Where is the Party?
“To the airport, Jeeves,” I said with a chortle, “I have family that isn’t expecting me.”
I have walked among you for millenia, teaching you about vine and wine, but I have learned from you as well. The laugh, the dance, the adventure and the passion for love, for battle, and even sometimes the unknown. Those are all attributes I have learned from mingling, observing and living in your midst. I am grounded in the earth and I will cherish and protect it always and through it, you as well.
“To the airport, Jeeves,” I said with a chortle, “I have family that isn’t expecting me.”
Man’s love for The Pantheon might have waned, but their passion for wine remained strong. Even though my name did not cross their lips, it always stayed in their thoughts.
I finally realize that my brain is trying to hijack the moment and open my eyes. What I see before me is scarier, and even more exciting to me than the image of shark-like aliens in my head.
“Of course, sir. Any friend of yours is welcome, sir. Is he… is he real or one of those inner friends you are so fond of?”
“He’s real, alright. You bite-cha.”
“Don’t you mean you betcha sir?”
“That too!”
With all the voices surrounding me and the burning fever of the madness threatening me at all times, I could not help what came next. I leaned close, kissed her tenderly on her right cheek and whispered, “That is why I have a special place in my heart for you, you know that.”
“Luis, I want you to do some extra research for this trip. I want you to make me a list of two-threes. Understand?”
“Oh? Is it that time, Master?”
What most people do not know about my kind of frenzy is that there is order in the chaos and there is reason to the rhyme. I want my celebrations to be the epicenter of a ripple in time that will touch people throughout their lives.
“So, who are you really, Mr. Dion? You come to us with this dono di Dio, but you don’t look like Bacchus. Chi sei veramente?”
“For the present sir, have you chosen one of the two?”
“Yes…. The one on the left.”
“Which left, sir? Yours or mine?”
“Don’t be a smartass, Luis. You are too smart for that.”
“Touché, Master.”
This was a predicament I did not expect to find myself in. A Primordial and a God of the Pantheon at a convention. My mind reeled to find the punch line to that joke.
Mortals always thrived in a community setting, and at its base, that is what I was offering. And thrive they did! By sharing with me, they shared with one another. That was why I called it a family.
I brought the glass to my nose, taking in the aroma, and then to my lips. Everyone around me mirrored my actions slowly and methodically. That was our bond, after all. That is what kept us together.
You want to call yourself a person? Then you will. You will call out his name and nothing but his name. He was the only human you deserve to speak of. That will be your calling from here on out.
“I did have a feeling you were not paying attention to my daily floor updates all this time. I swear, master. Sometimes you have the attention span of a toddler.”
“Well, feed me mushy peas and grape juice then, Luis. Do toddlers sleep out in the forest? I’m not Tarzan, you know.”
Handing him a folded piece of paper with directions, I furrowed my eyebrows, hoping to come across as serious as this matter was to me. “Every year, a month before the Hollows of All, I want you to choose two-threes. Two barrels of three types of wine, rum, and bourbon in alternate years. Send me a sample of the three. Once I tell you my choice, you take the two barrels of that choice to this cellar.”