forgiving for fostering long term change. And, since it’s strictly business, a martini is most definitely in order.

Cheers~Charon, The Most Dangerous Beauty Alive
theswordswallowers.com
oddangel.com

Charon Henning is one of a handful of female sword swallowers in the world today. She’s performed on carnival midways and at wine tastings, on theater stages and grassy lots.

Charon also reads tea leaves professionally, a skill she inherited from her grandmother on her mother’s side of the family. Tea-leaf reading is a wonderful and elegant form of entertainment, suitable for many time periods and venues.

Charon loves being on the road seeing new places and meeting new people. Want to catch Charon on the road for her live show? View her tour schedule here. Or, book Charon’s talent for your next event!

THE YULE TIDE

2 oz. Cranberry Pomegranate juice (Northland, Lakewood and Knudsen all make an excellent organic cran-pom juice blend)

1/2 oz. Orange Juice

1/2 oz. Grand Marnier

Dry champagne of your choosing

Mix first three ingredients in mixer with ice. Chill, shake & pour. Fill remaining space with champagne.

This year, for the first time, I will not have spent either of the traditional family gathering holidays with my immediate family. On Thanksgiving I was with extended family in Southern Louisiana. There was more food than our small army of folks could feasibly handle and a good deal of it left the house with us the following day, packaged securely for transport to northern Alabama, to be delivered to more extended family there. It was humbling, really, that so much abundance was in evidence at both locations. The houses were warm and full of light and family and there was always plenty of food and drink. Even the animals were slightly corpulent from seasonal overfeeding. It was impossible to feel as though one wanted for anything in such environments.

In stark contrast, Christmas will be spent on the road, most likely at a truck stop or someplace similar in the great state of Texas. Oddly, I’m very much looking forward to it because it will afford me the opportunity to reflect on the concept of family.

I’m one of those who has traditionally taken in “orphans” during the holidays, those friends who have no family (either nearby or existing at all) with whom to spend a time which rejoices in such connections. This season, at Christmas, I and my partner and our kitty will be orphans ourselves. We duly signed up for it, planning our time on the road as we did, but we never really stopped to consider the import of spending Christmas on the road. We’ll be certain to see and spend time with other orphans, as we’ll likely go into whatever truck stop we’ve decided to camp in, for tea, warmth, and hoping, I’m sure, with many others for some sort of silent fellowship.

Having family close at hand has been a practical consideration throughout human history, most especially during the winter months when help was needed to make sure food supplies were at the desired levels and the very young and very old were cared for with the extra attention that cold and damp conditions generally make necessary. The idea of several generations of a family sharing living space and resources has become rare in this day and age but we are seeing it spring up anew as we travel these days. Parents asking their college aged children to stay under their roof as long as they would wish, young parents asking their own parents to move in and assist with child rearing, and similar family dynamics that mirror those of days gone by are happening right before our eyes. There are financial considerations at work here, but more importantly, and more easily missed, are the bonds of love and friendship that encourage such decision making.

On the approach of the Winter Solstice, when the nights are at their longest, I can think of no better place to be than with family, be they blood or a family of one’s choosing. It is no mere coincidence that the sun sign being transitioned into is all about family, practical choices, reliability and a firm grounding in all that is necessary for not only surviving, but thriving. This is a time of gathering with those closest to you and deciding what is to be left behind in the Darkness since it either no longer serves you or is acting as negative ballast to keep you from reaching other goals. It is also a time for setting those goals anew, so that they might be nurtured by you as well as your immediate family, growing in strength as the days lengthen and coming to fruition even as the light returns to our lives.

As the sun moves from inventive and spontaneous Sagittarius into the more stable and dependable Capricorn, I and many others, will turn attention to practical matters of family, finance and health. New Year’s Eve is not the only reason we are resolution-minded this time of year. Capricorn’s resoluteness and desire to finish what has been begun also lurks in the sub-currents of our psyche around the Solstice when it begins its ascent in the Zodiac.

Rather that reflect on what we haven’t got or failed to achieve in the previous year, Capricorn urges us to look ahead at what opportunities still exist before us, and what we can do about them. We are encouraged to recall all of the sweetness that this year has afforded us and hold gratitude for each and every bit of it. We are reminded that what is important right now, in this moment, is always right in front of us, and that if we are not diligent in paying attention, we will miss it entirely.

