A Bug In My Beer: News & Nonsense From My Staycation

/ Ally Bean

A pretend To-Do List I created on my remember the milk app to see how the app works. My conclusion? It’s easy to use & fun, too.

WE WENT ON vacation, or more accurately staycation, last week.

We stayed at home like we’ve been doing, but we called the week a staycation because Z-D didn’t go to work at the kitchen table, his office for the last 6 months– and probably many more.

Instead we did practical things like getting flu shots, and painting the mailbox post, and venturing into a Honey Baked Ham store to get a hambone with which to make soup, and taking things to Goodwill, and replacing the bedroom ceiling fan with a snazzy chandelier [more on that adventure later].

Good projects to a one, but not what I’d describe as vacation activities per se.  Still, like they say, make hay while the sun shines so we were productive.

• • 🏡 • •

IN MY OPINION the highlight of our time at home was a bug dying in my beer.  I’d made myself a lager & lime with fresh lime juice, putting the beverage into a Pilsner glass because I was on vacation staycation and wanted to be fancy, darn it.

As I’m sure you realize when beer is poured onto lime juice bubbles happen, starting at the bottom of the glass around the lime juice itself then moving upward.  I’d taken my drink onto the deck where I planned to sit at our little table and pretend I was in an outdoor pub in England.

[Because if 2020 had unrolled the way I’d planned it, I’d have been in England at some point during the year.  On a real vacation.  But I digress…]

• • ✈️ • •

HOWEVER FATE INTERVENED in the form of a small bug that flew into my beverage, died, then began to float up and down inside the glass.  While I looked on it rode the bubbles from the bottom on the glass to the top, then sank back down to the bottom of the glass on what can only be described as its very own dead bug rollercoaster inside the glass.

Not pleased.

I tried to get the bug out of the glass with the corner of my paper cocktail napkin but it was too fast for me.

Yes, a dead bug was too fast for me.  

Eventually I went into the kitchen, got an iced tea spoon, and returned to the deck where I was able to scoop the dead bug out of my lager & lime which I then drank refusing to worry about buggy germs.

After all it’s 2020 the time of novel coronavirus– and there are worse things than bug germs attempting to harsh my buzz &/or kill me. ‘Ya know?

Keeping it all in perspective, I am.

[FYI: While I’ve enjoyed my Summer Hours I’ll be back to my regular weekly blogging schedule next week. With cooler autumn days ahead I’m feeling that it’ll be time for me to spill the beans here more often.  

I’ll be attempting to post mid-morning because that seems to work for me now that we’re at home all. the. time.  Plus I promise next week I’ll get back to commenting more often on your blogs. Mea culpa.]

152 thoughts on “A Bug In My Beer: News & Nonsense From My Staycation”

  1. Thank you for completing the story, because I really wanted to know if you drank the beer. Poor little bug, riding up and down but dead…that’s hilarious.

    We had a staycation this year too. Pretty boring, more so than an average staycation even, due to no museums or restaurants or movies or anything. Glad you got some things done at least!

    Liked by 1 person

    • J, the bug in the beer was so absurd. I was irritated + entertained at the same time, while determined to drink my beer NO MATTER WHAT!

      We’ve done staycations like the one you mention and enjoyed that, but not this time. Still we were good little homeowners and got some things done around here, so *yay*

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  4. Looking forward to hearing about the fan/chandelier episode. Ew with the bug in the beer, although truthfully the drink itself doesn’t sound appealing to me. I’m more of a fuzzy navel, white zin kind of girl. I do like using fancy glasses too. It definitely sets a mood. It will be nice to see you a bit more often, Ally. Been missing your clever wit.

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    • Janet, I’ll write about the chandelier when I can get some pics to go with it– and the story is complete. Lager and lime is a drink I remember drinking in England when I was in college there. I just wanted to recreate a long ago moment, but *alas* it was not as easy as I’d hoped. Still made for a good story.

      Liked by 1 person

  7. For me it depends on the bug. Those little gnatty things I scoop out and drink the beer. After all, it’s alcohol which sanitizes stuff. If it was a fly that sits on dog poop, the beer would have watered a plant. Since flies don’t ride bubbles, I’m assuming it was the former and all is well in Beanland.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Kate, it was one of those little gnatty things that seem to appear when I least want them. I felt, like you said, that the alcohol sanitized the beverage. Plus I’d used the last lime so I felt committed to this beverage.

