Nunc est bibendum!

The Latin scholars among you will understand the above phrase to mean, "Now is the time for drinking!" At least that's how my Sigma Chi fraternity brothers and I translated it. We were very fond of short phrases loaded with layers of meaning particular to our circumstances. During the second half of my pledge year, 1959/60, I roomed with two brothers –Ed Summers and Joe Eagles– and my fellow pledge, Ted Kratt. We rented a two-bedroom apartment and always answered the phone, "This is it!" Which was to say, you have connected with the coolest guys on campus.

We were probably pre-hippies, seeking to align ourselves with the wildly hedonistic Black culture. Many of our pet phrases were taken from the Afro-American musicians who played in our basement dance hall on weekends. "Come on, man!" entered our lexicon when the band leader was trying to get his combo together to begin playing. We found a plethora of contexts in which to invoke the phrase. Another, "Tell it! Tell it like it is!" I'm not sure of the exact origin but the flavor is definitely chocolate.

So what in the psychopathology of everyday life brought this to mind? Well... I imbibe a single, measured 3-oz gin and tonic every evening at my retreat in SE Arizona. During the warmer months, I enjoy this end of day ritual from the comforting rhythm of my porch swing and try to coincide the finish with the sunset over the Huachuca mountains to the west. As the sun sets later and later, I must delay each day's toddy by a few more minutes in order that the timing of my buzz synchronizes with the sunset. Ergo, the "time for drinking" is not the same time every day...

≈ ≈ ≈