With this in mind, I offer you a dose of the previous year’s sweetness in a wonderful little sparkly concoction I like to call The Yule Tide. Share it with someone close to you or sip it in solitary reflection. Mull over what your definition of family is, for there is no wrong answer. Family is generally where we find it, where we are moved to make an effort to connect with our fellow human beings and other living creatures. And it is mostly about the love that you have for all that you hold dear and your willingness to share it with your particular corner of the world.

May your holidays be filled with warmth and joy and the family of your choosing…

Cheers~Charon, The Most Dangerous Beauty Alive
theswordswallowers.com
oddangel.com

Charon Henning is one of a handful of female sword swallowers in the world today. She’s performed on carnival midways and at wine tastings, on theater stages and grassy lots.

Charon also reads tea leaves professionally, a skill she inherited from her grandmother on her mother’s side of the family. Tea-leaf reading is a wonderful and elegant form of entertainment, suitable for many time periods and venues.

Charon loves being on the road seeing new places and meeting new people. Want to catch Charon on the road for her live show? View her tour schedule here. Or, book Charon’s talent for your next event!

]]> http://intoxicatedzodiac.com/blog/2009/12/15/the-cocktail-sword-charon-does-december/feed/ 0 http://intoxicatedzodiac.com/blog/2009/11/20/the-cocktail-sword-by-charon-henning-2/ http://intoxicatedzodiac.com/blog/2009/11/20/the-cocktail-sword-by-charon-henning-2/#comments Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:33:57 +0000 Gwen-Intoxicated Zodiac http://intoxicatedzodiac.com/blog/?p=2621 Not a single reader here at IZ needs to be reminded that the Season of the Consumer is on the horizon. Even during the recession of last season the message was loud and clear, pushing us to buy, buy, buy even if (ESPECIALLY if) we were broke, broke, broke. The urge to tipple practically became a bona fide need in Maslow Hierarchy for many of us, but we still managed to do it creatively, especially those of us born around this time of year ruled Scorpio and Sagittarius.

This year, in abject celebration of the very first Season I spend as the antithesis of consumerism, in my trailer, on the road (read: trailer trash), I will raise my glass high on one very particular calendar day, and with an appropriately snarky toast, recognize Black Friday.

Friday is named for Freya, a decidedly assertive goddess in the Teutonic pantheon who handled matters of love among many other responsibilities, and Friday is indeed a most beloved day for many working a traditional 9 to 5 work week. I know many couples who have a traditional date night each Friday. It is a time of rest and for unwinding from the previous week. Black Friday, however, is the opposite of the above sentiments, particularly for those in the 9 to 5 world. It should be noted that the word black is not used here to connote darkness or anything dismal, though as most retail salespeople would tell you it probably should be. In this context, black is used to refer to the fact that this day, above all others in the fiscal calendar, is the day mostly likely to put a business back in the black. In this sense, Black Friday takes its place at the very pinnacle of days devoted to Excessive Consumerism. It is the inception of the Yuletide Shopping Season. (photo: mary claire miraldi)

It is also the time of year where I take great pains to avoid going out into public amongst the holiday shoppers. All of you out there who share Ebeneezer Scrooge’s literary Sagittarian sign (What? NOT a Capricorn?!) are probably with me on this one. Not only are malls horrifying places to enter from this day forward until well past Twelfth Night the following January, but the parents toting weeping children to visit Santa are nearly unbearable to be around. No wild primate would ever groom another with the fierceness these parents visit upon their very bewildered kids. And never was there a time of year when parking lots are more likely to spawn Vince McMahon’s next big find.

The solution for me, the one that allows me to sleep at night and lend a helping hand to my own community, has always been to support local and small businesses by making thoughtful purchases that help pass on some good elsewhere. Since I live on the road, this takes the form of ordering handmade items from web collectives such as etsy.com or directly from creators such as our very own Gwen here at IZ. I also frequent antique malls, flea markets, and the often greatly underestimated church bazaars. By doing so, not only are you opting out of the mass market mentality, you’re refusing to participate in the care and feeding of corporate greed. What’s more, you can make the conscious choice to buy from purveyors and artists who will in turn give something back to the world we all live in together. Pay special attention to promotions from artisans that pledge a certain amount to a charity you support or other sorts of sustainable goodness. Being a consumer doesn’t mean you have to exclusively consume. You have a choice in the matter and can agree to participate in a transaction only if it meets all of your criteria.