      Liked by 1 person

  8. Well, a staycation is something, and you got a story from the dead bug. And I laughed because I knew you were going to drink that before you even said it. Hahaha. Thank you for the entertainment. I wish this will be over soon so you can get your holiday in England and get to enjoy in that pub finally.

    Liked by 1 person

  10. It’s fabulous that you had any kind of “cation” …. so many cower in fear (justly) and refuse to let their minds at least, wander free. Yay for imagination and looking forward to more “Beans” with my brekkie..

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  11. We’ve finished more projects around the house this year than we have in the past 15. Apparently pandemics are good for something. Now tell me about this lime juice beer combo… is the dead bug an essential ingredient or can I make it without?

    Liked by 2 people

    • Rivergirl, we’ve been doing more around the house and yard, too. Not exactly what I’d planned for this year, but…

      Feel free to make your lager & lime with, or without, a bug. I prefer the bug-free version, but that’s just me.

      Liked by 1 person

  16. LOVED your description of the “dead bug rollercoaster”, Ally Bean!
    I find any fruit flies hanging around my kitchen like to have a drunken swim before expiring in the dregs of my wine glass. At least that is what I surmise happened when I find them the next morning. 😉

    Deb

    Liked by 1 person

    • Deb, it really did look like a little rollercoaster in the glass. Up and down went the dead bug. Me watching and muttering. I’m sure your fruit flies are happy until the very end! I rather like knowing that their last moments were cheerful.

      Liked by 1 person

  17. I would have called that a high protein, Vitamin C infused refreshing beer! However, good thing you noticed it before you took a swallow. That would have been a nasty surprise. And perhaps a different story all together. 🙂
    We went on a “covidcation” this year with family. Otherwise our staycation sounds like yours – cleaning screens, walls, floors, taking inventory of what languishes in the storage unit – fun projects like that.

    Liked by 1 person

    • oneletterup, oh I hadn’t thought of what would have happened if I hadn’t seen the bug. Swallowing one would have been too icky for me. 🤮

      I like your term “covidcation” and haven’t seen that before. Being at home together wasn’t bad, but it was a far cry from what I’d planned for 2020. Still we are healthy, so that’s always a good thing.

      Liked by 1 person

  19. If I was a beer drinker I would have fished out the bug and drank the beer, just like you did. That bug was probably more germ free that opening the door at the library.

    Liked by 1 person

  20. With the billions of bacteria in your gut, I’m sure that a wee bug won’t hurt a fly, or you, or anyone else. Good for you for drinking the beer anyway! Did y’all go crazy with the not working at the kitchen table? Like, did you use the table to EAT DINNER and the like?

    Liked by 1 person

    • Tara, I drank the potentially bug-germ laced beer with pride. It was tasty, although it would have been better in England– but *hey*

      No we did not eat at the kitchen table. All of Z-D’s files and papers and computer stuff stayed put while we continued to dine at the kitchen counter. It is his office now, after all.

      Liked by 1 person

  22. Your bug in the fancy beer story is so 2020 indeed. We think we’re going to have a lovely, relaxing experience and it turns into a losing race with a dead bug. I was supposed to be in Ireland this year. Also on an Alaskan cruise. Instead I’m in Home Repair and Improvement H*ll.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Margaret, you’re right. This bug in the beer story is what 2020 is all about, over & over again. I hear you about the lost travel opportunities. This was to be my year, but…

      We, too, are in home improvement hell. There’ll be stories to tell IF I/we can get anyone to return our calls/emails. Apparently fixing up your house is THE thing to do around here now.

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  23. I would have downed the beer too (after, of course, removing the deceased bug) with no hesitation. Flies? Nope. But little gnats, sure. Better in my beer then biting my ankles.

    I feel like I’ve been on a staycation for the last 6 months or so. Not too different from my pre-covid retired life, but I do miss coming planning for travel, traveling, and coming home from traveling. Good for you for staying fancy even in lockdown. Standards must be kept.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Janis, it was a little gnat so I didn’t exactly mind it being in my beer, considering what other kind of bug it could have been. The drink was tasty, btw.

