True, we spend considerable time (after only five months) thinking about legacies. What interests will we pass on? What tastes, desires, passions? Music is an obvious choice. As children of the . . . well . . . that is. . . I might be a taste generation before the missus, but those of us of the whatever generations of the ’70s, 80s, and in the missus’ case, 90s, focus our memories and interests around music. Songs. Concerts. Soundtracks. Very true.

Other obsessions, however, occupy me these days. And as I have confessed to the wife lately, the beer obsession may be out of control. She says it isn’t. It is a passion, an interest. And, as Benjamin might have said, it is an obsession as well. An obsession that has me reading more RSS feeds from beer blogs than academic ones. An obsession that regularly checks out the three or four online sites I like to shop at so that I can have an excuse to spend my expendable income. An obsession that sends me to the grocery store hoping something different on the shelves will await me.

That kind of obsession I want to pass on to V. It doesn’t have to be beer, of course, but it is a passion for something outside of one’s occupation. It is the mentality of the collector. It is the passion of the search. The search promises the moment of surprise, the find, the perfect moment where a desire is met, even if for a brief moment. When you search, you are not looking for ultimate satisfaction. You are in quest of passing pleasure. An online purchase? A trip to another state? A visit to a brewpub or brewery you’ve heard about? These are passing pleasures. And they are a big piece of what makes life valuable.

That is a legacy I want V to take from us.