Extra work? Yes. Worth it? Totally.

Especially since you can reward yourself with a wonderful little gem I like to call the Black Friday Antidote! As a Scorpio I am terribly vulnerable to clever advertising, which makes not having a television on the road a bright blessing indeed. The Black Friday Antidote is a wonderful sweet diversion that still allows me to feel pampered and materialistic as I troll the Internet to find and order handmade items direct from their creators. And since material comfort is all about the illusion of security, I don’t mind creating an illusion of that illusion with this particular drink. It makes it that much more delicious, this bit of Sagittarian inventiveness mixed with classic Scorpio pouty stubbornness.

BLACK FRIDAY ANTIDOTE

2 oz. chocolate vodka

1 1/2 oz. Irish cream

1 1/2 oz. chocolate liqueur (Godiva is fabulous but there are others available)

½ oz. pepper vodka (more or less, depending on taste)

Mix ingredients in a shaker and strain into an elegant glass. Garnish with a fine chocolate at the bottom of the glass. Whole Foods (or Wild Oats in some areas) has an astonishing chocolate counter these days. Lots of different flavors, shapes and sizes to choose from, for all of your excessive garnish needs!

For those who simply cannot stand the combination of spicy and sweet (and I know plenty of Scorpios who are extreme purists when it comes to flavors) try substituting ½ oz. of orange vodka for the pepper vodka.

Remember kids! Chocolate + Scorpio + Sagittarius = Intensely Tasty Experimentation! Preferably with a Loved One!

After Black Friday any sort of peppermint cordial becomes a more than acceptable substitute as well. I say “after” due to my own purist Scorpio tendencies because for me, the Yuletide season simply doesn’t begin until the end of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and my holiday cocktails will not be shaken until after the decorating is completed and available for viewing. Just sayin. Your mileage may vary.
More on Yuletide tippling next month, when Capricorn raises a goaty eyebrow at us on the Longest Night of The Year.

Cheers~Charon, The Most Dangerous Beauty Alive
theswordswallowers.com
oddangel.com

Charon Henning is one of a handful of female sword swallowers in the world today. She’s performed on carnival midways and at wine tastings, on theater stages and grassy lots.

Charon also reads tea leaves professionally, a skill she inherited from her grandmother on her mother’s side of the family. Tea-leaf reading is a wonderful and elegant form of entertainment, suitable for many time periods and venues.

Charon loves being on the road seeing new places and meeting new people. Want to catch Charon on the road for her live show? View her tour schedule here. Or, book Charon’s talent for your next event!

]]> http://intoxicatedzodiac.com/blog/2009/11/20/the-cocktail-sword-by-charon-henning-2/feed/ 4 http://intoxicatedzodiac.com/blog/2009/10/09/the-cocktail-sword-by-charon-henning/ http://intoxicatedzodiac.com/blog/2009/10/09/the-cocktail-sword-by-charon-henning/#comments Fri, 09 Oct 2009 02:56:58 +0000 Gwen-Intoxicated Zodiac http://intoxicatedzodiac.com/blog/2009/10/09/the-cocktail-sword-by-charon-henning/ Meet The Most Dangerous Beauty Alive… traveling Sword Swallower Charon Henning. We here at IZ are extremely fortunate to have been selected by the aforementioned for the publishing of Charon’s new column, The Cocktail Sword. Let’s give her a warm welcome, a big thanks, some clickage on her blogs: THE SWORD SWALLOWER and ODD ANGEL, and maybe even catch her show live!

Our Airstream is a Leo with a Libra Ascendant. We know this because we have the original bill of sale from the 27th of July, 1966.

I am firmly of the belief that an Airstream, or any other travel trailer or RV, is not officially born until it passes into the hands of its first family (I feel this way about tattoo machines as well, but that’s for another post for another time). Sitting stationary on a dealer’s lot or just outside of the factory is a form of gestation, a time of waiting, of being open to growth when the time is right. The addition of the human element, and subsequent elements that it brings, such as the sharing of food, warmth and companionship, are truly what breathed life into our beloved 1966 Airstream Safari. The entire 22 foot length is brimming with stories and history, which we have been continuing to create with it since the turn of the Millenium.

