Drink Up

I recently drank what I, perhaps naively, perceived to be a rather singular beverage. You will perhaps recall that I wrote of the pleasant but maddening smell of pizza coming from an establishment out at the nearest major intersection to my home. I never had been there, but passed by it many times on my way to other places. I was always struck by the strangely upscale nature of its clientele, and always enjoyed glancing at them as I passed. I didn't envision eating their myself of my own volition.

I now have patronized the place, though still not because it was my idea. In truth, I did not order or pay for any food myself, though I did finish off that of a friend. Still I would have to report favorably on the place. As is my wont, I will not name it for lack of any monetary incentive to do so. I will however describe it. They are one of those places that have small, inordinately expensive gourmet pizzas, but I was baffled by the availability of a forty ounce beer bottle more commonly associated with downscale liquor stores.

I didn't order that. I contemplated it, as I did a Mexican Coke. I passed on that too, figuring that at this place I should try to get something exclusive to it. I found that they offered a house lemonade, and I resolved to get that. I imagined that it would be your standard lemon lemonade. This was incorrect. They have a couple of options on any given day. One of them that day was a watermelon variety. That sounded not too bad, although watermelons are not my favorite. I could have ordered it were it not for the other option. It was a cucumber lemonade.

I knew it was because of the green tinge and bits I saw in it. I could taste that dill flavor. I could also taste the tart and sweet notes of a lemonade. It was rather remarkable at least in my eyes. I clearly remain the provincial bumpkin from Phoenix amid friends who have made worldly, jaded Angelenos of themselves upon their emigration from parts distant. No one found my drink as interesting as the forty, which a friend ordered, and which came in an ice bucket with a glass. What a world...