      After last year when I/we had the roof replaced, the chimney repaired, and new windows on the front of the house, 2020 was to be my reward. We were going to travel and forget about house worries for a year. HA! Instead here I am still working on the house. *sigh*

      Liked by 1 person

  25. I’m just going to have to live vicariously through you, Ally. I’m speaking of replacing the ceiling fan since I have zero technical abilities, and am truly impressed by those who actually do. I choose to believe it was you who actually did that work and not Z-D, btw. 😉 And the bug? I agree completely: with Covid around, honestly, the bug can only make you stronger. Well done. – Marty

    Liked by 1 person

    • Marty, the chandelier story is one still in process. I certainly was the inspiration for the change, but as for the actual… well, story to come. The beer sans bug was tasty. Who knows, maybe the bug germs added to the flavor?

      Liked by 1 person

  26. I bet it was quite a contemplative moment – gazing upon the dead bug, rising and falling, rising and falling… or at least it would have been a contemplative moment if you had had one or two beers down already. Or at least, I would have had a contemplative moment watching the bubbles and the bug… until I realized, with a start, that I best deal with the situation and then promptly knock over the glass. End contemplation!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Maggie, it was fascinating to watch the bug– at first. But then it dawned on me that I’d better get rid of the bug if I wanted to drink my beer, which I really did. Honestly it was funny as heck while annoying as heck. Double heck, I’d say.

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  29. I like the way you spill the beans. Beer is not my cuppa tea, but I would have fished out the little bugger, as you did, and drunk the beverage, darn it!

    My version of tripping these days is looking at photo albums. I started with Ukraine and then progressed to continental Europe, where we backpacked using Eurail passes. What impresses me most is all the energy we had back then. Our next trip may be a cruise, if/when/however that can happen. %-)

    Liked by 1 person

    • Marian, the beer tasted fine after I de-bugged it. It was odd to see the little corpse floating up, then plopping down in my glass. All I wanted was a moment of mellow.

      I never did the Eurail pass trip but I knew many kids who did. Sounded like fun when we were younger, but now it sounds like a level of Dante’s Inferno. A cruise would be much easier/more fun.

      Liked by 1 person

  30. The bug germs were probably killed by the alcohol so no worries. I’m trying hard to think of a highlight from last week that can top yours and no. Nada. You’re a regular party animal compared to me!

    Liked by 1 person

  31. I’m really laughing at this, Ally. I’m pretty sure the alcohol in the beer killed any bug germs but the nerve of that guy!! Guess he just wanted to bug you. (Cracking myself up now.) 🙂 Anyhoo, it’s always good to hear from you, even these tales of woe that really aren’t. Honestly if a bug in your beer is the worst thing that happens to you in a day, it’s a great day! ❤ What does the most interesting man in the world say? "Stay thirsty, my friends." There you have it.

    janet

    Liked by 1 person

  32. I’m with you – who’d waste a good beer just because of one dead bug. Speaking for myself, I drank out of garden hoses and survived to tell the tale. 🙂 You are a better woman than I am because there has not been one week for the past six months that I’d call a ‘staycation.’ 🙂 We’ll all be glad to see you checking in more often. Let’s face it, we need more contact than ever and can always use a chuckle. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    • Judy, I drank out garden hoses, too. We are made of sterner stuff than whatever germs are on one bug… in my beer. We decided to call last week a staycation then just not do anything that might be construed as work-y. A thin somewhat imaginary line, but one that made us smile at our sense of whimsy. Plus we did accomplish some things so, *yay*

      Liked by 1 person

  33. I went from cans to capped bottles or clear glasses the day I drank a bee that had crawled into my Coke. The good news is that I didn’t swallow it. The better news is that even though I was working on a boat in a really out of the way village, they had a convenience store with Benadryl. The bad news is that the bee was mightily unhappy, and got my lip before I spit it out. I looked like I’d been the loser in a bar fight for about two weeks.

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  34. Staycations are all the rage in 2020😷 Deep sigh. I’m glad you got that bug outta your beer and drank it!! I’d have done the same thing👍😎 I’m looking forward to fall and the cooler weather and hopefully the rains will come and knock down all the fires burning on the east coast. Hugs❤️🙏🏻❤️

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  35. I once read a disgusting/disturbing statistic about how many spiders crawl up our nose/into our mouths while we sleep over the course of our lifetimes, so I’m thinking the bug is no big deal. (I have no source or really any idea if the spider thing is true, but let’s just say it is for the sake of all those here who swallow bugs in their beer. Because everything is relative, right?)