Currently our family consists of two swordswallowers, one an Aries with a Cancer Ascendant, the other (me) a Scorpio with a Cancer Ascendant, a hairless Sphynx cat, a Virgo with a Scorpio Ascendant (which, now that I think on it, explains an awful lot about her behavior that I’d originally attributed to her breed … ), and the Airstream. All travel brings adventure, all meals are an event and, if you don’t mind me saying so, the sex is pretty awesome. At least for us. The cat’s been spayed. (we call her Brundlefly.)

Given the above variables, it should come as no surprise that we keep a well-stocked cocktail lounge on board. Since we have limited space, we have to choose our bottles, flasks and flavors very carefully. There are foundation liquors to be considered, especially among those of us born under signs that are very much about physicality and the pleasures derived therein. We must always have a few staple items on board at all times and each must serve at least two purposes in the grand scheme of mixology. There are social issues to be considered as well. Living full time in a modern aluminum gypsy wagon means our community changes with the seasons, sometimes with each sign in the heavens, and once the level and style of tippling, or lack thereof, has been established, we know approximately what to bring with us to a gathering.

Generally between 4 and 6 each afternoon the residents of a given campground, fairground, or even the odd truck stop, will come together for some fellowship, story sharing and general face time. At this time each Autumn we find ourselves toting along one of our annual favorites, right as the leaves are changing, when there’s a snap in the air and when something warm to drink is preferable to anything rocks or shaken. Between Mabon and Samhain is, in our opinion, the very perfect time for mulled wine.

Wine is a perfect libation for the time of year when active external energies are waning and quieter introspective energies are one the rise. Dryer red wine is what we always mull, being signs that prefer the rich full bodied flavors of the dark reds, and we offset the slightly bitter taste of the darker cabernets with local honey as we heat it over the open flame of our stove. To this mixture we add allspice, ginger, nutmeg, orange peel, cinnamon, cloves and lemon peel, all spices that complement the seasonal apple harvest as well as the other edible gourds that grace our tables during this time of year. On the chance that we lack one or more of these spices in our pantry, or are simply pressed for time before we gather with others, we have on board as a backup single serving tea bags of Organic Mulling Spices from R.W. Knudsen Family, four bags of which will satisfactorily mull an entire bottle of wine. A little less than half an hour’s simmering will generally suffice.

Being able to buy locally is one of the pleasures of this sort of ambulatory life, and we explore local flavors more fully at this time of year than at any other. The quality of local wines varies greatly but we have never yet been disappointed by any of the small family owned and run vineyards that welcome people each Autumn to their lands offering the same sort of fellowship all of us on the open road enjoy regularly. Many will package their own combinations of wine, honey and spices together for purchase and it is never a bad idea to invest in such a kit, the ingredients having been selected by those who know their product best.

So as the weather chills a bit we will regularly enjoy the pleasures of mulled wine as a complement of the season, watching the steam rise from our mugs as we step outside in the evenings, able to see every star in the sky from our front yard, wherever that might happen to be. As we transition from Libra to Scorpio in the heavens it is a grand time to reward your previous month’s balancing act with a bit of sensual goodness straight from your local vineyard. Enjoy!

CHARON’S MULLED WINE:
*1 bottle red wine of your choosing (we prefer the dryer to the sweeter)
*1 cinnamon stick
*1/4 teaspoon whole cloves
*1/2 teaspoon each of the following, wrapped in cheesecloth and tied
(Organic is always best … ):
allspice
ginger
nutmeg
orange peel
lemon peel
*Organic honey to taste

Combine all in a pot on the stove or over a fire, bring to a low boil and reduce heat to simmer, stirring, for about half an hour. Ladle into mugs to serve and go slowly! It hits you like a well-aimed pillow.

Cheers~Charon, The Most Dangerous Beauty Alive
theswordswallowers.com
oddangel.com

Charon Henning is one of a handful of female sword swallowers in the world today. She’s performed on carnival midways and at wine tastings, on theater stages and grassy lots.

Charon also reads tea leaves professionally, a skill she inherited from her grandmother on her mother’s side of the family. Tea-leaf reading is a wonderful and elegant form of entertainment, suitable for many time periods and venues.

Charon loves being on the road seeing new places and meeting new people. Want to catch Charon on the road for her live show? View her tour schedule here. Or, book Charon’s talent for your next event!

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