Robert Erlandson
Don’t make a mess
All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Clean up this mess,” was my father’s mantra when he came into the basement and looked at the chemistry lab I had assembled, compliments of my high school lab breakage card. I was always looking for “experiments”, and when I learned that potato juice could be used to make vodka, I had to try.
The fermentation step lasted nearly four months. When done, I had about a gallon of fermented mash. I used the 1920s gas stove in our basement for the distillation setup. Seeing it dad rolled his eyes and said it looked like a bad Prohibition Era still.
After what seemed like forever, I finally had a spoonful of distilled liquid. I held a match to it, puff, a bright blue flame. I tasted the next spoonful, wow, strong. When I had filled about half a shot glass, I took it upstairs to the kitchen where my dad was reading the paper and asked him to try it. He gave me a “look,” laid the paper down, took the shot glass, held it to the light, smelled it, and drank it in one gulp. Making eye contact he handed me the shot glass, and picking up the paper said, “Don’t make a mess!”
da Vinci's notes
a mess by most standards
a precious gift
the freedom to fail
then try again
About the Author
Robert Erlandson has published his work in cho, Haigaonline, Daily Haiga, failed haiku, Frog Pond, Bones, Cattails, Ribbons, The Heron’s Nest, and Prune Juice. His chapbook, AWE, of poetry and images, speaks to the incredible relationships between nature, art, and mathematics. See more on his website, Circle Publications.