I pick my vices carefully. I have to. I have Lyme disease.
These days, to help combat illnesses borne from Lyme, I’ve become a health nut. I’ve eliminated all the sugary, fatty, unhealthy foods – the things that make them fun – to co-habitate with the disease. As a result, nearly all vices have been eliminated from my life, too. Fortunately, one I’ve always enjoyed I can still partake in – wine. So long as I limit it, alcohol can be consumed.
After years of various experiments with my wine threshold, I’ve learned one and a two-thirds glasses a day is my limit. For a while, I thought it was one drink, then one and three-quarters, then one and a quarter. For a while I tried two plus drinks and crashed (which made me wonder: what do I need over two freaking drinks a day for anyway?)
Recently, I ordered one glass of Sauvignon Blanc – my favorite variety – at a restaurant. Of course, my waitress didn’t know I had a one and two-thirds drink maximum. After nursing my cherished wine pour for almost an hour, the waitress continued to ask if I wanted another drink. I was so tempted to say, “If only you knew me, what I can’t eat, what I shouldn’t do and the sacrifices I make to maintain my health. If only you knew how this drink you served me, this teeny, tiny, little ol’ four ounce drink, is SO PRECIOUS. I mean, look at that guy at the end of the bar. What? He’s on his third martini now? He’s so lucky.” (Or is he?)
My memoir, Maybe Boomer, covers my path of pain and confusion living with Lyme. I’ve lived with it for forty years. Among many things, Maybe Boomer is a story of survival to be the best I can while living with a never-ending daily nemesis. You can read more about it in the introduction to Chapter 13, “Health,” from Maybe Boomer.
Next week, I’m going to visit California wine country for my very first time. I wonder how many wine-tasting sips it takes to make one and two-thirds drinks?
Mike Andberg 
Mike,
I can relate to your pain, not because of Lyme disease, but due to another which limits my enjoyment of spirit, chiles and caffeine. Upon hearing that prescription from the doc, my wife said “that’s the Holy Trinity. If you can’t have those why retire to Santa Fe?”
Seriously, I’ve enjoyed reading your blog after becoming aware of it when you wrote your Motorcycle “My View” commentary two weeks ago in the New Mexican. Keep it up.
Cheers, Robert Eaton
Robert, thanks so much for taking the time to write back. When a writer such as myself with a meager audience (despite the occasional widely read newspaper article), it’s gratifying to have others respond back personally as you have done. It touches me when I read my views have resonated with others. Corresponding so, we’re all a bit more validated in our feelings, right? I hope to hear from you again sometime.
Till then, Cheers (up to one and two-thirds of spirits)
Mike Andberg