    But what I really wanted to say something about is the practical things. Those are vacation to me. I get the summers off, and it’s the only time I can do those things. Every summer I wonder how those who have to work all year ever do such things as paint the trim of their house or go to all those routine doctor and dentist appointments or visit family you’d never want to spend vacation days on if you only got 10 of them a year (even though you love them and want to see them). More evidence for relativity, I guess. Time is a luxury for me, so it feels like a treat–which is really what vacation is. Glad you had a nice one. Beer with lime on a sunny day sounds pretty nice.

    Liked by 1 person

    • rita, I can believe that spiders crawl inside noses and mouths when we sleep. They’re like that, you know. Inquisitive and stupidly fearless. Still, ICK!

      You’re right about how doing practical things with no time constraints is a luxury. I hadn’t
      thought of our staycation like that, focusing more on where we weren’t. But getting things done makes me/us happy so from that perspective we had a fine time on our staycation– buggy beer be damned. Thanks for pointing that bit of relativity out to me.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Oh, I am very good at focusing on what isn’t, so no judgement and much empathy. (In case it seemed like I telling you what you should be grateful for, a behavior I detest as a response to an expression of sadness, disappointment, etc.) And while I do appreciate the hell out of the time I get to do those mundane things, I am simultaneously pretty sad about not going anywhere this summer, which mostly means driving a few hours north to see my family. Or west to see the coast.

        Liked by 1 person

        • I took your comment as supportive and kind– and truthful. No worries on that front. I know what you mean about wanting to drive a few hours to go see family, but cannot do it. My MIL is in an assisted living facility on the other side of the state. No visitors are allowed now, so we haven’t seen her in months. Such a weird year.

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          • I get it. My brother is in a group home for disabled adults, and both my parents have heart conditions. I haven’t been able to see any of them since February. My parents get to see him once a week, outside, but they (understandably) have strict rules about their circles of contact. Shitty is more my adjective of choice for this year.

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  36. I missed your post this morning in my WP Reader, but maybe I was meant to so I could relate. This evening as Derek and I movef our patio plants into the garage in preparation for Sally, I came back to the patio table to find a fly on the rim of my wine glass. Yuck! It wasn’t in the glass, but it was crawling on the area where my lips rest. At Derek’s instruction, I took the glass inside, poured the contents into a fresh glass and sterilized the contaminated glass. Fruit flies dive bombing my wine, I can handle, but flies that have crawled on dog poop…no way!

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  37. I’ll bet a little old fly has landed on many a stein’s suds during an Oktoberfest celebration or perhaps in a German Biergarten and that adult beverage was consumed and everyone lived happily ever after. I’m not fond of the idea either, but you lived to write about it. Welcome back in advance Ally.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Linda, yes you raise a good point. You just know there are bugs flying around at German festivals, one of which I might be going to this time of year if it weren’t this particular year. 2020 the year of no festivals.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Yes, every one of our festivals or street fairs have been cancelled or gone virtual as well. We have a Cinco de Mayo weekend here in our City every May and it was scratched back in May and rescheduled to this weekend. I assume they thought everything would be fine by now for such a large gathering … this time it was cancelled without date. Sigh.

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  41. The bug in the beer was in bubble bliss as it drew its last breath. My worst experience was when I was young and was laughing so much and a fly flew into my open mouth. Hope you don’t get nightmares from my little story .. enjoy your staycation Ally Bean and here’s to more creatures visiting – or not.

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  42. Oh those bugs in our beer! The flies in our teacups! The weevils in our wine (although I do not drink wine anymore and cannot complain on that front…) I was wondering where you’d hightailed it off to, Ally Bean. Glad to hear your enjoyed your staycation and sad to ponder that you’re not in an English pub as you planned.

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  43. Glad you were able to salvage your beer. Coach is excessively grossed out by flies flitting around near food. When a fly gets in the house and buzzes around near our food, it almost undoes him. The germs.

    I have found that things that might push me over the edge bother me less during this time of so much hardship and craziness in the world. Although I am far from tip toeing around like I don’t have a care in the world.

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    • Ernie, I saved the beer, but it was annoying and ridiculous at the same time. Sometimes blog post stories write themselves.

