The Ball Jar

Here we go,
Here we go,
Here we-here we-here we-go.
-Run DMC

I'm done freaking out.
Since January, we have been at a crossroads, trying to determine the next step for our family, and what that would mean. Where we should live, what we should do.
It's a very serious consideration, and we have discussed the pros and cons of our leading options: stay here in Florida, move back to California, or, in third place, move to Seattle.
Like Jack Keroac (or not), Troy hit the road and mulled it all over, and for a while it seriously looked like California was the winner. But it's not.
There will be no barefoot sunset walks in a little vineyard, no tilling of terroir, no white duck quacking around the tiny farm of fantasies.
We are staying in Florida.
After months of brainstorming, debating, and researching, we are starting a rum company. Correction!: a micro-distillery.
For rum.
I really could not foresee this for myself, and maybe that's what I get for not having a life plan. But nevertheless, the starting gun has been fired, and Troy has begun making lists of Things To Do.
After deciding to go forward with our plan, Troy said, "The first thing I need to do is find an attorney."
And last week, he did.
Because a business involving alcohol requires lots of legal advice and strategy. There are a lot of rules and laws about alcohol, and you wouldn't want to step out of line. No.
So he found an attorney, a guy in Miami who specializes in matters of alcohol, and used to work as an inspector for the ATF, which apparently isn't the ATF anymore, but rather the TTB. I'll have to Google that.
[Two minutes later.]
Ah: Tax & Trade Bureau.
The name will be filed, licenses will be applied for, and "office" space will be found for a still. Acquiring the still is the focus of this week, and apparently the Germans make the superior equipment. Currently, our kitchen looks like a science lab, a series of Ball canning jars clutter the counter, all containing mixes ranging from fresh bananas to vanilla to horned melon (Troy sees good marketing potential in that one).
Good thing we know a few rum drinkers, because it's too much for us to sample on our own, even as parents of four boys. I think we'll be hosting a lot of tastings between now and the official launch, which should be in about 6 months.
It may be crazy, but I believe in following your gut, and my husband's is filled with distilled sugar cane. I may not get a charming white duck, but maybe I could adopt a parrot who says interesting things, like "Yo ho ho."