I Drank Bourbon At The ΣΑΕ House
Late last Monday night, the following cryptic note was left on my neighbor’s mailbox.
Dave
Meet me on the corner of Cameron + North Columbia Tomorrow at 3 PM — Have news of the utmost importance
Sometime Tuesday afternoon, my neighbor walked over and delivered the note to me, which neither of us could figure out. We both, however, did assume that the potential news was of the utmost importance. I didn’t recognize the handwriting and was perplexed at who would be able to get so close to my house, yet just miss the correct spot. Were they using an out-dated Google Satellite Map?
It was only by pure luck that I had an appointment cancellation that afternoon and was available to investigate this dwelling mystery. I biked up to the proposed location and sat in front of The Carolina Inn watching to see who would show up. Soon enough I noticed one or two folks gathering at each point of the intersection. Then a bouncy young gal in a bright yellow t-shirt approached us and invited us a few feet down Columbia to sit in front of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (ΣΑΕ) house (which happens to look upon the porch of Abernethy Hall).
Walker Percy was an alum of both UNC-Chapel Hill and the ΣΑΕ fraternity. Percy ultimately became one of the most renowned authors to hail from the South. Damn near his entire work/creative life is archived in Wilson Library’s Rare Book Collection. Katie (yellow shirt) is a big fan of Walker Percy and wanted to give us a genuine introduction to her favorite samples. Since Percy favored a good drink now and again, Katie made sure to have some bourbon on hand. I believe it was Old Crow, vintage unknown.
Katie was also kind enough to bring sugar, mint and shaved ice for those of us too weak to take our bourbon neat. So the eight of us sat around drinking Mint Juleps and neat bourbons (5 to 2, respectively), reading and enjoying glimpses of Percy’s wit and earnestness. It was a moment intended to “cut the phlegm of a Wednesday afternoon” and by that measure it was a rousing success. Here’s to the magic of a temporary autonomous gathering!
“Because the hardest part of life is an ordinary Wednesday afternoon.”