      I’m less bothered by things now, too. I’m finding that I’m more focused as a result of this pandemic, all the issues/people who caused me to feel scattered aren’t around to bug me. [Pun intended.]

      Liked by 1 person

  44. Separating hither from yon, love that, should be the very first step in getting organized… We’ve been taking stuff to Goodwill, too, and getting flu shots. Husband went to the post office the other day to mail packages, odds and ends collecting dust around here, to the kids. Getting that bug out of your beer was great exercise for your problem-solving skills. 🙂 Well done! It must have felt so good throwing caution to the wind and drinking the beer anyway.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Barbara, yes, yes, I have problem-solving skills– especially when an adult beverage is at risk. I made the pretend To-Do List, obviously tongue in cheek, to see if I liked RTM. I do like it, but considering how little I’m doing now not sure when/how I’ll use it.

      Like

    • Ann, I wouldn’t like swallowing a bug, either. That’s nasty. I got this little fellow out of the beer, but not without some effort– right when all I wanted to do was sit down and do nothing.

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  46. I fine way to top off the season. Geesch what a buggy year.
    We’ve spent more time at the patio table/ 2020 vacation bar scene, too
    (You get really tired of the kitchen table and the same walls.)
    Cheers and onward into the fall season (some really bored school kids have already put out the Halloween yard display a few blocks over ….all the skeleton figures feeling different this year)

    Liked by 1 person

    • philmouse, you said it: you get really tired of the kitchen table and the same walls. And THAT is why I was outside on the deck with my drink. No one has put up Halloween decorations here yet. In fact, now that I think about it that seems odd. This neighborhood usually goes bonkers for All Hallow’s Eve.

      Liked by 1 person

    • Katie, our staycation was good. I won’t complain about getting things done. HOWEVER a vacay in England would have been nice… expected… pleasant, too. But that didn’t happen now did it?

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  48. I also would have fished out the bug and kept drinking. I’m also the kind of person who will carefully drink around a random speck in my water, not questioning what the speck is and where it came from. And all this in contrast to how OCD clean I am with everything else. Some things cannot be explained.

    I hope you had several bug-free beverages on your staycation too 🙂

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    • Pistachios, I couldn’t let that drink go to waste. Plus I’d used the last lime so I really wanted to drink my lager & lime.

      I’m laughing about your self-awareness, knowing that you’ll willingly drink a dodgy beverage despite being OCD clean. We all are so confusing, aren’t we? And yes, there were other drinks of the deck, bug-free ones.

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  49. I’m feeling the need for a staycation to catch up on some of the kinds of things you did, but–believe it or not–I feel like I’m too busy with other things.

    It would have been a shame to throw out your lager and lime. I’m glad you drank it. I’m sure you’ve been working hard enough avoiding the virus.

    This has been a real stay-at-home week for me. Because of the fires and smoke and the pandemic I haven’t been outside except to the mailbox.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Nicki, I believe you when you say you’ve been busy. I’ve had a few weeks during the pandemic when I didn’t know which way was up because I had so many things to do. Our staycation was fun, even if it was more practical than adventurous.

      I’m sorry to read about your fires and smoke. They’d make me anxious &/or bored, I suppose. Stay safe, huh? May I suggest a lager & lime to take the edge off your time inside!

      Liked by 1 person

    • nance, I wasn’t about to let a little thing like an unwanted bug in my beer throw me off my game. And you’re right, no packing or unpacking which are two things that stress me. Overall this staycation wasn’t a bad way to spend a week at home.

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  52. We missed you Ally! The pretend list! The Bugcoaster! The things I find out here – I did not know lime in lager produced bubbles. Not bothered by bugs here, but those stupid yellow jackets (bees) are so annoying when you’re trying to eat outside and enjoy the last sunny days. Sorry about your England trip.

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  55. It never ceases to amaze me that bugs love alcohol as much as we do. Quite often over the summer, I’ve had those little bees swarming around trying to have a sip of my wine! I like to share, but I declined on those occasions. 😉 I’m glad you were still able to enjoy the beer.

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    • Amy, it is weird how bugs and bees like alcohol. I hadn’t thought of that, but you’re right. This particular bug, may he RIP, jumped into the wrong glass at the wrong time if you ask me. Still the beer was good, so all’s well that end’s well.

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