A Short Take of Some Tall Tales

Tall tales are told to entertain us by pretending they are truthful when in fact they're not. 

They have a foundation of hyperbole and exaggeration and are usually told in a good-natured way.

Paul Bunyan, a giant lumberjack, is a great example of a tall tale. He dug lakes, created the Grand Canyon, and tamed a river...not to mention many other daring and totally unbelievable acts. He also has a buddy named Babe the Blue Ox who travels with him.

Pecos Bill is a fictional cowboy and folk hero in stories set during the American westward expansion into the Southwest of Texas, New Mexico, Southern California, and Arizona.

According to legend Pecos Bill was responsible for creating many landmarks. One landmark he is said to have created is in the Gulf of Mexico. Texas was in the thrall of a terrible drought, so Pecos Bill rushed to California and lassoed up a storm cloud and brought it back to Texas.

Dona Flor is a benevolent giant that lives in the American Southwest. 

She is so tall she plucks estrellas (stars) from the sky and grabs snow from the mountaintops to wake herself in the morning. 

Her tortillas are so big that her neighbors use the extra ones as roofs.

Why Do Kids Tell Tall Tales?

Young children (ages 4-5) often make up stories and tell tall tales. Don't worry. This is natural. They enjoy hearing stories and making up stories for fun. Sometimes they may blur the distinction between reality and fantasy.

What Makes a Good Tall Tale?

It's all about exaggeration and creating a picture that is impossible and funny. For example, "One-time snowflakes fell so large in Oregon that the ladies put handles on them and used them for umbrellas."

The Shortest Tall Tale

Ernest Hemingway supposedly wrote the shortest tale ever. His six-word tall tale was, "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." But that's not the end of this short, tall tale. Researchers have long since proven that Hemingway's baby shoe story has been around since at least 1906.

For the record, most tall tales are associated with the United States. One of the few examples that isn't is found in America is from a German collection, Baron Munchausen's Narratives of His Marvelous Travels and Campaigns in Russia."

For example, it includes such humorous tales as one about a soldier who loaded his rifle with a cherry pit, fired it into the head of a stag, and later found a cherry tree rooted in its head.

A famous American known for telling tall tales is Jim Bridger, a mountain man and wagon trail guide. He enjoyed sitting around the campfire and telling incredible tales about native Americans and his death-defying adventures. 

As it Stands, it's all about having fun and lying like a rug!

Sipping 'Tree Spirits' Sounds Scrumptious

To all you drinkers of alcoholic spirits I have a surprise for you.

I just discovered a spirit that will delight your senses and give new meaning to maple syrup.

If you ever go to Naples, New York there's a unique distillery where you can sample "Tree Spirits." Hollerhorn Distilling makes one-of-a-kind spirits that are categorized as "Spirit Specialties," as they fall into an area of spirit distillation that is yet to have its category. In layman's terms, they are brand new to the world of booze.

The Hollerhorn Distillery's website explains, "Our Tree Spirits are most akin to a rum in production. Rum uses sugar (molasses, cane, etc.) as the sugar source for fermentation. We use the same approach, but with maple syrup as the sugar source and with different fermentation practices. Our Tree Spirits are double distilled (twice rectified in a pot still) at no more than 160 proof. They are not a whiskey, which is a grain-based mash bill."

For the record I didn't get paid for running this post about Hollerhorn Distillery. I shared it because it's new and unique.

A Casual History of Distilling

Because the two ingredients necessary to alcoholic fermentation are widely spread and always appearing together, civilizations in almost every part of the world developed some form of alcoholic beverage very early in their history. Poitin, an Irish spirit, is considered by some to be the world's oldest distilled spirit. It's been produced in Ireland since the sixth century.

The first distilled spirits were made from sugar-based materials, primarily grapes and honey to make grape brandy and distilled mead, respectively. The earliest stills were composed simply of a heated closed container, a condenser, and a receptacle to receive the condensate. These evolved into the pot still, which is still in use today.

Early hand methods of filing, labeling, corking, and other operations have been replaced by highly mechanized bottling lines, with bottles cleaned, filled, capped, sealed, labeled, and placed in a shipping container at a rate as high as 400 bottles per minute!

Spirit strength may be designated in several ways - weight per gallon, percentage by weight, or percentage by volume, all these having reference to absolute (i.e., pure) alcohol and water. The higher the proof the higher you get!

You may be surprised to learn that Jinro Soju is the most consumed liquor brand in the world. I sure am. I never heard of it. It's a Korean distilled spirit made from fermented grains, sweet potatoes, or other starch ingredients.

As it Stands, may your neighbors respect you, trouble neglect you, angels protect you, and heaven accept you. Here's to those that have seen us at our best, and our worst and can't tell the difference!