My Toast to Dr Watson Given at the Sons of the Copper Beeches Dinner
This past Friday I attended a dinner for The Sons of the Copper Beeches in Philadelphia, an amazing opportunity afforded me by John Baesch, ASH, BSI ("State and Merton County Railroad"). One of their traditions is to ask a first time attendee to give a toast and - along with the fact that Sherlockian luminary Peter Blau is the toastmaster - I jumped at the opportunity. My delivery was a little shaky (it's harder than you think to picture the entire crowd wearing nothing but deerstalkers) but overall it was a super fun and invigorating experience which I look forward to trying again soon. So without further delay, my very first Sherlockian toast to the one fixed point in a changing age, Dr John H. Watson:
"Watson: his limits...
1. Literature - yellow novels and the occasional Clark Russell sea story.
2. Geometry - practical, but applicable only to club nights with Thurston.
3. Shaving - partial.
4. Appetite - immense.
5. Preferred Remedy - brandy.
6. Sense of Humour - pawky, of course!
7. Knowledge of Women - tri-continental in scope, reportedly held a European vogue at one time.
8. Marital Aptitude - plentiful.
9. Attractiveness to the Female Sex - undiminished after more than a century.
10. Work Ethic - you'll have to ask his accommodating neighbor Dr Anstruther.
And finally numbers 11 and 12...Loyalty and Friendship.
We would need the space of 60 odd stories and the contents of an old tin dispatch box to get it right, but perhaps Watson's aptitude for Loyalty and Friendship are best described as Limitless!
To Dr Watson!"
(Words by Matt Laffey - April 27 2012)
[Watson proofreading my toast.]