WE INTERRUPT OUR STANDARD OCTOBER PUMPKIN BEER CONTENT TO BRING YOU THIS SPECIAL POST.

I got into birding last year. Michelle and I were expecting and figured the hobby would 1) be free (minus a guide, a notebook, and a cheap pair of binoculars) and 2) train me to be observant; both these aspects are important in the life of a new dad.

My big goal of birding was to see an owl in the wild. I hear them frequently from my porch (we have both great horned and barred owls around here) but they always take wing before I can draw near to where they're perched and singing. I knew that, with persistence, it was only a matter of time before I saw one of the raptors. In preparation, I bought a single can of Seventh Son's Mr. Owl to discuss on the blog to honor the occasion of adding one of these guys to my life list.

Well, guess what! I'm drinking and discussing Mr. Owl today. I saw an owl--two, at that! The pair of great horneds were in a tree outside my house when I took Lottie out this morning. I quickly ushered her back indoors one her business was through before spending a good twenty minutes watching and listening to the birds (and hearing another pair some distance from our house that I couldn't see) until a flock of mallards flew too close to the tree and spooked them away. 

This is a post I've been anxiously anticipating, and I hope it's the first in what becomes a series that'll run the next few months.

See, 2021 marks another emergence of Brood X, cicadas that flood Greater Cincinnati every seventeen years. Knowing this was coming, and knowing that I'm the kind of person to geek out over the bugs, I'd been keeping my eyes peeled for cicada-themed beers. So far, I've found only one: Seventh Son's Abaddon. I bought this back in March and it's been kicking around my fridge since. I'm really hoping that Cincy breweries will hop aboard the cicada train as Brood X continues to hang around this summer.

Today's special, though, because I spotted my first cicada of the brood this morning before leaving for work. It was hanging out on a locust tree in my back yard, breaking free from its shell--a sight I'd never seen before. Sensing a photo-op (okay, because Michelle suggested it), I quickly ran inside and pulled my can of Abaddon from the fridge. In my eyes, the emergence has officially begun. To mark it, here're my thoughts on Seventh Son's Abaddon.