A Man Called Teagarden
It is often said that alcohol loosens tongues and never has that been more true than in the case of a charming drunk I encountered last week in Napa. In the bar at the Calistoga Brewery Max and I encountered a very excitable Lucas and his girlfriend Alisa. Lucas was on his 5th (or possibly 10th) beer of the evening, was transfixed by his bodily functions and determined to embarass his sober date.
Anyway, when we began to talk about Tracing Tea, Lucas piped up that his name was actually Teagarden. Alisa wore a look of daggers. Had the floor opened up and swallowed her (or even better him) she would not have been more pleased. But Lucas was adamant. After a great deal of hand waving, giggles and narrowly avoiding falling off the bar stool, he managed to pull his driving license from his pocket.
To our delight, and the shock and horror of Alisa, Lucas’ name is infact Lucas Teagarden Dexter – a fact he had never previously disclosed to his girlfriend or anyone else. Sometime in the mid 1970s his parents, whom he described as Californian hippies, had registered their baby son’s name as Lucas Teagarden. They were’nt celebrities and the child in question has yet to change his name by deed poll. He may be more of a beer drinker than the tea connoisseur his name suggests, but either way we raised our glasses to a man called Teagarden and the travels of Tracing Tea.
