A Meatery

Brett and I were having a serious conversation about some expenses that he had coming up.  It wasn't about whether he could afford them, but more of how to budget for them.  As we were talking, he said that he needed to save $200 out for a project that he and Andrew were working on in May.  This wasn't the first time that he had told me about a side hustle that he and his friend had been contemplating trying, but this idea absolutely floored me.  Brett said that he and Andrew were working on having a "Meatery" in his garage in Bedford.  As Brett had never discussed butchering animals, hanging meat or making jerky before, I asked him again what he was talking about.  He didn't understand why I was confused.  He said that he had told me several times in the past that they were interesting in having a meatery and both Dad and I had seemed very positive about the project.

As much as I wanted to be supportive of my oldest son, inside I was thinking, "What are you talking about?  Have you completely lost it?  You know nothing about meat, how could you take on this project?The last I heard, the two of you were going to grow potatoes."  Instead of saying what I was thinking, I asked him what type of meat he was talking about - jerkey, beef, chicken, etc.  That's when Brett laughed out loud.  He told me that I was hearing "Meatery", but he was actually saying "Meadery."  That's when we both started laughing.  Brett and Andrew had been working on making Honey Mead wine for about a year now.  They wanted to promote their product by donating some to Andrew's fraternity.  Then even had someone coming by to review their process.  I was very happy to hear about their project.  It sounded perfect for the two of them.  I was also slightly relieved as I didn't want to buy any meat that had been cured in someone's garage.  A bottle of Mead sounded a lot better to both Doug and I.